Why do Americans eat dinner so early?

[Drunkenfinn]

How do you eat dinner at 6pm - aren't you still at work?

Dinner time = 8pm or thereabouts

Who's at work at 6pm?

At least where I'm from a normal work-day is from 8am to 4pm or so.

[Deleted]

How do you eat dinner at 6pm - aren't you still at work?

Dinner time = 8pm or thereabouts

Do you work 11-7pm? Holy shit, talk about getting the entire day ruined. I'd literally just end it at that point.

[Violent]

Relativity is not your strong suit, eh?

I, like everyone else should, eat whenever it is that I am hungry.

[Annoying]

Who's at work at 6pm?

At least where I'm from a normal work-day is from 8am to 4pm or so.

Pretty normal in the US to work 5x8 hour days. I work 4x9's with every other Friday being an 8 hour day.
I do 8a-6p (unpaid lunch) MTWTh, 8a-5p every other friday. Working 8-4 would be 6 hours here, and 5 of those is only 30 hours. We consider 40 hours to be full time employment.

I also often work later because I'm salaried and am exempt from overtime. Gotta get shit finished for deadlines.

[Deleted]

Who's at work at 6pm?

At least where I'm from a normal work-day is from 8am to 4pm or so.

Like most of the banking/finance industry, I work from 7:30/8am to 6/7pm every day - minimum

That's outside of additional hours caused by things like brexit, earnings season, etc where you can easily pull all-nighters watching Nikkei/Asia

[Violent]

Like most of the banking/finance industry, I work from 7:30/8am to 6/7pm every day - minimum

That's outside of additional hours caused by things like brexit, earnings season, etc where you can easily pull all-nighters watching Nikkei/Asia

My goodness, do you guys break out the hookers and cocaine while you're living your rockstar life as well?

You know 'cause, movies = real life.

[Deleted]

My goodness, do you guys break out the hookers and cocaine while you're living your rockstar life as well?

Sadly real life isn't like wolf of wall street

Well, not always

[Drunkenfinn]

Like most of the banking/finance industry, I work from 7:30/8am to 6/7pm every day - minimum

That's outside of additional hours caused by things like brexit, earnings season, etc where you can easily pull all-nighters watching Nikkei/Asia

Holy... that's a lot of work. I don't think I'd be able to work that many hours without going crazy.

I guess the additional wages would be nice, but damn...

Pretty normal in the US to work 5x8 hour days. I work 4x9's with every other Friday being an 8 hour day.
I do 8a-6p (unpaid lunch) MTWTh, 8a-5p every other friday. Working 8-4 would be 6 hours here, and 5 of those is only 30 hours. We consider 40 hours to be full time employment.

I also often work later because I'm salaried and am exempt from overtime. Gotta get shit finished for deadlines.

It's normal for us to work 5x8 hours, as well... It's just that we consider the lunch and the breaks as part of the work-time so a day from 8 to 4 is considered a full 8 hour day

At least that's how it was for me... 8 to 4 with lunch and a few coffee-breaks and still got paid for a full 8 hours a day. Then again I usually just drank my coffee while working :P But then AGAIN I did spend a lot of time doing... non-work-related things on my computer. But I never missed a deadline so it's all good.

[Deleted]

When I lived in the US I had dinner at around 18:30 and had to have a second dinner later on, what nonsense that was.

Tbh, my meal times are somewhat irrelevant since I constantly snack in-between - and then sometimes skip meals in return - anyway.

[Deleted]

Relativity is not your strong suit, eh?

I, like everyone else should, eat whenever it is that I am hungry.

Pretty sure you end up being fat if you eat whenever you're hungry

[tankbug]

We (non-Americans) have late dinners, between 8 and 9 pm.

Well, that's not accurate. In Norway, and I suspect at last Denmark to be the same, a family will eat around 17.30-18.00. Sweden have these legendary hefty lunches, so I'm not sure if they wait a bit longer or just eat lighter dinners.

[Annoying]

It's normal for us to work 5x8 hours, as well... It's just that we consider the lunch and the breaks as part of the work-time so a day from 8 to 4 is considered a full 8 hour day

At least that's how it was for me... 8 to 4 with lunch and a few coffee-breaks and still got paid for a full 8 hours a day. Then again I usually just drank my coffee while working :P But then AGAIN I did spend a lot of time doing... non-work-related things on my computer. But I never missed a deadline so it's all good.

Ah yeah. I'm sure they exist, as there's no real regulation on whether a company has paid lunches or not, but I've certainly never heard of anyone with a paid lunch. I see people eat at their desks and such, though, so an 8-4 here with lunch at the desk would work. I think 9-5 is probably more common, but same deal.

Pretty sure you end up being fat if you eat whenever you're hungry

Nah, I'm rarely hungry more than once a day, and eating a large lunch has kept me pretty much as far from fat as can be.

[Bryntrollian]

Who fuck waits until 8-9 to eat? I mean maybe for my second or third supper but definitely not my first.

Well, I leave work at 6:30pm but I have a 2 hour commute home...

[Raetary]

what do you mean with "early"? dont they eat dinner like everyone else? somewhere from 5-7?

- - - Updated - - -

We (non-Americans) have late dinners, between 8 and 9 pm.

no, YOU have late dinner.
i usually have my dinner ~7.

[Deleted]

Nah, I'm rarely hungry more than once a day, and eating a large lunch has kept me pretty much as far from fat as can be.

This is actually an interesting thing I've noticed as well

Skipping breakfast, eating a big lunch and eating a small, no-carb, high protein dinner always seems to work best for keeping lean

[Violent]

Sadly real life isn't like wolf of wall street

Well, not always

Haha, very, very sadly. lol

[Speaker]

I would say the largest factor in when you would eat your last big meal (dinner or supper) would be the time when you go to bed. I would say it would probably fall between 4-6 hours before that for most people. For me, it is around 11:30-midnight. I then go to sleep at 4-4:30 AM. I work second shift right now and I don't get home until 11:30.

[Violent]

Pretty sure you end up being fat if you eat whenever you're hungry

Uh, no not really. I'm not over-weight at all. I'm not a dog, I don't eat until I start puking it up. See, knowing when I'm hungry and eating also allows me to know when I'm full and to stop eating...

How is it you would assume that? Like it's now normal to assume people in America don't know how to eat?

Very rude.

Edit: So wait a sec.. Am I to assume, by way of your assumption, that you need to be told somehow by an external influence when to stop eating for fear of being/getting fat??

[Stormwolf64]

Dumbest thread i've read in a while. For a healthy lifestyle you place dinner a few hours before 19:00 were you should have a small evening meal. Eating dinner at 20:00 is too late, and if you don't have a godlike natural metabolism you might just get overweight/fat.

[DanThePaladin]

As far as I know, before 8pm is early compared to many EU countries.

I dunno what EU countries you are comparing too, but anything after 8PM is considered late.
4-5 is considered Early and everything in between there is "Normal"

Except of course if you go on Holiday, then you eat when you want.