# Tell us about your daily work lunch experience (not the food, everything else) **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 17, 2018, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-about-your-daily-work-lunch-experience-not-the-food-everything-else/808988 "2018-02-17T12:42:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2018, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-about-your-daily-work-lunch-experience-not-the-food-everything-else/808988/1 "2018-02-17T12:42:35Z")
Aside from quitting time, lunch is the highlight of my work day. We are a pretty tight group and we are usually able to eat lunch together. We talk about TV, movies, stuff in the news, etc. and have a lot of laughs. Shop talk is frowned upon. I also bring and ‘host’ trivia once a week, which everyone loves. Sometimes I’ll run a Name That Tune game from a Spotify playlist. But honestly, I would be just as content eating alone while reading or doing a crossword. So what’s it like in your work world 'Round Noon? mmm ---
**Author:** ![Ruken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2018, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-about-your-daily-work-lunch-experience-not-the-food-everything-else/808988/2 "2018-02-17T13:02:18Z")
I eat at my desk and keep working. Otherwise the time isn’t billable to a client. ---
**Author:** ![epbrown01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7ba0ec/32.png) [@epbrown01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/epbrown01)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2018, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-about-your-daily-work-lunch-experience-not-the-food-everything-else/808988/3 "2018-02-17T13:10:32Z")
I work in a factory/warehouse environment and we do four 10-hour shifts a week with only 30 minutes for lunch. The older workers heat something up and gobble it down, the younger workers get chips and soda from the vending machines then stare at their phones, and I’d say 40% of both groups add “smoke furiously” to the agenda. (The Surgeon General has made no progress in KY.) Me, I rarely eat lunch, and typically read in my car (currently _Artemis_ by Andy Weir). ---
**Author:** ![Iggy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iggy/32/3364_2.png) [@Iggy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Iggy)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2018, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-about-your-daily-work-lunch-experience-not-the-food-everything-else/808988/4 "2018-02-17T13:19:22Z")
I work in a small 911 center so we cannot all go on lunch at the same time. Lunch is on my own, occasionally something I bring with me but more often something I grab from a restaurant or the hot food bar at the grocery. Usually there is enough time for a brief errand or two before heading back to the office. ---
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2018, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-about-your-daily-work-lunch-experience-not-the-food-everything-else/808988/5 "2018-02-17T13:20:30Z")
I’m most often eating at my desk. Sometimes working through lunch, sometimes just catching up on news or emails, and often some combination of the two. I work for the same firm now in DC that I worked for in LA, but the cultures are completely different. In LA, I was almost always eating lunch with another coworker or group of coworkers. In DC, people are friendly but tend to be more focused on keeping their heads down and not leaving the office during the day. I probably go out to lunch with a coworker once every two to four weeks. ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2018, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-about-your-daily-work-lunch-experience-not-the-food-everything-else/808988/6 "2018-02-17T13:34:13Z")
Sometimes I brown-bag it and eat in our lunchroom, but what I really like is to get out of the office and go to some little mom ‘n’ pop restaurant. San Jose has a small Japantown, and since Japanese food is my favorite meal, I will most often go there. I also like to try to work in an errand on my lunch hour, like a trip to the pharmacy or grocery store. If I still have a quarter of an hour left after this, I take a drive around some of the old neighborhoods near downtown and admire the craftsman and Victorian homes. It’s a nice break away from the computer screen. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2018, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-about-your-daily-work-lunch-experience-not-the-food-everything-else/808988/7 "2018-02-17T14:47:21Z")
People usually bring food. Everyone pays a small food tax to Rocco, my spoiled African Grey. ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2018, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-about-your-daily-work-lunch-experience-not-the-food-everything-else/808988/8 "2018-02-17T15:00:59Z")
> [@Asimovian](#): > > I’m most often eating at my desk. Sometimes working through lunch, sometimes just catching up on news or emails, and often some combination of the two. same. ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Mapp](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miss_mapp/32/369_2.png) [@Miss\_Mapp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Mapp)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2018, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-about-your-daily-work-lunch-experience-not-the-food-everything-else/808988/9 "2018-02-17T15:06:40Z")
I go down to the cafeteria and buy something, then take it back up to my desk and read something online while I’m eating. If an emergency email comes in, then I can deal with it, but normally I don’t work during lunch. I did try eating down at the cafeteria when we first moved to this building, but it’s too noisy to converse if you do have a lunch companion, and there’s only the same bleak view of the street below to look out of the window at if you eat alone. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2018, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-about-your-daily-work-lunch-experience-not-the-food-everything-else/808988/10 "2018-02-17T15:12:28Z")
> [@Ruken](#): > > I eat at my desk and keep working. Otherwise the time isn’t billable to a client. I eat at my desk and keep working because I tend to get immersed in my work, and my biorhythms are noctural-person rhythms and I just start to get useful and productive around 1/pm and taking a break for lunch is an interruption I don’t need. (I will have spent the morning reading emails, drinking coffee, and yawning) ---
