Why I hate punch bowls

1) They are often, wide, gaping bowls with no cover. As such, a nice layer of dust is allowed to settle on the punch. They are usually set low on a table so people have to stand over the bowl to get punch. Think of all the hair, dander, and clothing fibers that they shed while serving. God forbid anyone sneezes nearby! And if there are young children in the vicinity- forget about it.

2) A lot of focus is put on making the punch beautiful and not always enough on making it taste good. Sometimes the "pretty stuff" even gets in the way of the drinkable portion.

3) Way too messy. Even with a nice ladle with a spout on it, the bottom of the ladle has still been in the punch. It's going to be drippy. The cups are usually too small to accommodate the circumference of the entire ladle, so the drips don't always make it into the cups, they usually end up running down the sides. Pair that with the fact that most punches are red, you have one big drippy, sticky, staining mess.

And if you are apt to drop things like I am, you may just accidentally drop your cup into the bowl. Depending on how much punch was in the cup at the time, everyone around me has varying degrees of punch splash all over their pretty party clothes.