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    trudibell_Tracy Moore
    1/09/16 3:23pm

    I don’t take a lunch break because my asshole company wants me to stop the clock while I’m lunching, so a “9 to 5" is really either an “8 to 5" or “9 to 6.” I have a family and other parts of my life that I like a lot, lot more than my job, and I have a commute through some of the worst traffic in the country. I grew up in blue states with laws that stipulated that break time was part of my wage time, but am now living and working in a fucking “right-to-work” state. If I wasn’t expected to “make up” the time I was taking a lunch break, believe me I’d fucking take it.

    I do eat at my desk while “working”. I just think working that extra hour is bullshit.

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      LeftHandRuletrudibell_
      1/09/16 3:27pm

      My last job was like that. I wish I could have eaten at my desk, except I was reprimanded for doing so once. Apparently the owner of the company hated the smell of food. Fuck that place. 8-5 with an unpaid hour long lunch.

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      Billtrudibell_
      1/09/16 3:29pm

      Came to comments to say this. Third type: those of us who work straight through so we can get home at a reasonable hour and see the kids before bedtime.

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    sybannTracy Moore
    1/09/16 3:41pm

    Well thank goodness you made sure to point out some of us do not have the option. Full time: Exec Assistant and Reception at a small real estate office - there IS no one else. Part time: radio - again, no breaks. So how about an article about how the American people have squandered all of their “worker’s rights” by abandoning unions and sucking up to a corporate structure that has no respect for anything except profits?

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      popjunkiesybann
      1/09/16 4:26pm

      Yes but: answering machines? Voice mail? I see plenty of offices that just lock doors between 12-1 for everyone to go.

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      sybannpopjunkie
      1/09/16 4:33pm

      Read my answer to someone else - I’d RATHER eat a good, nutritious meal at my desk. A half hour of running around while everyone else is to get a greased salt bomb is not my idea of a good time. What bothers me about this entire piece is that it blames the victim of the “new” economy. There are always work arounds but they don’t always make the most sense.

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    Carrie MathisonTracy Moore
    1/09/16 4:00pm

    By the time you order something at the downstairs cafe and find a seat, and are served the greasy turkey and swiss croissant, you have approximately 12 minutes to inhale it and get back to your desk.

    This is what annoys me: when people complain about not having enough break time to wait in line for food. Bring your lunch with you! I’m not saying that companies are blameless for giving short break times, but saying that the 30 minutes you get isn’t really 30 minutes because of some imaginary obligation you have to waste it is dumb. Throw a sandwich together after dinner, maybe throw in a yogurt or some shit, and bring a water bottle or a juice box. Done.

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      DontBeSuchaBoobPunchTinaCarrie Mathison
      1/09/16 4:04pm

      Your life is not everyone’s life. This is not a universal solution.

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      lunchcomaDontBeSuchaBoobPunchTina
      1/09/16 4:09pm

      Yeah, the solution of, “Do half an hour of work at home so you can have half an hour of work later,” is one that makes life better for some people. For other people, that half hour is one that’s better devoted to something other than food prep. Others don’t even half that half hour.

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    The Ancient BooerTracy Moore
    1/09/16 3:23pm

    I’m a salaried worker and haven’t had a strict half hour for lunch since I worked retail back in college. I eat at my desk because I always bring my lunch from home and our company lunchroom is sad and kind of gross, but I don’t work while I eat. I surf the web, chat with coworkers, etc. Sometimes lunch is 30 minutes, sometimes an hour. I am lucky to have never worked post-college in any job where we were expected to quickly inhale food and get back to it. Am I just damn lucky or is this the norm in office environments?

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      DontBeSuchaBoobPunchTinaThe Ancient Booer
      1/09/16 3:31pm

      I think it varies a lot depending on industry.

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      TyrannosaurusBataarThe Ancient Booer
      1/09/16 3:31pm

      This is what I do too. I mostly eat my lunch at my desk but I spend that time reading some articles I’ve saved up in open tabs from the morning or surf Pinterest or read advice columns. Some days I take a walk to a Chop’t that’s further from my office and that takes up more time. I have a salaried desk job that doesn’t get too busy and my boss doesn’t care as long as my stuff gets done.

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    DontBeSuchaBoobPunchTinaTracy Moore
    1/09/16 3:27pm

    I reject the “two kinds” premise with regard to this, because I was a third kind: Perennially late and, as a direct result of that, often working through lunch in order to catch up.

    It’s true this wasn’t good for me, but it wasn’t the office policy’s fault, either.

