Things that are common in fiction but not in your real life

[4691mls]

Originally Posted by tempest@de

People eating at home using paper plates, I’ve seen it several times, and today I came across it in a book where they where eating pizza in paper plates at home, mind you the plates didn’t come with the pizza, the character went to a cabinet to grab them. Is this a common thing in the US?

I don’t know anyone that eats on paper plates, here this is the kind of thing that we buy for a party or a picnic, so it easy to clean when you have a lot of people eating, but I don’t get using it to eat dinner at home, it seems to wasteful.

I'm in the US and agree with this. For eating by myself at home, I would either eat out of the takeout food containers (if suitable) or just use my regular plates.

[kacir]

Originally Posted by tempest@de

People eating at home using paper plates, ...
Is this a common thing in the US?

In 1992 I went to the USA to work for the summer at a summer children camp.
It was a fancy camp, with some kids having tennis lessons, waterskiing, shooting range, pottery shop (complete with a kiln), ratio of staff/kids was something like 1/3 ...
For two months we ate of paper plates and bowls and drank from paper cups. Only pots, pans and cutlery was washed in the kitchen. Everything else was taken from the table and dumped into a large plastic bag in the holder at the end of the table.

One of reasons, I was told, was that this was Kosher camp, so they would have to maintain two sets of dishes - one set for meat products and other for dairy and the rest (non-dairy and non-meat).

[theducks]

Originally Posted by 4691mls

I'm in the US and agree with this. For eating by myself at home, I would either eat out of the takeout food containers (if suitable) or just use my regular plates.

The paper plates are out in the Garage cupboard. They are mainly used for Camping, Painting (a perfect brush rest) and the occasional "take some home"

I don't know folk who use paper plates for Regular meals.

I run 'full loads' in the dishwasher (This requires having more settings than people, but since they are not being discarded... it is a 1 time expenditure)
BTW I discovered that using the machine (when full) used LESS hot water than doing by hand.

[DiapDealer]

In rural America where both (or all) adults work and the apartment they rent doesn't have a dishwashing machine: buying paper plates, keeping them in stock, and eating from them on a regular basis is not at all an uncommon occurrence in the US. Do you think stores would have such huge sections entirely devoted to disposable eatery, cutlery, bakeware, etc... if they were only being used for picnics?

I'll let others debate the wastefulness issue. It has nothing to do with whether or not it's common practice.

[Quoth]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

I'll let others debate the wastefulness issue. It has nothing to do with whether or not it's common practice.

Good point.

[John F]

I use paper plates Regularly and live in the U.S.

Will my MR membership card be revoked?

[4691mls]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

In rural America where both (or all) adults work and the apartment they rent doesn't have a dishwashing machine: buying paper plates, keeping them in stock, and eating from them on a regular basis is not at all an uncommon occurrence in the US. Do you think stores would have such huge sections entirely devoted to disposable eatery, cutlery, bakeware, etc... if they were only being used for picnics?

I'll let others debate the wastefulness issue. It has nothing to do with whether or not it's common practice.

Having grown up in a rural area in a house without a dishwasher, I thought having kids wash the dishes was a time-honored tradition!

[Uncle Robin]

Originally Posted by 4691mls

Having grown up in a rural area in a house without a dishwasher, I thought having kids wash the dishes was a time-honored tradition!

I'm approaching my mid-50s, and it's been more than 25 years since I've lived in a house with a dishwasher, washing the dishes remains my time-honored tradition. I'm not in the US though, and even where I live, mine is NOT the common practice.

[DiapDealer]

It's as common for people to eat off of paper plates at home in the US as it for people to argue on the internet about why they shouldn't.

[Uncle Robin]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

It's as common for people to eat off of paper plates at home in the US as it for people to argue on the internet about why they shouldn't.

Since it's been well established that MR is a tiny niche, are you saying the practice is vanishingly rare?

[tempest@de]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

Do you think stores would have such huge sections entirely devoted to disposable eatery, cutlery, bakeware, etc... if they were only being used for picnics?

Since I've never set foot in a US store I have no idea how big the selection is

I find interesting this kind of thread because it shows different reality’s then my own. I didn’t know that it was a common thing.

[tempest@de]

Another one: People that leave the bathroom after showering still covered in droplets of water.

Is this a common thing?

After the shower I always dry myself and only after it do I leave the bathroom.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by Uncle Robin

...washing the dishes remains my time-honored tradition. I'm not in the US though, and even where I live, mine is NOT the common practice.

Yeah, same here. I have no dishwasher either, because I live alone and don't like to cook. So there's really no point in having a dishwasher to wash my 2 plates and a cup.

But most families here have a dishwasher.

Btw, eating off paper plates at home is very uncommon in my country. I don't know anyone who does that. So it really seems to be a US thing.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by tempest@de

After the shower I always dry myself and only after it do I leave the bathroom.

Same.

[maddz]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

Btw, eating off paper plates at home is very uncommon in my country. I don't know anyone who does that. So it really seems to be a US thing.

Obviously it's because they haven't 'inherited' china and furniture from family friends and relations having a clear-out when people move out of the parental home...

Apart from a beds, dining table & chairs, chests of drawers and wardrobes, I mostly furnished my first place from cast-offs. It helps when people have gone through the war and never throw anything out. My Mum ended up with an attic full of hand-me-down clothes and soft furnishings (we never needed to buy tea towels - we cut up old sheets), and the china cupboard was full of part sets (her father's side were connected with the pottery industry).