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It is sad to know some people don't have a lunch time. It is important for one's mental and physical health to have some breaks within a work day. Lunch is the hour when you can either eat or take a stroll in the neighborhood - just do something to relax and refill your body's engine. All work and no play reminds me of slavery in a way. Except for cases people voluntarily give up their lunch time to pursue career purposes.
Me personally, I like to skip lunch and go home early (e.g. Work straight from 7:00am-3:00pm instead of 7:00am-3:30pm with a 30 minute lunch) or skip lunch and get paid overtime for it, assuming it's alright with management.
I intermittent fast and eat one meal a day during the work week, so I skip eating lunch (and breakfast). It works really well, since I usually only get about a 15 minute break anyway.
I share an office with 3 or 4 other people, and 3 desks. If a desk is free sometimes I'll eat there while doing work, sometimes chatting if someone wants to chat. Sometimes I go to our break room, which is usually fairly quiet. Rarely I'll walk to the one place within walking distance and get a sandwich.
It is sad to know some people don't have a lunch time. It is important for one's mental and physical health to have some breaks within a work day. Lunch is the hour when you can either eat or take a stroll in the neighborhood - just do something to relax and refill your body's engine. All work and no play reminds me of slavery in a way. Except for cases people voluntarily give up their lunch time to pursue career purposes.
I agree completely with Ecru. I was fired from my last job, and a major reason was because I refused to work through lunch. We were NOT paid for the entire lunch period despite the requirement that the employees work throughout lunch, and I am a disabled employee and really needed part of the time to take a power nap since my medications cause drowsiness. But I'm fine with it.
I'm an older, wiser employee and don't put up with the BS from companies I used to. I give companies my all and work hard for them, but if they don't treat me fairly, I leave without regret. I have since noticed the company suffers from high turnover and their employees are not very happy there.
Me personally, I like to skip lunch and go home early (e.g. Work straight from 7:00am-3:00pm instead of 7:00am-3:30pm with a 30 minute lunch) or skip lunch and get paid overtime for it, assuming it's alright with management.
Might work for some, but a lot of us are or were in salaried positions where we didn't get paid for that 1/2 lunch period if we choose to work it. Plus I think we all need a break from the desk each day.
I work in New York City, so there are endless food choices within a quick walk of the office.
Sometimes I do meet friends for lunch, and occasionally I bring food from home if I have something left over and I don't want it to go to waste, but I will most often spend money to get food I am not going to make at home. I can go to the hot-and-cold salad bars/buffet and get a piece of teriyaki salmon with sweet potatoes and Brussels sprouts and a salad on the side, for example. Can I make that at home? Sure. Am I going to waste my evenings at home cooking all those separate things for one person and cart it into work just to save a couple of dollars? No. Someone has cooked it and it's available to me ready-made, and I am willing to pay for that.
Same with soup. I love the tomato vegetable soup at the deli next door. I love the Moroccan lentil soup at Pret a Manger.
Do I want to make a whole pot of those soups at home? No! I just want some every other week or so. As I get older and am not as broke as I was when raising my daughter, I learned to change my attitude and that it's not all about saving a nickel anymore, but quality of life and TIME. I am not wasting any more precious time than I have to preparing food.
I also go to a lot of lunches and dinners as part of my job, and I don't pay for them because they are a cost of doing business for my employer. I figure the free meals balance out what I spend for lunches that I pay for myself.
It is sad to know some people don't have a lunch time. It is important for one's mental and physical health to have some breaks within a work day. Lunch is the hour when you can either eat or take a stroll in the neighborhood - just do something to relax and refill your body's engine. All work and no play reminds me of slavery in a way. Except for cases people voluntarily give up their lunch time to pursue career purposes.
Well, IIRC, the poster "stan4" works in some capacity at a hospital, and people in the medical professions don't always have the leisure of regular hours and lunch breaks, but rather have to work around the needs of the patients they are treating.
At one of my jobs, we had to take an hour break at a specific time, so I would spend it sitting with three work friends. It was nice to hang out with friends, but we'd often end up talking through work issues or venting about work, and I would have preferred to not have to deal with work at all during my break. And I hated that it was an hour long. I'm an introvert, so dealing with a bunch of stress the first half of the day, then having to sit and talk with people for an hour, then go back to work for another half day was exhausting. (I did try to just read by myself a few random times, but my friends would guilt me about it.)
At my last job, we had to take a half hour lunch break, but it could be whenever we wanted. I'd go to the cafeteria after the crowd died down, sit alone and read blogs on my phone while I ate. It was much more relaxing than my previous lunch situation.
Quote:
Originally Posted by hertfordshire
I had a similar problem, but I wasn't willing to walk all the way out to my car just to avoid my coworkers. So I printed out a sign that said "On my lunch break. I'm not really here. I'm just a figment of your imagination. I will return at 1:00" and I tape it above my head during my lunch hour. When a coworker approaches with a question, I don't even turn around. I just point to the sign and keep eating.
I like that. Funny, but direct. :]
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ecru
What is anti-social? Is it the right term here? I prefer solitude in many cases of my life. E.g., not only do I prefer eating alone, but walking alone from job too to the nearest subway station at the end of my working day. Some people walk home in groups or couples though. Yet I enjoy talking with people, and job that doesn't require communicating with other people is not my cup of tea.
I assume it is a good indicator that corporate culture is not that good in your company.
Me too. I just want to leave when I'm ready, not have to wait for someone else and then talk while walking (which I find awkward to do--I'd rather give someone my full focus rather than just half of it while paying attention to where I'm walking and the other people we're passing).
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I prefer solitude in many cases of my life. E.g., not only do I prefer eating alone, but walking alone from job too to the nearest subway station at the end of my working day. Some people walk home in groups or couples though. Yet I enjoy talking with people, and job that doesn't require communicating with other people is not my cup of tea.
