At my previous employer a group of us would go to lunch together almost every day. The group consisted of 3 “core” members and 3-4 others who joined on occasion. We all shared a friendship that trancended work. As a matter of fact, our one inviolable rule was “No talking about work while on lunch”. It was nice having cow-orkers who were genuine friends to boot.
My current job is with a small company. I don’t have the same type of relationship with these cow-orkers as I did before. Even if we did we’d still have to take lunch separately because somebody has to stay behind and run the business. These days I use my lunch hour to relax, read the paper and recharge for the afternoon. I enjoy the alone time.
In college I once had lunch with someone I often ate with without ever saying a single word. I don’t remember which one of us sat down first–probably me, I think I would have asked verbally if he minded if I joined him; where he may have gotten away with a raised eyebrow and a smile. What I do know is that we ate in silence, got up together to dispose of our trays and walked downstairs and waved good-bye. Five minutes later, I met up with him and another friend. She called my name and said “Hi” so I responded in kind. This proved that I would speak to her.
If you get me started, I can dominate a discussion. Othertimes I say not a word and listen to others. I wouldn’t (in general) call myself anti-social, but I’m not real good at small talk or reading body language or other social skills.
I and my fellow workers liked to all go out to eat for the 13:00 to 22:00 shift. We had an hour lunch at different restraunts for a year. We also arranged for most evening workers to go out a couple hours after a 22:00 closing to places like Shakey’s Pizza and such. We had 20 to 40 people at these gatherings, up to 60 for birthdays. Along comes some crapy scheduling and nobody wanted to go out.
I’m in a weird situation. I’m a major foodie, and I love to go out to lunch, but no one here shares my taste for interesting, high-quality restaurants. I love exotic ethnic places, and am willing to drive a bit on my lunch hour to indulge myself. Most folks here would rather go to no place more threatening than a Denny’s or a Subway, yet San Jose is cram-packed with many cultures and their yummy cuisines.
However, I don’t mind much, as I rather like to eat alone. As has been pointed out in this thread, I work with these folks cheek-by-jowl all day and I welcome the chance to get away from them. Still, it would be fun to sometimes share my latest “fantastic food find” with a like-minded diner.
teela brown, who is off to lunch tomorrow to a new Malaysian joint.
I think I’m anti-social at work in general. I hate office gossip and politics, and do my best to stay away from it. I’m not at work to make friends. I have friends.
That said, I go home for lunch nearly every day, and love it. Some days I really need to get away from everyone. On the rare occasion, I go out for lunch with my mom, who works two days a week at the same place I do. Most of the time, though, she isn’t in the office at lunch time. Sometimes I make her come home with me for lunch instead of going out, and we whip up something fun there.
Unless there’s something special going on, like celebrating a department birthday, I’m antisocial at lunch too. I often bring lunch and eat different components of it during the day, and take my actual lunch hour relatively late so the afternoon is shorter. I usually spend the time in my car reading, although today I went to vote (early voting lasts until Friday here).
It’s not that I hate people, but I need some time to myself in the middle of a day.
I agree as well. If I MUST go out and eat with coworkers, then at least I’d prefer something besides blah chain foods. Eating out is expensive, I’d much rather go out for dinner with friends who non chain restaurants.
There’s no such thing as a formal lunch break where I’m working now, so it’s a non-issue. At my previous job, in a very structured office environment, I was very anti-social at lunch. I had a good excuse, since the lunch room was too small for everyone and I was the only one on the floor for whom English was a first language, and all lunchroom conversation was carried on in the language the majority were most comfortable in. I could understand and make myself understood, but it required too much concentration for casual conversations. I’d stay in my little office with a book for lunch rather than try to cram myself into a room full of people I’d end up tuning out anyway.
But even with a big lunchroom and no language barrier, I think I’d bring my book. I like a little quiet time in the middle of the day, and I’ve never had a job that felt like a place to socialize.
I work in a large complex that isn’t really close to any good places to eat, so I stay in for lunch. I do, however, avoid sitting with anyone that I work with. It’s not that I don’t like them; it’s just that I spend ALL DAY on the phone, and I’d really rather not talk during my lunch. Usually, I bring a good book.