So, I’ve spent most of the last seven years working second or third shift and yes, it’s damn hard to meet people except for bartenders or restaurant workers.
I’ve got a subscription to the Atlantic so I’ll check out the article. But, I will say that things in general have changed and not just because of work shifts. A bowling league, even if you’re not really into bowling, sounds a lot more appealing when the alternative is watching some made for TV disease of the week movie on a tube tv. Nowadays with massive flat screens and surround sound and the ability to watch almost anything, it’s easier to stay home.
Also, draconian DUI laws have made the night out socializing not as appealing, especially if you’re in a suburb without good public transit. Swilling pitchers of Bud at the bowling alley vs picking up a 6 pack of craft beer and staying at home are two options and many would go for the latter.
Back in the long-ago day (at least in the South), folks would come home after a long day’s work and chill out on their front porch. Friends would stop by and sit on the porch and visit for a spell. And you were kind of forced to sit on the porch because 1) it was hot indoors during the summer and 2) there wasn’t much to do inside that you couldn’t do on the porch anyway.
With the invention of AC, radio, and TV, people stopped sitting on their porches as much. People likely stopped “dropping by” to visit as much because they too wanted to enjoy their individual forms of entertainment.
I think what we are seeing is a progression of this. I am a homebody who enjoys her solitude, but I have no doubt in my mind that I would be more drawn to people and social activities if I didn’t have high-speed internet access and on-demand TV viewing and a climate-controlled living room. I have plenty of leisure time to accommodate a social life. I just don’t feel the need to have one because of all the luxuries of modern life I have.
No, because I’ve recently made several friends at work. For context, I am a man in my late 30s with severe social anxiety and I had not previously made a new friend (For me that is someone I keep in touch with and see when I am around, rather than an acquaintance) in over 20 years. I went to 2 huge universities. Graduated from the 2nd one and not a single person spoke to me in 3 years on campus. I’ve had the same handful of friends since high school. Now I have a few more, only BECAUSE of my work. I don’t really know how to make friends otherwise. I’m not picking them up at the grocery store or anything and I don’t go to bars (or I do and don’t speak to anyone).
Well yes and no. Yes people that worked say at hospitals or night cleaning crews worked nights. But banks, doctors and dentists offices, county courthouses, and retail pretty much shut down at 5. Now doctors/dentists have evening and weekend hours. I’ve seen court houses where one goes before a judge about a traffic fine - open at night. Banks often keep their drive thrus open late. Fast food goes till midnight. Many WalMarts are 24 hours.
Now I’ve talked to my coworkers who go to bars and they many bars have a late happy hour which starts around midnight for those who work late shifts.
Yeah I remember when sunday and wednesday nights were church related nights and oddly, monday nights were for scouts (boys and girls). Schools would plan around those nights.
The Atlantic article doesn’t really define a “nowadays” to place in comparison with a specific time frame in the past. So it can’t cite any evidence that people are socializing “less,” because–less than what? At least with regard to schedules, you can’t draw any meaningful conclusions when you’re taking about so many different kinds of work and social strata. It could be that many people just socialize in very different ways now. (Since when have bowling teams and ice cream socials been the standard for social interactions?)
However, most of what the article actually says is the obvious: as families, people collectively just have to put in more total work hours, which isn’t news to anyone. That inevitably cuts into time available for socializing.
Also–for schools to effectively coordinate with religious organizations you are presuming a very small and homogeneous community, or probably are ignoring people who have entirely other ways to socialize without realizing it.
I think that depends on an individual. If all you do is go to work, stop by stores after work, and go home, then “yes”. How could it not? On the other hand, if you make it a point to GO OUT to places and meet people, it won’t.
Well I think the issue is not do you just work alot, but does your work schedule and the schedules of others impair your ability to make and keep relationships.
Unless you work in investment banking or consulting or a big law firm, how many people really work crazy hours or travel so much that they don’t have time for a social life? Most of the companies I visit as my clients, their employees jet out the door at 5:00 or earlier.
It’s funny, but I’m friends with a couple who are like that. She doesn’t work, but always seems to be the one organizing all their parties and social activities.