My husband and I (no kids) eat every single supper sitting on the floor, backs to the couches, food on the coffee table, in front of the TV. I mean, every single one (unless we’re having people over for dinner, obviously.) We basically have Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert preside over every meal. The more I think about it, the more pathetic I think it is, but neither one of us is motivated to change it whatsoever. So…is anyone else this bad?
Dinner on our laps, in the bed, watching “30 Rock” repeats qualify?
I live alone. My dining room contains a dining room table. I’ve never eaten at it. That’s where I keep my bills, and some CDs and a few wine bottles, and pretty much anything that will fit on it as I’m walking by and need a place to put something.
Now in my livingroom, I have a couch with a nice coffee table. And a huge desk which holds my computer monitor and my TV (which sometimes doubles as a 32" flatscreen computer monitor as well).
That desk is my main spot for food consumption. In fact, that desk is my main spot for pretty much everything I do in my apartment except sleep.
Who’s pathetic now, huh?
No, but only because I rarely watch TV. I usually eat in front of the computer, though.
Yup. We didn’t do it as a family. I’ve been known to eat in front of the TV, or the computer, or usually just curled up on the couch (my TV is in my bedroom). I wouldn’t want to have family dinners there, just because it inhibits conversation (well, the theoretical conversation we could have), but I don’t see anything wrong with doing it occasionally.
If our dinner plans don’t involve our son, yes, we’ll often eat in front of the TV. We’re trying to stop, though, since we get almost 0 time alone and the TV tends to kill conversation in our house. My husband turns into a zombie when he turns it on.
My wife and I do so constantly.
I’m the same, but worse. Jon Stewart is my dining companion.
I live alone, and I will eat dinner at my dining room table more often than not. Lunch, too, because I work at home. Maybe 4 out of every 5 lunches and dinners at the table (with something to read) and the rest in front of the TV.
Now, see, I think that you’re wrong. I see nothing wrong with a single person eating in front of the tv. Whaddya gonna do. Sit there at the dining table, silently eating your supper. I suppose you could read, as well. Anyway…
I just think, in a perfect world, my husband and I would make dinner together and sit at the table and have a nice conversation. Sure, we could dine a couple of times a week tv-side, nothing wrong with that…but, EVERY SINGLE night?
Anyway, your posts make me feel better. It’s a lot more common than I would’ve thought. I assumed that we would be in the minority.
My wife and I sometimes have dinner in front of the TV if there’s something worth watching on (or we’ll put a TV show DVD on if we’ve gotten something new) but otherwise we work different schedules and I’m just as- if not more- likely to eat my dinner in front of the computer as I am to eat it at the table.
Occasionally. I find it to be tacky.
I don’t have a dining table, so I have always eaten in front of the TV. We don’t watch TV, just DVDs, but that’s normal.
There’s two of us! What do we even need a dining room table for?
We have a kitchen table, but we never eat at it. We’re always in front of the TV. We did it that way when Kid Kalhoun was little too. I grew up with a table-dining only family, but it just ain’t gonna happen today.
When we eat at a restaurant, I really enjoy the ‘no TV’ but we often end up watching one because we frequently eat in the bar (old habit from restaurant smoking days).
Ha, that’s what I do most of the time. I sometimes turn on the tv, but usually the only sound besides me is the hum of the fridge. Basically, since I was 18, I make my meal, set the table, eat, put away the leftovers and do the dishes (I use real flatware, plates and glassware all the time; I just don’t like plastic or paper or styrofoam stuff). I guess after 35 years, it’s a habit.
When I lived alone, I always ate in front of the TV. Even when I had a dining room table. The table was always cleared and clean, with a nice centerpiece, but it only got used when other people were around.
Now I live with my boyfriend and we eat 98% of our meals out, but on the rare occasions we do eat at home it’s at the dining room table – only because we have two dogs, and eating at the coffee table would be too hard. If I eat at home alone while the SO is out of town or something I revert to eating in front of the TV, but it’s always a one-dish thing: mac-n-cheese or some Lean Pockets, etc. Something I can hold while I eat it, and while I growl at the begging dogs. 
A minor hijack, if I may: Do people actually use paper/plastic/styrofoam plates and cups/disposable cutlery in their homes? I’ve never heard of this; the only time I (or anyone I know) uses disposable plates and cutlery is at BBQs. I just can’t imagine anyone using it in their house, but I’m guessing people do…
Nearly all the TVs in our house are on constantly, whether anyone is actually watching or not. However, if my husband were to kick the bucket today, all those damn TVs would be sitting at the curb tomorrow.
Okay, I might put one away in the closet just in case.
My SO and I often eat at a small high-top in the living room with the TV on but we frequently spend meals talking and miss whatever happens to be on.
Since we don’t have a dishwasher we use paper plates for anything that isn’t too soggy and/or doesn’t need a steak knife to get through.
Yes, in the fall and winter we eat dinner watching basketball, in the spring and summer we eat dinner watching Alton Brown. We have little folding tables we can put away when we’ve got guests. I call it eating “Simpson’s Style”.
When I was single, I ate my dinners out of the pot I cooked it in while standing over the sink, so I try not to let it bother me.