Going out for lunch

[ladyofastolat]

(Ow. Typing is hard. I've managed to slice my thumb on some rose-scented shower gel, thus confirming my belief that Lush is a shop that come with a health warning. I'd previously wanted one on the grounds of its extremely potent smell, but now I realise that for all their happy, fluffy, "I am natural!" labelling, their products have TEETH.)

Anyway... I'm reading a book at the moment (the brand new Dresden Files novel, but that's probably not important, unless it turns out that we're talking about a UK/US difference here) and at some point, some people are trying to grab someone who's currently at work. For various reasons, going into his office is not advisable. Not to worry, they say. He's bound to leave the office to have lunch.

I don't think I've ever left my work place in order to have lunch - i.e. to eat lunch in a cafe, restaurant, bar or similar. If I'm out and about over lunch time, I will buy a sandwich and look for a pretty park bench or car park to eat it in. None of my colleagues ever go out for lunch, either. Perhaps once every fortnight or so, one or other of them will have forgotten to bring any lunch, and will pop out to the Co-op to buy a sandwich, which they will then bring back to eat, but that's it.

To me, eating out at lunch is an extravagent thing that only happens on holidays or rare special occasions. It's definitely not something that gets done on a normal work day - or indeed a normal weekend day, when at home. So what's more unusual here: my feeling that eating out at lunch is extravagent and unusual, or the book's assumption that going out for lunch is normal, expected behaviour?

Comments

[leesa_perrie]

I totally think Lush should come with a warning! I have to rush past their shops trying not to breathe as I do so!! I'll cross over or detour if I can, but that's not always possible :( *has a sinus problem that perfumes can irritate*

Hmm, lunch. When I worked, it varied - if my workplace wasn't near shops etc then I'd bring something in. If there were shops selling food nearby, then I might buy a sausage roll or something like that from a shop rather than bring something in. Or possibly a jacket potato to go - though that was when I didn't work mornings so I could go in early and eat it before starting work at 1pm.

As for going out to a pub or something, that wasn't often. Again, mainly when I didn't work mornings, as then I could meet some friends (who worked flexible hours and so could take an hour lunch occasionally) about 12 noon at a pub, but it wasn't the norm.

Might be a cultural thing?

[ladyofastolat.livejournal.com]

Good point about the shops. At the moment, the nearest shop is about 10 minutes' walk away, which is doable, but since I only get half an hour for lunch (my choice; I could start half an hour earlier) it's not really desirable. Before that, I was in the middle of nowhere, 5 miles from the nearest shop, so there were no other options. I guess I formed my habits there.

[adaese.livejournal.com]

It depends on the office. Public sector workers, in my experience, are far more likely to have a quick sandwich at the desk. Publishers, OTOH, didn't get that reputation for long lavish lunch breaks without an awful lot of effort (and puddings). I knew one once who maintained a long enough list of authors / agents / buyers to take someone out to a three-course lunch (with wine) at the Groucho every single working day.

[ladyofastolat.livejournal.com]

I've only ever known the public sector. As such, a lot of what I read in the media about "normal" work habits is completely unrecognisable - the office Christmas party, putting things on expenses, and so on. And drinking alcohol during the work day - including lunch - is a complete no-no.)

[bunn.livejournal.com]

Depends on the work and workplace, I think.
working for an ISP in Warrington in the 90s, I first had a cramped desk right next to my boss, and it was a pressured environment, new stuff to do coming in all the time. If I wanted half an hour to eat a sandwich and read a book and de-stress, I pretty much had to go sit in my car, and I did, because the job was driving me batty.

Then later we moved to some nicer and more spacious offices near a shopping mall, and I got a pay rise and things were slightly less frantic. I usually popped over to the mall and bought(! the extravagance!) a salad or a sandwich for lunch, and had a stroll around, but sometimes brought food and ate at my desk, as I no longer had my boss staring in my left ear and popping up with new work for me to do at approximately 30 second intervals. On Fridays, and sometimes other days, it was normal for the whole office, (minus two unfortunates who had to man the support and sales desks respectively), to go to the pub and roll back at about 2:30 somewhat pickled. Never phone a 90's ISP at lunchtime. :-D

When I worked at Liverpool university as a trainer, on the other hand, going out for lunch was unusual: most people ate at their desks, or with the trainees if they were running a course with food provided. I think basically it was a rather more pleasant and less pressured environment, so that the need to just get away from it and take a deep breath was less. I used to walk into the city and go shopping sometimes though, and same thing when I was working in Plymouth.

[ladyofastolat.livejournal.com]

Oh, I go out every lunch time (unless it's raining), I just don't "go out for lunch." Mind you, if people were lurking outside my workplace trying to nab me, they'd have a very easy job, since when I've finished eating, I hop over the wall and go wandering around in a wooded, near-deserted Victorian cemetery, going "ooh, pretty flowers!" and "Look! A squirrel!"

[rubygirl29.livejournal.com]

Unless you're going to lunch with John Marcone, not so unusual or extravagant. A number of my co-workers regularly go out to lunch. I don't because I'm usually in charge and only have 30 minutes for lunch.

[ladyofastolat.livejournal.com]

Maybe there is an element of US/UK difference, then, since I've done relief work in every library on the island, and I don't think I've ever come across anyone going out for lunch. They might go out at lunch - i.e. pop out to post a letter or buy some groceries for the evening, or whatever - but never to eat lunch out. It could well be regional here in the UK, too, for all I know. :-)

[queenofattolia.livejournal.com]

Agree. In the US most people who work in business offices go out to lunch at least once or twice a week. My husband, who works for an internet company, either goes out two or three times a week or eats the catered lunch brought in by the company every day (he doesn't always like their choices, so that's why he goes out). The only time he takes lunch from home is when he's trying to restrict his calorie intake.

I used to work as a pastry chef for some years and there was always family meal between shifts, or, as a sous chef-level chef, I was allowed to order off the menu at will or make my own lunch from the pantry/walk-in. The only time I had lunches out while working as a chef was in New York City, where we were often commanded to "order out" from the surrounding restaurants and cafes, or at the end of my shift (3pm) when I had a late lunch while doing grocery shopping.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that for many working people in the US, having lunch out of the office is common.

[jane-somebody.livejournal.com]

I see you've had US people here to comment with more first-hand experience, but I was going to say I thought it probably was at least partly a UK/US difference, and for a reason not yet mentioned. When we were visiting Kargicq and Neuromancer in the US, one of the things that really struck me was how much cheaper and more plentiful the opportunities were for eating out. I mean that there seemed to be a much greater variety of quickly-served and affordable options - you weren't stuck between either fast-food burgers or a 'proper restaurant'. It really was barely more expensive to buy a simple, promptly served, sit-down meal than to buy a ready-meal or even ingredients to make your own meal from a grocery store. Given this, eating out regularly seems much less extravagant than it would here, and the wide choice of cuisine and speed of service makes it a more convenient option than it would seem if we are just thinking of what's available here.

[ladyofastolat.livejournal.com]

Ah. Interesting point. I hadn't thought about the cost thing, but I guess that would make a big difference to attitudes to eating out, yes.