I look upon my midday meal break as a chance to detach my brain from all the stuff on my desk and seek a brief respite of mind and body. Most of the time, I eat at my desk, surfing these boards, hoping no one phones with a technical question.
I used to go out with coworkers, but I had to stop - they wanted to talk shop. It’s as if they didn’t have lives apart from their jobs. No one had hobbies or plans or dreams to toss out for general consideration. It was even worse if a boss-type person came along. And I’m not talking “working lunch” here, whatever that is - I’m referring to your any-day-of-the-week-time-to-eat lunch.
I put it to all and sundry - is lunchtime downtime? What do you do for your hour or so? (I’m being generous - I get 30 minutes)
Some days I sit at the desk and eat (and check the boards), particularly if it is a very busy day and the phones are ringing off the hook. Microwave some soup and answer the phones. (With baby bird season starting, it looks as if I will be eating at my desk for the nexxt 3 months - every one calls in about “abandoned” babies that have fallen out of the nest - one day I logged 61 ‘bird calls’ in a eight hour workday.)
Other days I MUST get out of the office: I usually head over to Borders, get a coffee and look through the humor and art sections. Otherwise, it’s over to the fabric store for some new ideas for clothes and garb.
I have it really good right now. I usually work while I eat and then take about 45 minutes for a walk later in the afternoon when the sun isn’t too strong. I’m going to miss that if I change jobs, which may happen soon.
I will generally eat at my desk. I browse the boards and if it is a stressful day I will poke my nose out for some fresh air and a chance to regroup.
One day a week I like to buy my staff lunch (we will eat in our break room). I try not to talk shop but sometimes they insist. It is a less formal communication method.
I’m another one of those wishy-washy people. It really depends on the day. If my day has been very project-oriented, like when I’m laying out an issue of our newsletter, then I either stay at my desk (because I don’t want to subject another human being to my poor attitude) or I love to get away from the office and my computer monitors.
On the other hand, sometimes I eat lunch with my boss and we swing ideas back and forth; some days, I love that energy and having that kind of say/influence in my organization.
I guess I’m a lot like moi It all depends on the day. Sometimes I go off by myself and even abandon my best friend, just to write. Now that my best friend isn’t as best friend-y and my ex-boyfriend so adores to show off his new girlfriend to me I’m finding that lunch is just time for me. I go off and just write. Before I used to do work but I can’t deal with it anymore.
My lunch hour is very businesslike in its planning of recreation.
I work downtown in a fairly large city, so any errands I may need to run, I can accomplish in 10 minutes, tops.
It’s the same everyday (other than those few days a month where I have to run said errands), 3 minutes after the clock strikes 1pm, I’m outside enjoying a coffin nail, and the weather. By 10 after it’s off to the local Red Robin Restaurant for a quarters worth of Marvel vs. Capcom II. At 20 to 2 I grab a quick bite at one of the local fast food places, and still have a few minutes to relax with another cancer stick before heading back up to my cubicle hell.
I usually eat my lunch at my desk and surf the news sites on the web. Lunchtime used to be the time I would do most of my posting on this board, but with the length of time it takes for pages to load lately (especially around noon), I haven’t done much of that.
If I’m not too busy, I’ll squeeze in some errands on my lunch break. But we’ve been pretty swamped at work lately, so I’ve pretty much been glued to my desk.
I usually use non-business lunch breaks with friends who aren’t in the business. That stops the shop talk. Even with co-workers, we don’t talk regular business, but things like weekend plans. What you need is to meet some more people at work, someone in another department. Someone you only meet in the line for the copier. Just flat out say “Do you eat lunch here or go out? …Care if I join you sometime, I just need something new to talk about.” If they make you feel weird, it’s just someone you don’t really know.
