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There Will Be No Dinner Guests · Armstrong & Getty One More Thing

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Why everyone stopped having someone over for dinner. It's one
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: more thing.
• 0:04
  Speaker 2: Armstrong and Getty. One more thing.
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: The actual, the actual title of this article is why
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: Americans stopped throwing dinner parties. I, I would never call
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: having somebody over for dinner, a dinner party.
• 0:18
  Speaker 3: I just, why not?
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: I don't know.
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  Speaker 3: Just rub the dinner table.
• 0:21
  Speaker 4: If that's as a.
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: Name for an event, having somebody over for dinner. Um,
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: Maybe I just don't like the word party. Maybe that's it.
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  Speaker 3: I don't know.
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  Speaker 1: But anyway, people coming over to your house for dinner
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: has dropped off a cliff. The share of Americans who
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: regularly host friends or family at home has dropped sharply.
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: In 1975, I'm going to give this percentage in the
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: order Joe prefers, and he is correct. You need to
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: know what you're about to hear before you hear the number.
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  Speaker 3: Finally, thank you. In 1975, um.
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: People who regularly hosted someone over to their house for
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: dinner was 42%. Now it's 12. That's a pretty big drop.
• 1:06
  Speaker 2: Wow.
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  Speaker 1: What are the key reasons behind the decline? Would anybody
• 1:10
  Speaker 1: like to guess before I give their guesses? Because everybody's guessing,
• 1:14
  Speaker 1: of course.
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  Speaker 3: People can't cook anymore?
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  Speaker 1: People can't cook. That's a good one. I'd like you
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: to have a little coma to my house, but I
• 1:19
  Speaker 1: don't know how to cook anything. Well, what do you eat?
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  Speaker 1: You eat something.
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  Speaker 3: One way to pass the time and be interested is
• 1:27
  Speaker 3: to have people over back before we had unlimited entertainment
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  Speaker 3: all the time. Katie, you were throwing something in, sorry.
• 1:37
  Speaker 2: I was just thinking political differences, maybe.
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  Speaker 3: It's not a bad idea. It's probably a factor.
• 1:43
  Speaker 1: I don't like any of you is my reason. Or
• 1:47
  Speaker 1: anyone else.
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  Speaker 2: Right.
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  Speaker 1: So Michael struck on something there. I'd like to know
• 1:54
  Speaker 1: what's the percentage of people that ate out regularly in
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  Speaker 1: 1975 versus 2006. So, you know, that's one thing that
• 2:01
  Speaker 1: kind of waters down the stat. We all know that
• 2:04
  Speaker 1: we eat out way more. I mean, it's not even
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  Speaker 1: close to so much more than like mid-70s when I
• 2:09
  Speaker 1: was a kid. And if you're eating out with people,
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  Speaker 1: that doesn't count as a, obviously having people over your
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  Speaker 1: house for dinner, but it's a dinner party. So maybe
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  Speaker 1: a lot of the slack is being picked up of
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  Speaker 1: your meeting people at a restaurant.
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  Speaker 2: But if you order takeout when you have people over,
• 2:26
  Speaker 2: get it catered.
• 2:28
  Speaker 1: Can you do that? Is that cool?
• 2:30
  Speaker 3: You know, I don't think you're right just because I'm
• 2:32
  Speaker 3: looking at, I dug into this, the study that they're
• 2:36
  Speaker 3: citing and it's changes in American social activity. And everything
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  Speaker 3: has declined. Everything, including specifically went out to breakfast at
• 2:48
  Speaker 3: a restaurant with other people.
• 2:51
  Speaker 1: But we eat out more, but we're eating out alone.
• 2:53
  Speaker 3: Yeah, or with our families, our nuclear family.
• 2:58
  Speaker 1: So the last time I had someone over to my
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: house to eat, I haven't at all since I've been divorced.
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  Speaker 1: And prior to that, I'm just guessing. Does it count
• 3:16
  Speaker 1: if you have like a family member in town? Or
• 3:19
  Speaker 1: does that not count?
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  Speaker 3: No.
• 3:21
  Speaker 1: I don't think that counts.
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  Speaker 3: Oh, really?
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  Speaker 4: No?
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  Speaker 2: No.
• 3:23
  Speaker 1: So if you don't count that, never. Not one time.
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  Speaker 3: Like in your life?
• 3:31
  Speaker 1: In my life.
