# What do you do on your lunch break? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 20, 2016, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-on-your-lunch-break/743676 "2016-01-20T14:41:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2016, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-on-your-lunch-break/743676/61 "2016-01-21T17:16:55Z")
> [@Blackstock](#): > > I go to an isolated and windowless cigar lounge in the building where I work. It’s usually empty, so I sit down on the same couch, order a sandwich and coffee. After finishing the sandwich, I motion the waitress behind the glass to serve my coffee and I plug in my earphones and listen to drone ambient music, fantasize about death, have my coffee, and smoke exactly three cigarettes over a period of 35 minutes. > [@scootergirl](#): > > What kind of cigs? I need the whole picture. I may sketch it. What color is the couch? Why is the waitress behind glass? What does she look like? Ok, enough questions. Wow, I had the same thoughts as I read his post. I could picture the scene like the opening of a noir film. What kind of sandwich? What is the waitress’ name? (Can her name be Thelma? Please?) ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2016, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-on-your-lunch-break/743676/62 "2016-01-21T17:19:01Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Heh. A friend stopped by work one afternoon over lunch and I offered him a beer. I keep a few in the fridge, mostly to offer to friends. He was weirded out, saying that he thought it was “illegal” to drink at work.😕 Obviously he never worked at [Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce](http://madmen.wikia.com/wiki/Sterling_Cooper_Draper_Pryce). ---
**Author:** ![GrumpyBunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bc8723/32.png) [@GrumpyBunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrumpyBunny)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2016, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-on-your-lunch-break/743676/63 "2016-01-21T17:40:36Z")
> [@UncleRojelio](#): > > I’m doing it right now. Me, too! ---
**Author:** ![GrumpyBunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bc8723/32.png) [@GrumpyBunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrumpyBunny)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2016, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-on-your-lunch-break/743676/64 "2016-01-21T17:42:22Z")
> [@Enright3](#): > > I have a cafeteria in my building, and a regular lunch is around $6-$8. God help you if you get a salad where you pay by weight :eek:. I’m amazed at the people who buy a salad for over $8 that could be made at home for less than $1. I buy the salad veggies, but not the dressing (I prefer to make my own) or the meat, cheese, and sunflower seeds. I can’t keep veggies fresh for more than a couple of days, and I hate elderly produce. ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2016, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-on-your-lunch-break/743676/65 "2016-01-21T19:10:45Z")
> [@Aangelica](#): > > I have learned through bitter and repeated experience that if I do not physically leave my office building, I will not get a lunch break at all. > [@LSLGuy](#): > > Back when I had an office job I always went out to eat. Usually deli-style or sit-down, never fast food. Getting away from the crazy for an hour was by far the best part of those days. ^^These. I have 3 nearby places where I eat - a Subway, a home cooking place, and authentic Mexican place. All offer healthy meals. Depending on which I choose that day, I spend between $6-$7 including drink. I almost always go alone and read my newspaper while I eat. Its’ my sanity break, and well worth the $35 per week. ---
**Author:** ![Soylent\_Juicy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/82dd89/32.png) [@Soylent\_Juicy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soylent_Juicy)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2016, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-on-your-lunch-break/743676/66 "2016-01-21T19:36:16Z")
I get an hour. On days when my husband is working all day I drive home to let the dog out. I go to the mailbox, let the dog outside, sometimes do some backyard pickup if there’s no snow, let her back in, make an easy lunch, watch a half-hour show (Big Bang Theory, Simpsons, Family Guy, or South Park usually), find each cat and kiss them on the head, then go back to work. On days when my husband is home I walk across the street to the gym and work out for 45 minutes or so then eat lunch at my desk after. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2016, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-on-your-lunch-break/743676/67 "2016-01-21T20:02:59Z")
> [@GrumpyBunny](#): > > I buy the salad veggies, but not the dressing (I prefer to make my own) or the meat, cheese, and sunflower seeds. I can’t keep veggies fresh for more than a couple of days, and I hate elderly produce. I read something online that you might find helpful. The blogger portions out salad greens, cherry tomatoes, celery, scallions, whatever (not meat or cheese) into five jars and puts them in the fridge. She grabs one every day to take to work and adds the dressing right before eating. I did this with small ziploc plastic containers, only I did seven days’ worth. Tucked in the crisper drawer of the fridge they easily stay fresh for well over a week. I can never keep salad greens fresh when I leave them in the big bag, and anyway, often I’m just too lazy to make a salad. But with these babies stacked in the refrigerator, it’s easy to grab one whether to take to work or to eat for dinner. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2016, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-on-your-lunch-break/743676/68 "2016-01-21T20:51:48Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > I can never keep salad greens fresh when I leave them in the big bag, and anyway, often I’m just too lazy to make a salad. But with these babies stacked in the refrigerator, it’s easy to grab one whether to take to work or to eat for dinner. I do this with salad too. The kids never close up the big bag properly and the salad goes bad real fast. But in the sandwich bags, it stays good and I throw away a lot less. ---
**Author:** ![jabiru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bbce88/32.png) [@jabiru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jabiru)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2016, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-on-your-lunch-break/743676/69 "2016-01-21T22:26:09Z")
Officially, I get 30 minutes for a meal break (lunch or dinner - I’m a shift worker) but I count myself lucky if I can grab 10. I always take food which won’t spoil if I don’t get to eat it (e.g. something frozen), which heats quickly and/or can be scoffed quickly. ---
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2016, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-on-your-lunch-break/743676/70 "2016-01-22T01:05:08Z")
