Millenials are killing napkins

When I was a tot, our household had napkins, paper towels, toilet paper and tissues (we called them Kleenexes). One day visiting one of the proto hipsters of my adolescence, I noticed the guy had a roll of toilet paper prominently displayed on his desk. When I sneezed, he pulled off a block or two and gave them to me. From then on, I never bought tissues again, at least until my fiftieth birthday.

Recently I came across two articles about how millennials had substituted paper towels for napkins. It made me realize I, myself, hardly a millennial, had stopped buying napkins in my twenties and still don't own any. I have to admit I don't host dinners in my kitchen, but still...

Napkins and tissues are things that are supposed to re-emerge in a man's life after he gets married, gets a mortgage, and starts hosting dinners at home. There is the matter of ascetics. Especially if you have company over, a paper towel in a place setting is pretty UGH. An old fashioned cloth napkin is best, but to be more informal a paper napkin with a cutesy picture is also acceptable.

For me, eating a meal in front of the television, I find paper towels work fine. I buy paper towels in groups of ten to save money.  Unlike fruit and vegetables, paper goods last a long time. Now that I'm aware of the decline of paper napkins, I'm tempted to buy a pack. With a cute design. To be ironic.