Ask HN: Where are all the parties?

This. Responsibilities, work, family and reduced metabolism over age.

Also, try to remember how many old geezers you had in your parties when they were held? Yep, close to none. Now we are that category.

For work parties, COVID changed everything. The company I used to work for used to love parties. There were parties every month at a minimum (last Friday of the month) and for successful projects etc.

With COVID, many people moved out of the city centre with the option of remote/hybrid work. That means less people can drink at the work parties. Instead of just catching a bus home or walking, they need to drive to the office.

The people I'm still in contact with said the work party group is basically dead now.

For personal parties, that solely depends on your friend group.

Probably a combination of all three reasons you listed. Covid did kill a lot of parties, and rightly so, and it's not over yet. That said, a lot of people seem to think Covid is over and are desperate to finally have a party again. Friends of ours celebrated their 12.5 years of marriage with a party on a big sailing ship. My wife and I celebrated our 15 years of marriage pretty big (food and drinks, board games and silent disco) and everybody loved it.

So if you want parties, organise some. But maybe first check what the Covid infection rates in your area are...

- The Covid hysteria was brutal in destroying what was left of the social fabric.

- People have become more and more anti social since the introduction of the smart phone.

- Intense schooling has made people apathetic to life and reluctant towards taking any initiative.

- Wealthy individuals don't need to host parties to impress their communities anymore.

- Sex soliciting apps like Tinder makes parties a place where the action isn't anymore.

- Young adults are extremely poor today. They don't have houses to throw parties in, they're too old to throw them in their parents houses, their landlord will complain if they throw a party in their apartment.

- People are afraid of being filmed when drunk and embarrassing themselves.

- Men are afraid of false sexual accusations.

- It is difficult to cater to people today if you serve food at your party or even throw a dinner. Everybody has allergies, diets and other eating problems, and they're not ashamed to demand you adapt to them.

- Wide spread narcissism. Young women and men stopped having conversations with each other at parties.

- People don't have patience to talk to each other and don't understand how to find something interesting in their fellow man.

- And yes, you're getting older.

But the number one reason I think is that the people who have been keeping up the good fight and throwing parties, barbecues, dinners and other events are sick and tired of always having to host and always invite people. So many people just float along and expect others to plan everything, contributing nothing themselves.

During the many years of schooling in childhood and being raised by parents who were also schooled, most people have had it hammered into their head that the worst crime you can do is come up with an idea or suggest something out of the routine. Of course they will not throw a party.