Weirdly, my relaxation time is the 30-45 minutes early I always arrive at the studio. ( I’m a cameraman. ) I just today transitioned from buying a small omelette every morning at the corner deli to making my own eggs and such in the microwave at the studio. A bit of a -gag- but I’ll adjust. MUCH less expensive. I get in, get settled, change my shoes ( a must since I wear 100% black on set ) and eat my breakfast and surf the Net. By the time the rest of the crew is in I’m fed and relaxed. Lunch? Damn. I just passed my 1 year anniversary at this gig, which I do adore. For many months we had an hour. ( We do 5 10 hour shifts a week ). A few months ago the break became 12:20-12:45. This week I had a day when I had exactly 6 minutes between the end of a meeting and the start of the next shoot. In that time I would have had to have sprinted up 2 flights of stairs, grabbed my Seamless order of lunch, sprinted back down, wolfed it down and gotten my hands clean before I strapped on the Steadicam again. I decided to wait, so I went from 7:30am to 3:10pm with no break. At my delicious pernil from Sophie’s reheated… that was a first, that level of compressed shoots, but from the bits we’re all hearing, this is the new norm. So. What do I do during my lunch break? Make television !!! :dubious: ( And since this is a rant no, I cannot identify where I do this ) ---
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2016, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-on-your-lunch-break/743676/71 "2016-01-22T01:07:11Z")
> [@scootergirl](#): > > What kind of cigs? I need the whole picture. I may sketch it. What color is the couch? Why is the waitress behind glass? What does she look like? Ok, enough questions. Great image painted there. I’m imagining her looking a LOT like [this gal](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51eLB%2BgcstL.jpg). 😃 ---
**Author:** ![BeeGee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b5a626/32.png) [@BeeGee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BeeGee)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2016, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-on-your-lunch-break/743676/72 "2016-01-22T03:01:38Z")
Lunch is my main meal of the day since I take medication at night that requires an almost empty stomach to work well. I chose to take a thirty minute lunch which I eat at my desk. I surf the web on my work kindle. People come in sometimes and want me to do something. Most of the time, I say “let me look into it after lunch” Sometimes I say “do you see the sandwich in my hand? Scram, pest!” Sometimes I say “Certainly, Dr. X, let me look at that for you.” Gotta know your audience. But this is a congenial place to work and even Dr X knows people need their lunch time. Like a good 90% of my co-workers, I also eat my breakfast at my desk. Which I also bring from home. I tend to make oatmeal and chicken dinners on Sunday to last the week. Vacuum sealing is my friend. ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2016, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-on-your-lunch-break/743676/73 "2016-01-22T04:00:57Z")
I leave my lunch in my car on days I work. I then go out to the car to eat (and read) in peace and quiet, without having to listen to the TV and all the other people in the break room. ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2016, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-on-your-lunch-break/743676/74 "2016-01-22T04:09:29Z")
Go into a bathroom stall and beat off like a bandit. ---
**Author:** ![Pork\_Rind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pork_rind/32/111_2.png) [@Pork\_Rind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pork_Rind)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2016, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-on-your-lunch-break/743676/75 "2016-01-22T04:50:57Z")
For quite a while, my main project and clientkept me busy with immediate fires that if I got lunch at all, it was grabbing a sandwich from the nearest place and running back to my desk. If things were really out of hand, then it was Jimmy John’s delivery and I didn’t even need to leave my desk. More recently, I’m on new programs with much longer lead type work. So I’ll go to the nearest area with a lot of lunch options, pick one, and if you can believe it, _eat it there._ I still feel guilty about it. And then most days I’ll then walk down to the beach on the way back, since the water is only a block from my office. Damn hard to beat. ---
**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:** [January 22, 2016, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-on-your-lunch-break/743676/76 "2016-01-22T12:01:18Z")
> [@HMS\_Irruncible](#): > > Go into a bathroom stall and beat off like a bandit. And what about the remaining 59 minutes? ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2016, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-on-your-lunch-break/743676/77 "2016-01-22T12:50:26Z")
I was hoping he’d tell us he wrote the boss’s name in semen across the inside of the stall door. Kinda like that mysterious poop leaver somebody reported a couple months ago. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![JustinC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justinc/32/8083_2.png) [@JustinC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JustinC)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2016, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-on-your-lunch-break/743676/78 "2016-01-22T12:53:10Z")
I take a lunch break anywhere between 11:20 AM and 2:00 PM, when I have the time and an appetite. Sometimes I bring in food and just eat at my desk, sometimes I eat in the work’s cafeteria and sometimes I go out, depending on how energetic and busy I am. ---
**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:** [January 22, 2016, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-on-your-lunch-break/743676/79 "2016-01-22T13:25:02Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > I was hoping he’d tell us he wrote the boss’s name in semen across the inside of the stall door. Kinda like that mysterious poop leaver somebody reported a couple months ago. :eek: Wilberforce Chester Carmichael III, Esq. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2016, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-on-your-lunch-break/743676/80 "2016-01-22T13:52:05Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > I was hoping he’d tell us he wrote the boss’s name in semen across the inside of the stall door. Kinda like that mysterious poop leaver somebody reported a couple months ago. :eek: This reminds me of a Nixon-era joke. One morning President Nixon stepped out on the White House balcony to survey a pristine blanket of new-fallen snow. Right below the balcony was a message scrawled in the snow, written in yellow. It said, “Fuck Nixon!” in huge letters. The President flew into a rage and called in all the staff members within earshot. “Find out who did this!” he barked. A while later, a senior staffer came back in the room and found Nixon stewing at his desk. “Mr. President,” he began, “I’ve got some good news and some bad news. The good news is that the message is urine, and it’s Henry Kissinger’s. The bad news is the handwriting is Pat’s.” [/sidebar] [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-on-your-lunch-break/743676.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-on-your-lunch-break/743676.md?page=5)