Eating Times

As I called a programmer the other day to fix the machine at work, I got a response from him that felt quite vague. He said he'd call me back after supper. I answered that it was alright with me and that I would wait his call.

No wait! Why did I do that? Who am I to know when this man would eat? This guy could eat from 4pm until 9pm for all I know. I naturally assumed 7pm would be the optimal call back time. Why think that way? Thinking of it now, I'm not sure.

Growing up, I always thought that the average supper time was 6pm. So I always made the assumption as I grew older that people generally ate around that time. When I asked someone about the technician calling me back after supper, the person answered with a question: "What nationality is the technician?". The question was a surprise but sounded like an intelligent one. The technician is French-Canadian (Quebecois for the sensitive). The person then said "Oh, so he should be done eating by now, Quebecois eat around 5pm".

5pm? Way lower then what I was expecting, but it is a good remark. As a child, 5:30pm was the time at which we use to eat. When I went to my friend's house, if they were French-Canadian as well, that was the time at which we ate.

But hold on, if there is a cultural correlation, then why stop there? Friends of mine are Jewish Persian, they eat around 9pm. Others I know from different cultures eat earlier. What does that tell me culturally about each one? Does it mean anything at all?

Is there a correlation between eating times and some other social part of our culture? I remember often hearing that people were finished eating "just in time for the news" which are shown here at 6pm. Does this mean anything?