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  Speaker 3: Or since?
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  Speaker 2: Oh.
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  Speaker 3: In your entire adult life?
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  Speaker 1: I don't think ever in my life.
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  Speaker 3: All right. Well, this is like somebody who's never surfed
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  Speaker 3: talking about surfing. Well, I'm not.
• 3:42
  Speaker 1: I'm reading a study here. I'm not trying to.
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  Speaker 3: Okay. But I'll thank you to not comment in any form.
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  Speaker 3: I'm not trying to weigh in on the surfing. Don't
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  Speaker 3: even hint at your opinion.
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  Speaker 2: Uh.
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  Speaker 3: You're not allowed to have one. One of them.
• 3:56
  Speaker 1: One of the explanations is what you hinted at. And
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  Speaker 1: I don't know if this makes sense to me. Of course,
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: I've never had people over for dinner. Modern streaming services,
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  Speaker 1: television and short term videos such as TikTok offer instant
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  Speaker 1: low effort comfort compared to the friction of planning a party.
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  Speaker 1: Watching a screen requires no preparation, coordination or cleanup. Time
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  Speaker 1: spent at home is increased by nearly two hours a
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  Speaker 1: day since the early 2000s.
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  Speaker 3: You know, I like the word friction. It's not just,
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  Speaker 3: you know, as a word, but that describes, like, all
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  Speaker 3: of the things you need to overcome to make that happen.
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  Speaker 3: Maybe it would be, you know, the work involved. Maybe
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  Speaker 3: it's this, do we invite the Joneses? You know, there
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  Speaker 3: are a number of things that need to be overcome,
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  Speaker 3: particularly if you're an introvert, to just make that sort
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  Speaker 3: of thing happen. Friction just in general is a good word.
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  Speaker 3: You want to hear something sad. Do you want to
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  Speaker 3: be sad? I'm going to make you sad.
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  Speaker 1: Hmm.
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  Speaker 3: The percentage of Americans, now this is just between 1995
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  Speaker 3: and 2026, okay? That is, according to my figures, roughly
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  Speaker 3: 30 years. Who went to a picnic declined from 58%
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  Speaker 3: to 39%.
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  Speaker 1: A picnic? A picnic. I need to define the terms.
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  Speaker 1: Is that any eating outdoors? Do you have to have
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  Speaker 1: a checkered colored blanket?
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  Speaker 3: No, certainly not.
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  Speaker 1: Wicker basket, is that necessary?
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  Speaker 3: Now, again, the accoutrements are up to you. It's sharing
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  Speaker 3: a meal out of doors, I believe.
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  Speaker 1: If potato salad is not involved, is it still picnic?
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  Speaker 3: No. Yes, it is. It's just a bad picnic.
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  Speaker 2: It's a weak one, yeah.
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  Speaker 3: I love potato salad. Yeah, weak-ass picnic. You call this picnic?
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  Speaker 3: I'd upset the wicker basket and storm off.
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  Speaker 1: My good friend, Ali Gator, always used to say, you
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  Speaker 1: haven't had my grandma's potato dream. He would call it
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  Speaker 1: potato salad. But, uh... One of the great things about
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  Speaker 1: potato salad, besides being delicious, is they're always so different.
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  Speaker 3: Oh, yeah.
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  Speaker 1: Each one is completely, it's like your personality.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah.
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  Speaker 1: It's like having your own personality, your potato salad.
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  Speaker 3: You hip the German potato salad?
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  Speaker 1: I'm sure I am, since I grew up around so
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  Speaker 1: many Germans in Kansas.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, very different than your standard American potato salad. Love it,
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  Speaker 3: love it, love it. There's hardly an American picnic food
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  Speaker 3: I don't like. Highest grade, love. Hot dogs, hamburgers. potato salad,
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  Speaker 3: macaroni salad, watermelon, you know, the various desserts, crumbles and
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  Speaker 3: pies and cakes and ice cream and just the whole
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  Speaker 3: experience is about as good as it gets, you know,
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  Speaker 3: gustatorially speaking. Is that the right word? Eating-wise.
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  Speaker 1: Gastronomically?
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  Speaker 3: Gastronomically.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah.
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  Speaker 3: But there's also Gusted something or other.
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  Speaker 1: If you say so.
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  Speaker 3: Gusted tutorial.
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  Speaker 1: Katie, would you like to weigh in on the picnic
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  Speaker 1: thing before we move on?