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      Ground Chuck ToddDontBeSuchaBoobPunchTina
      1/09/16 3:43pm

      There are two kinds of people: those who think there are two kinds of people...

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      BerndDontBeSuchaBoobPunchTina
      1/09/16 6:12pm

      As a freakishly punctual person, I have a question that is not meant at all to be condescending or mean or judgey, but is entirely curiosity of something I don’t grasp super well:

      Why were you perennially late?

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    Kris-the-Needlessly-DefiantTracy Moore
    1/09/16 3:24pm

    The last place I worked was populated by asshole bullies, so I would hide out at lunch. I now work with a great group of women and we have lunch together everyday and it has absolutely improved the quality of my work life. We’re all at different stages in our lives, so it’s the perfect sounding board for any dilemma. I’ve also noticed I eat more healthfully around others so win-win.

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      Slay.douché - (dreams to be a puppy)Kris-the-Needlessly-Defiant
      1/09/16 3:32pm

      “last place I worked was populated by *asshole bullies*”

      This is WAY too common, describes way too many people’s workplaces. There needs to be some f*cking *anti-asshole legislation*.

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      Violet BaudelaireSlay.douché - (dreams to be a puppy)
      1/09/16 3:50pm

      The problem here is that it’s mostly assholes making our legislation, and you know those guys would never make laws against themselves!

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    CylaTracy Moore
    1/09/16 3:23pm

    Yeah, I’ll leave the patient bleeding in the chair while I go eat leftovers from last night.

    Not everyone works in a desk job.

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      Jennifer EDMONDSONCyla
      1/09/16 3:32pm

      This is true. I'm a nanny and sometimes you eat a cereal bar standing up while holding a toddler who just puked.

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      SalomeSalamiCyla
      1/09/16 3:37pm

      doesn’t your workplace have people to cover? I mean, I get that if you’re working in the ER and a big emergency comes in you’re going to cut short a a lunch break, but that’s not every day right? .

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    lunchcomaTracy Moore
    1/09/16 3:24pm

    Gonna pass on that. I’m a contractor. My day’s done when I put in my 8 hours. The hour in the morning that I sleep late has way more value than the hour I could spend looking at my phone at Arby’s. I’ll consider reconsidering when it’s not the middle of winter and being outside is anything other than a trial.

    If you’re a salaried employee and know you get to go home at 6, or if you know you’re going to end up working until 9 regardless of what you do, then absolutely take your lunch break.

    EDIT: Should life be this way? Of course not. My position is nothing like what was contemplated when people drafted those labor laws. I’m an employee with a different designation, and rules about salaried employees weren’t really written when contemplating people who couldn’t afford to move out of their parents’ homes and who had no expectation of advancing in the organization, either. But that’s a high level issue, not one of people just heading out and eating lunch if they want.

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      Darkest Timeline Zach Morrislunchcoma
      1/09/16 4:39pm

      I’m an independent contractor as well, and I know that I have a set amount of tasks to cpmplete each day. If I finish by 3, it’s off to Fallout and Madden. If I’m sick or get held up by anything, I’m working at midnight to catch up. I work through lunch unless I have to go to a meeting or something, in which case I eat with the customer.

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      lunchcomaDarkest Timeline Zach Morris
      1/09/16 6:02pm

      Yup. And it sounds like your job is closer to what a contractor position should be than mine. I have an office. And a dress code. And my job consists in large part of “talk to this person about this thing” rather than specific tasks, so I can’t really finish at 3 and go home to making little crochet animals and WoW and Netflix. But I’ll be damned if I extend that by an hour for some fast food.

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    randilynisFINDILYNTracy Moore
    1/09/16 3:20pm

    We used to say “lunch is for wimps”. I regret that now.

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      patriciaeffrandilynisFINDILYN
      1/09/16 3:23pm

      Every month we have “lunch and learn” at work. Lunch isn’t served, you’re just supposed to spend your planning period at a useless training..

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      Stephanie Wernerpatriciaeff
      1/09/16 3:52pm

      My job does this too, only they are lectures/group discussions about business books! So not only do we lose our time to eat, but we have freaking homework beforehand because you have to read the damned book.

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    Pontypool's #1 DJTracy Moore
    1/09/16 3:23pm

    I have to work through lunch because of all the time I waste here.

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      DontBeSuchaBoobPunchTinaPontypool's #1 DJ
      1/09/16 3:39pm

      VALID REASON

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      Ken Yadiggit, AdiosPontypool's #1 DJ
      1/15/16 2:56pm

      HAHA I WAS WAITING FOR THIS.
      every day. every damn day.

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