Do you take a lunch break ?

[fastfredracing]

I have a running joke, that I have not eaten a sandwich in 25 years without being interrupted .
Sat down at 12:00, 12:05, guy comes in, I take care of him, 12:15, another guy comes in, parts come,. and snap on shows up at 12:20, and before you know it, Im back in the shop , eating my sandwich with a wrench in my hand .

[1990C4S]

Thirty minutes minimum every day, often an hour. Peanut butter sandwich every day for 30 years.

[GH85Carrera]

I work from home. So I will wonder down the hall to the kitchen, make a sandwich and get a few chips. Then I come back to the computer and either work, or surf Pelican and eat my sandwich. On Tuesday's I go eat at different restaurant every week with a buddy. Tuesdays is only because lots of places have Tuesday specials of a burger. Originally it was Tuesday because a great restaurant had a Lasagna special on Tuesdays.

And on Tuesdays it is often an hour and a half away from my computer.

So to answer your question, yeas and no.

[Zeke]

I have worked alone for many of my 50 some odd years in the trades. Sitting down to eat alone is a waste of time and boring as hell. I ususally ate on the run. Go to the truck for a tool and grab half a sandwich out of the cooler kind of thing.

On the other side of the coin is sitting with a bunch of construction workers for 30 minutes. Man, do things hit the lowest common denominator quickly. I mean just how much talk about p**sy can one take? Day in and day out. They called me a snob when I went to eat alone. Fook 'em.

Had one job as a lineman for the phone company when I was just out of high school and failed at my first attempt at college. The guys played cards every day. Same game — hearts. After you've played the same 3 other guys 200 times...


...well... it's OK, I quit after 9 months. Gave 'em back their hooks and never climbed again. Didn't ever fall and didn't want to.

[KFC911]

You just gotta.....drinkin' beer and smokin' pot on the clock is generally frowned upon these daze

[Noah930]

Just because I have time scheduled for lunch, doesn't necessarily mean I get to spend it eating lunch. Two days per week, my lunch hour is spent commuting from one job site to another. Another day it's spent catching up on paperwork from that morning (hard to eat and dictate at the same time). So maybe twice per week I can actually eat lunch: one of those days is the regular noon-1:00 timeframe, and the other is whatever time exists between work duties.

[Jims5543]

Originally Posted by fastfredracing

I have a running joke, that I have not eaten a sandwich in 25 years without being interrupted .
Sat down at 12:00, 12:05, guy comes in, I take care of him, 12:15, another guy comes in, parts come,. and snap on shows up at 12:20, and before you know it, Im back in the shop , eating my sandwich with a wrench in my hand .

No.

If I do not make a sandwich in the morning I typically will not eat lunch then.

My lunch break is however long it takes for me to scarf down the sandwich, I then get back at it with little breaks from the BS from time to time, like right now.

[scottmandue]

Mandatory 1 hr lunch at noon, 15 minute breaks at 10 and 3.

The grocery store has some decent pre-made salads I have been having for lunch, I keep thinking I will make a tray of enchiladas or lasonia or something like that and divvy it up into lunch size portions and freeze it, but never seems to happen

[Tidybuoy]

I generally take lunch every day - unless month end deadlines. Unfortunately, usually causes me to need to work late. I bring my lunch most days and always go out on Fridays. If anybody don't like it....too bad!

[Shaun @ Tru6]

30 minutes to an hour every day. today was a homemade meatball sandwich and a glass of Chianti. Life's way too short to not enjoy a good lunch and take some time for yourself every day.

Fred, I would get a sign for your door that you are on lunch. and then actually relax and have a nice lunch.

[Jims5543]

I like to get my work day done and enjoy my evenings, then again there is a big difference between working for a company and being self employed.

When I worked for a company I took every minute of my lunch break, now I look at it as adding time on to the end of my day.

[LWJ]

Yes and no.

Yes. I go out to lunch with clients and suppliers all the time. Sometimes every day in a week. Restaurant food has long lost any appeal for the most part.

If I stay in the office, I will hoover down a sandwich and keep working.

Or, sometimes I go out with myself and just chill out over a burrito. Seem to do this more and more.

[Baz]

I try to get back home each day between 1-2PM so I can watch Gunsmoke on ME-TV. The old original black and white episodes - which are (IMHO) better than the later ones in color.

Gives me a little break from the heat and I can let the girls out to do their business.

[herr_oberst]

Lunch breaks are a huge waste of time in my opinion. I've always tried to negotiate with any manager who tells me that it's "company policy to take both federally mandated breaks and an hour for lunch". In a field where deadlines are aggressive, those breaks suddenly aren't so important when the client is on his way over and the job isn't finished.

[Evans, Marv]

I not only take a lunch break, I also take a rest break on the couch for 30 to 40 minutes. Been doing that most days I can for fifteen years since I retired.

[cabmandone]

Rarely. I normally work through lunch and by the time I realize I haven't eaten it's 2 or 3 o'clock and I figure I might as well wait until dinner.

[ckelly78z]

If i'm at work I always take 45 minutes for lunch. At home, not always if I had a big breakfast. I start to get HANGRY if I miss lunch.

[look 171]

Well Freddy, cause' you are your own boss and there's no one will drive you harder then yourself. Sucks, I know, but that's the way it goes. I use to be just like you, eat with a tool in my hand or looking at drawings with food in my mouth. The other guys? Oh yeah, you bet your ass they take their lunch no matter what, they sit and talk p***y or in our case, their families or vacations-on my dime. I try and sit with them and chat for a little, but then the phone rings or I go off calling or chasing after my supplies. Its actual very nice to sit on the floor or a stack of plywood for 15min. and get away from it all. Now, I try and go out and sit at a restaurant for 45 min. to an hour. Its clean, quiet, no one to pester me and I can eat something healthy. I try and do that twice to three times a week. Its good my soul.

[Shaun @ Tru6]

Originally Posted by look 171

Well Freddy, cause' you are your own boss and there's no one will drive you harder then yourself. Sucks, I know, but that's the way it goes. I use to be just like you, eat with a tool in my hand or looking at drawings with food in my mouth. The other guys? Oh yeah, you bet your ass they take their lunch no matter what, they sit and talk p***y or in our case, their families or vacations-on my dime. I try and sit with them and chat for a little, but then the phone rings or I go off calling or chasing after my supplies. Its actual very nice to sit on the floor or a stack of plywood for 15min. and get away from it all. Now, I try and go out and sit at a restaurant for 45 min. to an hour. Its clean, quiet, no one to pester me and I can eat something healthy. I try and do that twice to three times a week. Its good my soul.

There it is.

[VincentVega]

When I'm working at home I usually take ~25 minutes to walk around the neighborhood. If its raining or I'm not in the mood I might work in the shop, do laundry or whatever. I need to get away from the keyboard for a while. When I'm in the office its work, no breaks.