What's lunch break for?

[DarrenX]

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Gym.

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My gym is 40 miles away near my house, otherwise a good idea. Anyone walk?

For those that don't 'get' a lunch break... my boss doesn't take one, but that's his fault, not mine. However, if you leave earlier because you don't, more power to you. I have my core hours, so this wouldn't help me. Also, I typically stay later than required hours, and I'd go nuts if I couldn't get out of the building for a bit.

[thirddan]

on days when i don't go out for lunch i usually read, take a nap, run errands etc...

[Neko]

working through lunch is pretty standard for lots of people I would imagine.

[mbillie1]

I thought this went without saying, but... masturbate furiously in the vacant offices of your coworkers.

[solids]

One of my superiors used to take long lunchbreaks, claiming he was going to the gym (which irked a lot of coworkers). It turns out he was instead banging his mistress behind his wife's back.

[ACG2x]

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One of my superiors used to take long lunchbreaks, claiming he was going to the gym (which irked a lot of coworkers). It turns out he was instead banging his mistress behind his wife's back.

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LoL, as soon as I got to the word "claiming", I absolutely knew how the post would end.

[DarrenX]

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working through lunch is pretty standard for lots of people I would imagine.

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I would imagine that too. I'd ask those people why? Sure, I'd guess a small percentage love their jobs and don't want to leave them for a second, but the majority don't. To impress the boss? It's possible, if that's what impresses your boss. To get ahead/stay ahead/keep from falling behind? Possible, but a poor way to live, IMO.

[tuq]

Darren,

If your schedule dictates that you work until a certain time and your schedule allows for a lunch, then I totally agree that you should take it, if for no other reason than to decompress.

The gym isn't nearby for you, so latch onto a book or something. I remember ten years ago back in my fixed schedule days I read Infinite Jest every day at lunch and it was an awesome break from the tedium of my job. Aside from this I'm not sure how many other serious answers there could be.

I remember one of the women I worked with would sit in the break room and just stare straight ahead. That was her lunch. No reading, no doing anything constructive or enjoyable, just stare. At the time it annoyed the hell out of me for some reason, but in retrospect if it gave her a chance to zone out and clear her mind then I suppose it wasn't a bad idea.

[mosdef]

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I would imagine that too. I'd ask those people why? Sure, I'd guess a small percentage love their jobs and don't want to leave them for a second

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I would guess about 0%. I "love my job", so to speak, but I sure as hell can stop doing it every now and then.

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but the majority don't. To impress the boss?

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Unless you work in a bank of cubicles with your boss, it won't impress your boss because he/she won't even know. Also, if your boss takes lunch break they won't know whether you're there or not.

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To get ahead/stay ahead/keep from falling behind? Possible, but a poor way to live

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I think you're closer to mark here. For the record, I think a poorer way to live is always being behind schedule, eventually having to stay late or come in on weekends to make deadlines.

For me, I usually take a short break to eat at my desk. The sooner I go back to work, the sooner I can go home or post on 2+2 for the whole afternoon.