Where I grew up people still do pop ins. You get around your problem by helping the person out with what they were doing when you popped in.

Doing the dishes when you pop in? Cool, you get to dry them as I wash. Everyone basically follows this rule. There’s no expectation of entertaining guests if you pop in for a visit.

That works if someone isn’t frantically trying to get from point A to point B, or so overwhelmed they are trying to find some time to stop and think. That’s the challenge for most Suburban parents around here anyway.

Everyone is busy at times, but if you are always frantically trying to get from A to B or overwhelmed, that's probably an issue in its own right in need of addressing.

Of course! That’s also practically what most middle class folks with kids are in all day every day. Upper middle class too.

If not that well off, it’s usually worse.

And near as I can tell, that barely keeps their head above water, if that.

I feel like a literal pop in does not work for many people due to mobile phones and suburbs. Suburbs make it so you have to go at least a little out of your way to visit someone, which means you might as well call to make sure they are available before wasting your time on a detour.

Although, I see no problem with impromptu visits, I get them all the time. They just happen to call or text before coming.

Agree. Even when I was a kid, "pop-ins" were only immediate neighbors, maybe within a 3-4 house radius. Anyone farther away you'd call first, even with landlines.

These days many people don't even know the names of the people living across the street.

I was about to read HN now what