As far as world dilemmas go, this one is certainly a minor one: It appears that the White House is dealing with a crystal shortage. This is a bit on the bizarre side when you consider that the White House has hosted such prominent world leaders as Nelson Mandela and Queen Elizabeth and a bevy of others over the past 100 years, The Independent reports.

But with Biden now in office, social events are in full swing, but the crystal is definitely in short supply. And according to the White House Historical Association, the last purchase of new crystal glassware for a full state dinner attended by 400 people happened during the Nixon administration.

According to CNN, the crystal shortage has been an issue that dates back to George W. Bush’s presidency, when opulent state dinners were typically held about once per year.

Barack Obama took over where Bush left off, hosting Chinese President Xi Jinping (including music by Ne-Yo), German Chancellor Angela Merkel, and Japanese leader Shinzo Abe.

Glassware was generally rented for these occasions, CNN reports, and sometimes as many as 350 matching sets would be needed.

“It’s like going to the Met Gala in a Rent The Runway Gown,” one former White House official told CNN.

“Here you are at the White House, but you’re drinking from glasses you could get from the local caterer,” the unnamed official said. “Some people don’t think it’s a big deal, but some people really, really do.”

I dunno, I think maybe Ukraine, climate change, deforestation, and human overpopulation are bigger deals but that’s just me. What do I know?

And as for Donald Trump who did a bang-up job of irritating most of our foreign allies, his administration held only two state dinners: One for French President Emanuel Macron in 2018, another for Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison in 2019. I’m guessing Angela Merkel was more than happy to NOT attend any of these dinners.

The task of maintaining such White House traditions is generally considered under the purview of the first lady, but as we’ve learned Melania Trump had a proclivity for maintaining her privacy. And we all know how much she “loves” Christmas, so it’s not too surprising that only two such dinners were held. And during her 4 years as First Lady, Melania found time to build a tennis pavilion, but never found the time to order more glassware and crystal. Which you would think would be right up her alley.

Now in all fairness, Michelle Obama didn’t restock the crystal either, nor did Laura Bush. But Melania Trump was this beautiful model. She went to college (albeit briefly) for architecture. Design and beauty were her forte. So it’s rather surprising that she wouldn’t take it upon herself to make sure the White House was fully stocked. That’s the job of the FLOTUS. And since Melania spent a year of her time in the White House basically on quarantine, you’d think she’s find the time to get this done.

But the pandemic is finally letting up and we’re at a point where diplomacy is desperately crucial, and that means it will be up to first lady Jill Biden to give some thought to whether to maintain the crystal status quo by mixing and matching stemware, continue the practice of renting available stemware, or purchasing new sets.

Should Dr. Biden need any assistance, White House Historical Association President Stewart McLaurin said the association will be more than happy to help.

“We have worked with 12 presidents since the Kennedys, and we naturally have a longer arc of knowledge as to what is needed, or what would be a good investment, but our role is not to criticize,” McLaurin said. “We would say we are not lobbying for this at all, it is just a consideration we make. We want to be respectful of every first lady’s role.”

If the Bidens plan to hold state dinners, let’s hope as much consideration also goes into the current state of the world. Certainly, it’s nice to have beautiful crystal ware, but if everything continues like business as usual we may find that those state dinners and our time on this Earth at an end rather more abruptly than we’d expected.