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  Speaker 2: No, Joe just fired off my dad's favorite meal, though.
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  Speaker 2: Hot dog, hamburger, potato salad, but you have to have
• 6:57
  Speaker 2: the barbecue chips.
• 6:58
  Speaker 1: I've never done that with the kids, and I don't
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  Speaker 1: know why. My dad would, every once in a while,
• 7:02
  Speaker 1: we would get the stuff together.
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  Speaker 4: Hamburgers and hamburger buns, and my mom would make potato
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  Speaker 4: salad or whatever, and we would go to the state park,
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  Speaker 4: and then we'd My dad would grill them on that
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  Speaker 4: grill there that the county provides for you.
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  Speaker 1: We'd play catch with the baseball, waiting for the briquettes
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  Speaker 1: to get hot. And then we'd, you know, have our
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  Speaker 1: little picnic at a picnic table. I don't think my
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  Speaker 1: kids and I, we've never sat at a picnic table.
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  Speaker 1: And I feel sad now. They're almost out of the house.
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  Speaker 3: We are sad. I hope Mary in the Ho adds
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  Speaker 3: this to your list of things you've never done.
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  Speaker 1: I noticed this a couple of years ago when I
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  Speaker 1: would take my kids to the park a lot when
• 7:37
  Speaker 1: they were little, just to play on the swing set
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  Speaker 1: and stuff like that. The only people that used the
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  Speaker 1: picnic tables and the grills that were there, Mexican families.
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  Speaker 1: Big Mexican families would show up and they'd grill stuff
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  Speaker 1: and still do the big family picnic thing. And I
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  Speaker 1: always thought, that looks really cool, really charming.
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  Speaker 4: Really nice.
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  Speaker 1: I wonder how come we don't do that. We white
• 7:55
  Speaker 1: people are, because we got our TikToks. Is that why?
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  Speaker 1: Just requires some effort. Is that what holds me back?
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  Speaker 3: I don't know. That's part of it. Let's see. I'm
• 8:06
  Speaker 3: looking at this list. Went to a picnic, I mentioned.
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  Speaker 3: Gave or attended a dinner. Party is down, you know, significantly.
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  Speaker 3: Played cards with friends. Judy and I do that regularly.
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  Speaker 3: To our credit, I guess.
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  Speaker 1: I'll check the to your credit box. Here's the saddest reason,
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  Speaker 1: if this is true, according to The Atlantic. The performance
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  Speaker 1: pressure because of social media. Platforms like Instagram have turned
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  Speaker 1: casual gatherings into high-stakes visual performances, making many people feel
• 8:36
  Speaker 1: intimidated or pressured to make everything look perfect rather than
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  Speaker 1: focusing on simple socializing. If the pictures wouldn't look good
• 8:42
  Speaker 1: enough for Instagram or TikTok or whatever. Right.
• 8:45
  Speaker 3: Now, I pay zero shits to that. I have none
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  Speaker 3: to give. Sorry, Hanson. Somebody make a note for Hanson.
• 8:54
  Speaker 3: He's got to bleep that. But... our next door neighbors. She,
• 9:03
  Speaker 3: I mean, she is a brilliant entertainer. Like, hey, you
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  Speaker 3: guys want to come by for a drink? You show up.
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  Speaker 3: It would have taken me days of effort. Just beautifully prepared.
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  Speaker 3: Snacks and hors d'oeuvres, got a themed drink, the rest
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  Speaker 3: of it. It's wonderful. And it's a gesture of affection, neighborliness.
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  Speaker 3: I mean, it's great. And Her husband is a friend
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  Speaker 3: and is a great dude. Love spending time with him.
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  Speaker 3: But Judy and I are like, you know, we want
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  Speaker 3: to invite maybe them over or the other neighbors. But
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  Speaker 3: the standard's too damn high.
• 9:36
  Speaker 1: Wow, the bar's too high.
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  Speaker 3: We're not good at that stuff.
• 9:39
  Speaker 2: I feel that in my soul. I have a friend
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  Speaker 2: like that and she is, we call her Pinterest-y. She's
• 9:44
  Speaker 2: very Pinterest-y. Everything she does, there can be a Pinterest
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  Speaker 2: board about it.
• 9:47
  Speaker 1: That's a good term.
