If you could skip your lunch break and go home an hour early, would you?

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Yes.

I think lunch breaks are a HOAX by offices to keep you around longer. Nobody takes full lunch breaks anymore.

― L@@K !! *RARE*!! (nordicskilla), Friday, 15 July 2005 16:43 (twenty years ago)

Yep! As I only take an half hour lunch anyway!

― jel -- (jel), Friday, 15 July 2005 16:46 (twenty years ago)

I basically do this, anyway.

― jaymc (jaymc), Friday, 15 July 2005 16:46 (twenty years ago)

I shouldn't have told my boss that my long-term career goal is to only work part-time.

― jel -- (jel), Friday, 15 July 2005 16:47 (twenty years ago)

I mean, I still eat lunch, but it only takes a few minutes, so I feel like I can leave earlier.

― jaymc (jaymc), Friday, 15 July 2005 16:47 (twenty years ago)

yes, but in the summer i often play basketball over the lunch break for an hour, then have food in addition to that, so i cant really leave early. i *am* salaried though :)

xpost - that's MY long term goal too!

― AaronK (AaronK), Friday, 15 July 2005 16:48 (twenty years ago)

Lunch is important for certain kinds of jobs.

― Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Friday, 15 July 2005 16:48 (twenty years ago)

My goal is to get to the point where I'm doing some kind of business at every lunch.

― Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Friday, 15 July 2005 16:49 (twenty years ago)

And then there'll be lots of FedEx packages waiting for me when I get back to the office!

― Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Friday, 15 July 2005 16:49 (twenty years ago)

I do this all the time.

― Shakey Mo Collier, Friday, 15 July 2005 16:50 (twenty years ago)

I often skip lunch with this intention, and then don't get to leave. Fuckers.

― luna (luna.c), Friday, 15 July 2005 16:52 (twenty years ago)

But Spencer then a lunch break isn't a "break" in the traditional sense since you're working so that doesn't count, right?

― mcd (mcd), Friday, 15 July 2005 16:54 (twenty years ago)

In the future, when all food is consumed in pill form, will you still take a lunch break?

― matlewis (matlewis), Friday, 15 July 2005 16:57 (twenty years ago)

You'll take a digestion break.

― L@@K !! *RARE*!! (nordicskilla), Friday, 15 July 2005 16:57 (twenty years ago)

I was actually disallowed from taking a lunch at my old office for a period! And was kept an hour later!

― Allyzay knows a little German (allyzay), Friday, 15 July 2005 16:58 (twenty years ago)

That sounds more like detention.

― mcd (mcd), Friday, 15 July 2005 16:59 (twenty years ago)

I do this frequently.

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Friday, 15 July 2005 17:00 (twenty years ago)

Do what? Are you making a hand shape that we can't see?

― L@@K !! *RARE*!! (nordicskilla), Friday, 15 July 2005 17:01 (twenty years ago)

There is nothing to go home to but loneliness and degradation so I eat lunch. Today it was a fish sandwich.

― laurence kansas (lawrence kansas), Friday, 15 July 2005 17:04 (twenty years ago)

Adam, you goof. I skip my lunch break and leave early, frequently.

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Friday, 15 July 2005 17:04 (twenty years ago)

xxpost haha, i'm pretty sure if he wasn't before he is now:
http://www.istockphoto.com/file_thumbview_approve/157678/2/Middle_finger.jpg

― matlewis (matlewis), Friday, 15 July 2005 17:05 (twenty years ago)

I do this all the time, just eat at my desk.

― Jordan (Jordan), Friday, 15 July 2005 17:05 (twenty years ago)

I wouldn't because I program all day and I really need that break away from the computer and the code. It's to go outside, walk around, read a book, etc.

― Miss Misery (thatgirl), Friday, 15 July 2005 17:05 (twenty years ago)

But Spencer then a lunch break isn't a "break" in the traditional sense since you're working so that doesn't count, right?

How can fancy lunches with martinis be "work"??? (note, I'm not there yet).

― Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Friday, 15 July 2005 17:05 (twenty years ago)

I skipped lunch today because I couldn't bear the thought of eating any more burgers or pizza.

― Paunchy Stratego (kenan), Friday, 15 July 2005 17:06 (twenty years ago)

I can't leave early because I'm the receptionist, but I try to make sure I take my full lunch break (30 minutes). Most of my coworkers either eat at their desks as they work or go straight back to work after eating for 5 minutes together.

― Sarah McLusky (coco), Friday, 15 July 2005 17:07 (twenty years ago)

having a full hour I end up spending more money than I probably should going to a restaurant for lunch, obv. if I only had 30 min. I wouldn't be able to do that really.

Miss Misery OTM though about the benefits of sunshine and reading time though.

― Josh Love (screamapillar), Friday, 15 July 2005 17:14 (twenty years ago)

god bless the french for taking long-ass lunch breaks.

― Amateur(ist) (Amateur(ist)), Friday, 15 July 2005 17:14 (twenty years ago)

i never take a lunch break but eveyrone would have a FIT if I left at 4!!

― Homosexual II (Homosexual II), Friday, 15 July 2005 17:15 (twenty years ago)

god bless the english for pub lunches in summer. I wish I could go to the pub now.

― L@@K !! *RARE*!! (nordicskilla), Friday, 15 July 2005 17:16 (twenty years ago)

I have no flexibility at all in the times I work. I have to be here, take lunch, and leave at the same times every day. Also, I get no paid overtime without express permission from the bosses. So I make sure to take my full lunch break and not do any work. Usually I go outside, do the crossword puzzle, and read a book.