**Author:** ![Buttercup\_Smith](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buttercup_smith/32/473_2.png) [@Buttercup\_Smith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buttercup_Smith)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2018, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-about-your-daily-work-lunch-experience-not-the-food-everything-else/808988/11 "2018-02-17T16:03:36Z")
I eat in my private office and either continue working or surf the net. ---
**Author:** ![Mona\_Lisa\_Simpson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ce7236/32.png) [@Mona\_Lisa\_Simpson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mona_Lisa_Simpson)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2018, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-about-your-daily-work-lunch-experience-not-the-food-everything-else/808988/12 "2018-02-17T17:03:56Z")
I am an instructor at a career college, so lunch is when my students loose focus or I hit the end of a section of lessons. It’s usually between 1130 and 1230 and may vary from a half hour to an hour depending on the flow of the day and what I needed to get done. Sometimes I heat up something from home and eat with my students other times I administer tests, set up the lab for the afternoon or frantically photocopy the afternoon papers. Other times I get out of the building and grab something from a nearby place. My co workers and I almost never eat together. I’d like to, but the odds of there being more than one of us of us free to lunch at the same times are vanishingly rare. ---
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2018, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-about-your-daily-work-lunch-experience-not-the-food-everything-else/808988/13 "2018-02-17T18:15:11Z")
I buy a lunch from the Corner Bakery in my office building lobby or from Nordstrom’s food court and bring it back to my desk. I usually do quizzes on Sporcle while eating. ---
**Author:** ![lorene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/65b543/32.png) [@lorene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lorene)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2018, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-about-your-daily-work-lunch-experience-not-the-food-everything-else/808988/14 "2018-02-17T18:26:26Z")
I do intermittent fasting, so I don’t eat until 3, when I have an ounce of almonds at my desk. I do take a break, usually, to surf Reddit and Ask a Manager. Although lately I’ve been in meetings over the noon hour, too, which is a drag. On Monday, I’m supposed to go to lunch with a co-worker as a belated birthday celebration. I’m torn between feeling grateful for the gesture and the opportunity to socialize, and feeling anxious about the disruption to my routine. I do like my routine. I’m going to see if we can have birthday drinks after work instead. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2018, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-about-your-daily-work-lunch-experience-not-the-food-everything-else/808988/15 "2018-02-17T18:27:29Z")
Relations between my coworker and I are so toxic that the only time we usually speak are to let the other know if we’re leaving the building to get food. I work second shift, so lunch is usually at 7 PM or so. In winter, I almost always bring lunch as I have no desire to get bundled up to go outside. In decent weather, sometimes I"ll go get something although the choices are slim at 7 PM in the Chicago loop. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2018, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-about-your-daily-work-lunch-experience-not-the-food-everything-else/808988/16 "2018-02-17T19:54:23Z")
I bring essentially the same food every day, and eat it in my office throughout the day. Don’t eat much breakfast, so I usually start eating within an hour or so after I get in. But some days get away from me, and I don’t eat until the hour before I head home. Don’t take any set or scheduled lunch or breaks, and don’t work with anyone I’d want to regularly spend a set period of time with. Cannot remember the last time I went out to lunch. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2018, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-about-your-daily-work-lunch-experience-not-the-food-everything-else/808988/17 "2018-02-17T20:01:28Z")
I go for a walk for my 30-minute “meal break”. Afterwards I’ll eat lunch at my desk. ---
**Author:** ![CelticKnot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/celticknot/32/3392_2.png) [@CelticKnot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CelticKnot)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2018, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-about-your-daily-work-lunch-experience-not-the-food-everything-else/808988/18 "2018-02-17T20:04:37Z")
What’s a lunch hour? 12:00 escort class to the cafeteria (unless the class is moving slowly, which is often) 12:05 go to the restroom in the teacher workroom in our hallway (no faculty lounge in this building, so no place to eat with other teachers), heating up frozen lunch if applicable 12:08-12:12, depending: go back to classroom to eat lunch at desk, read a book, catch up on news, decompress 12:27: Go back down to the cafeteria to collect class ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2018, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-about-your-daily-work-lunch-experience-not-the-food-everything-else/808988/19 "2018-02-17T20:12:04Z")
I keep a pantry in my desk and we have a shared fridge for the department, so my lunch is usually some main meal (soup or a frozen Lean Cuisine) with a side of cottage cheese and/or fruit cup, Snyder pretzels, V8, and a Lindor truffle or Ghiradelli chocolate square for dessert. On occasion I’ll get lunch at the company cafe or go out to Sweet Tomatoes. I take everything into the break room with my Kindle and enjoy an hour of me time away from my desk. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2018, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-about-your-daily-work-lunch-experience-not-the-food-everything-else/808988/20 "2018-02-17T21:24:33Z")
I work from home. Around 1 pm I feed the dogs, make something for myself, eat while I read a magazine, and am usually back in my office by 1:15. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-about-your-daily-work-lunch-experience-not-the-food-everything-else/808988.md?page=2)