• 9:50
  Speaker 3: Again, not that the person in my life ever does that. No,
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  Speaker 3: it's just about the experience. There's no Instagram account involved,
• 9:55
  Speaker 3: but I love that. Very Pinterest-y.
• 9:57
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 9:58
  Speaker 3: I mean, we'd do the barbecued meatballs, but forget to
• 10:01
  Speaker 3: get toothpicks. Yeah. I mean, we're just not good at it.
• 10:06
  Speaker 2: Like a themed cocktail.
• 10:07
  Speaker 1: Go away.
• 10:08
  Speaker 2: I can't do that.
• 10:09
  Speaker 1: A themed cocktail.
• 10:11
  Speaker 2: I appreciate it.
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  Speaker 3: And it's not that hard.
• 10:15
  Speaker 2: I know, but it's.
• 10:16
  Speaker 3: Just, ah, guilt, guilt, guilt, guilt. Hello, guilt, my old friend.
• 10:22
  Speaker 1: I am not the right person to comment on this
• 10:24
  Speaker 1: for obvious reasons, but I will stand up for the,
• 10:27
  Speaker 1: I don't know.
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  Speaker 3: You've been disallowed, yes.
• 10:28
  Speaker 1: I guess I'll stand up for the, I don't know
• 10:30
  Speaker 1: what percentage of people are like me, a tenth of 1%
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  Speaker 1: or 1% or whatever it would be. I'm never going
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  Speaker 1: to have anybody to my home to eat, and I
• 10:39
  Speaker 1: don't want to go to your home to eat under
• 10:41
  Speaker 1: any circumstances.
• 10:41
  Speaker 2: No.
• 10:42
  Speaker 3: Well, that'll save anybody any trouble. That's been noted. It's
• 10:46
  Speaker 3: a good deal.
• 10:46
  Speaker 1: And I'm perfectly happy with that deal. And you're probably
• 10:49
  Speaker 1: happy with that deal, so we're all happy.
• 10:51
  Speaker 2: Yeah, that sounds fair.
• 10:53
  Speaker 1: I'll stand up for that. Half of 1% maybe that
• 10:55
  Speaker 1: agrees with that.
• 10:57
  Speaker 3: Yeah, you're one of the few people who saw this
• 10:59
  Speaker 3: chart and thought, good.
• 11:01
  Speaker 1: No, I think it's sad for America. I think it's
• 11:04
  Speaker 1: probably bad for culture. It's probably bad for society that
• 11:07
  Speaker 1: we're going that direction. Just fits with my, whatever my
• 11:11
  Speaker 1: unique problems are. Although, if you have potato salad, you
• 11:15
  Speaker 1: could lure me into your home with potato salad.
• 11:20
  Speaker 3: Some sort of potato salad fest where you have like
• 11:22
  Speaker 3: a rib cook-off, a chili cook-off, that sort of thing.
• 11:25
  Speaker 1: Grandma's potato dream.
• 11:31
  Speaker 3: I'll try it. What the hell? How bad can it be?
• 11:33
  Speaker 3: Give me some.
• 11:34
  Speaker 2: Just want to let you know, my friend made fried
• 11:37
  Speaker 2: potato salad balls.
• 11:39
  Speaker 3: Wait a minute. Wow.
• 11:41
  Speaker 1: I have no idea what that would be, but I'd
• 11:42
  Speaker 1: eat that right now. It was something.
• 11:44
  Speaker 3: I'd eat the hell out of that.
• 11:46
  Speaker 1: Did you hold it like an apple or use a fork?
• 11:49
  Speaker 2: It was like a little, just like a little appetizer.
• 11:52
  Speaker 1: Use your hand.
• 11:52
  Speaker 2: I guess if you were fancy, you could have had
• 11:55
  Speaker 2: little toothpicks.
• 11:56
  Speaker 3: You ever had like the fried Gouda balls?
• 11:59
  Speaker 2: Oh, yes.
• 12:00
  Speaker 3: Oh, my God. How good are those? Gouda.
• 12:03
  Speaker 2: That's how good.
• 12:04
  Speaker 3: That's very, very Gouda.
• 12:08
  Speaker 2: My wife and I, we invited an Italian family over
• 12:11
  Speaker 2: to my house, and we served Olive Garden takeout.
• 12:13
  Speaker 3: We haven't seen them in a long time. Sorry to
• 12:16
  Speaker 3: hear that.
• 12:18
  Speaker 1: Well, I guess that's it.