― n/a (Nick A.), Friday, 15 July 2005 17:16 (twenty years ago)

I work in a small office and if we are all here then we eat lunch together at the table with placemats and everything. It is quaint but nice. Or, like Spencer I'm out "working" during lunch. I can probably leave work whenever I feel like it, though, so thread need not apply.

― mcd (mcd), Friday, 15 July 2005 17:20 (twenty years ago)

i would LOVE to do this, but i've been told by my supe that we're not allowed. he cited some sort of "labor regulations." since then i've been taking full 60 minute breaks because i don't get that part of my life back. i just went hat shopping, for instance. for 60 FULL MINUTES. actually, 65.

― The Milkmaid (of Human Kindness) (The Milkmaid), Friday, 15 July 2005 17:21 (twenty years ago)

I work flexi-time, so I usually arrive any time between 7 and 9:30, lunch anytime between 11 and 2, and leave anywhere from 3 to 6. Nobody really tracks this at all.

― L@@K !! *RARE*!! (nordicskilla), Friday, 15 July 2005 17:23 (twenty years ago)

Yes, there are rules about this. You *have* to take breaks and they have to happen between certain times.

― Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Friday, 15 July 2005 17:24 (twenty years ago)

Often I consider taking up smoking just to have a reason to take so many breaks.

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Friday, 15 July 2005 17:29 (twenty years ago)

i guess thats kind of what i do, adam. I came in at 10:30 today, and I'll probably leave at 4 or so.

i guess that kind of freedom is mostly attributed to that i have no boss (except one that is in Dallas) and must be ready to work insane hours for weeks on end when it comes time for it.

― Homosexual II (Homosexual II), Friday, 15 July 2005 17:30 (twenty years ago)

― L@@K !! *RARE*!! (nordicskilla), Friday, 15 July 2005 17:36 (twenty years ago)

Is it true that in the 50s, people would actually drink 3 martinis at lunch? I would be trashed.

― Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Friday, 15 July 2005 17:36 (twenty years ago)

Alternately, where does that phrase come from? Maybe it doesn't imply working before or after lunch at all!

― Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Friday, 15 July 2005 17:37 (twenty years ago)

the key is to constantly drink water, so you have an excuse to take breaks to refill at the water cooler, then the multiple piss breaks that inevitably follow.

also, i'm pretty sure this makes you go braindead.

― matlewis (matlewis), Friday, 15 July 2005 17:43 (twenty years ago)

matlewis OTM!

― n/a (Nick A.), Friday, 15 July 2005 17:50 (twenty years ago)

He woulda been just as OTM had he left out everything after "drink", it's weird!

― Allyzay knows a little German (allyzay), Friday, 15 July 2005 20:39 (twenty years ago)

i know people who've gotten fired for taking too many bathroom breaks.

― the urban heat island effect (Jody Beth Rosen), Friday, 15 July 2005 20:55 (twenty years ago)

In London I worked for a newspaper reporter for a total of one day. She paid me 150 pounds and took me to a pub lunch at which we both had two pints of strong ale, and sausage and mashed potatoes, all on her.

― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Friday, 15 July 2005 21:48 (twenty years ago)

Well, the sausage and potatoes were on our plates actually.

― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Friday, 15 July 2005 21:49 (twenty years ago)

did this yesterday (except lunchbreak &c = half an hour) - porridge for breakfast, didn't eat anything @ work (tho managed to scab two cigarettes), & went home half an hour early & ate more porridge for dinner. sob.

― etc, Saturday, 16 July 2005 03:31 (twenty years ago)

At my present government job I was dismayed to discover that I am required to take a full hour of unpaid lunch. I am also required to work 8 hours a day. So in actuality, I work 9 hour days. I like taking lunch because I am lazy, but I also like to be paid to do so.

Other jobs I have had, were 8 hours with lunch included, with the expectation being that you would stay longer when needed and etc. Or, when I worked at a book store, I clocked out for an 1/2 hr lunch.

I think I would rather take a half-hour lunch, because there is really no place fun I can go, and then leave a half hour early. Does anyone else work these 8 hour days that are really 9 hour days? It seem cruel and unusual. But when I complained to my sister, she said, why would anyone pay you to have lunch? However, she also works for the government.

― Mary (Mary), Saturday, 16 July 2005 03:57 (twenty years ago)

I have an hour's lunch break, but normally I eat at my desk and ~~keep working~~ read ILX.

― Forest Pines (ForestPines), Saturday, 16 July 2005 07:12 (twenty years ago)

Yeah, I am contracted to work a 37.5 hour week. This is 8.45am to 5pm with 45 minutes lunch. Which I hardly ever take. So I guess I'm doing a 41 and a quarter hour week. Why am I so stupid?

― ailsa (ailsa), Saturday, 16 July 2005 07:47 (twenty years ago)

The 8 to 5 day with one hour lunch is pretty much standard around town here. However, a lot of people I work near tend to get to work early or take a short lunch, so they leave between 4 and 4:30. We also have a fitness center so people will sometimes work a 45 minute workout into their day.

I've had serious issues arriving in a timely manner lately so I've been eating at my desk and arriving at 8:15-8:30ish. My group of friends is also guilty of occasional long lunches when we end up either driving to somewhere further away or going somewhere with a long wait for food.

Then again, I occasionally come in on Sundays for an hour or two when we're deploying new software I need to test. There's a lot of give and take with my routine..

― mike h. (mike h.), Sunday, 17 July 2005 04:27 (twenty years ago)

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