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Comment by ChuckNorris89 | Hacker News Reader

No offense, but honestly your lunch sounds depressing as hell.

I never understood this nordic lifestyle I saw in Scandinavia, Benelux and Northern Germany where people refuse to take a proper lunch break and just eat some random cold food in front of their computer for the sake of productivity for their employer. It's just depressing to see and unhealthy in the long term.

In southern Europe(Austria) having a walk to the bistro for a warm lunch with freshly cooked quality food, away form my desk is not only healthy but also gives me a refreshing physical, mental and morale boost.

Sitting glued to my chair in front of the computer for 8 hours straight is not only unhealthy but would just burn me out quickly.

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This post is kind of offensive to me, as if we're all corporate slaves who skip """proper""" lunch for "productivity". Most of us eat that way even during weekends and holidays, so it's clearly not true. I wouldn't eat elaborate meals at lunchtime even if I never had to work at all.

The last thing we need is people in other countries who have nothing to do with us telling us our food culture isn't "proper".

Many folks eat just 2 meals a day- a big heavy breakfast and a day's end dinner and it works fine for them. Lunch is just a silly ritual- if you get it - take it by all means but don't assume those who don't take it are suffering!

Related to both you and OP:

A couple of years ago or so I started skipping breakfast and eating my first meal at lunchtime.

This works extremely well for me and allows me to keep focus through the day - even if I eat a warm lunch instead of just Norwegian "matpakke".

Intermittent Fasting (ie skipping breakfast), has been gaining lots of attention latelt as a cheap and easy way to control blood sugar levels and calories (to an extent).

Personally I "skip" breakfast and lunch, eating my first meal at dinner. Late night munchies, my diet kryptonite, land in my eating period so I'm more likely to be hungry enough for proper food.

During the day that means no breakfast before work, no lunch packing, no bad cantinas, and no productivity slumps before or after meals. At night it means I can be a lot more calorie dense with my meals, and feel good about it :)

Yeah. Another thing people don't realize is that in Northern Europe people tend to have a large dinner at 6pm, so lunch is less relevant.

I personally eat full meals at 10AM and 7PM and light meals at 3PM and 9PM. Not the most conventional times but that's when I'm hungry. Everyone has different times that work for them.

As a Norwegian that worked abroad, then back in Norway for 6 years before going abroad again, one thing I do not miss from Norway is the work lunches.

God that was depressing, and stressful. The mad rush to the compulsory office canteen, buy some basic food, throw the food in, and run back to your desk as you only have a 30 minutes lunch break.

No chance of going outside for a short walk to get some oxygen, little choice in what food to get, no chance of bonding with colleagues and not talk about work, no chance of disconnecting and avoiding stress.

Only occasionally did I manage to convince colleagues to rebel, go outside with me to a sushi place (or McD's...), sit in the park for bit, and take a few breaths and not rush back. It should be a daily occurrance but only happened once or twice a month.

Different strokes.

Having mostly worked in an industry where formal breaks largely don't exist, I find returning to work after more than 10 minutes painful. I hated the one place with mandated 30 minute lunches because I'd be completely unwound by the end of it and just wanted to go home.

It’s kind of sad to see the meal culture eroding in other parts of the world. The “quickly ingest some food at your desk so you can keep working” mentality has taken hold. I’m French, and at my first office job - almost 15 years ago - the entire office was empty from noon till 2p.

People would go get their kids at school, have lunch with them at home, and bring them back before returning to work. Or child free people would go have a nice lunch out together. I personally would go back to my apartment and cook with my girlfriend. It was really nice. Adding to that, French companies have to give you a “ticket restaurant” if they don’t provide you lunches, which is essentially a 10 euro or so coupon that you can use at any restaurant, or even to buy food in grocery stores, so you get a lot of flexibility.

It was all very pleasant. I haven’t worked in France in many years, and I hear from friends that this culture is eroding, and places that still follow this kind of pace are getting rarer and rarer.

In my current team (US), we all take an hour long lunch break all together every day. That is a surprising thing to most other people at the company, and I suspect we started doing that because many of us in the team are European.

The meal culture is probably eroding because of economical reasons.

We're now under the constant reminder from our employers that there's always a bunch of people outside ready to do your work without lunch break for less money.

It's counterproductive though IMHO.

Employer won't get more or better work if you prevent everyone taking a worthwhile break. Thankfully nearly all the places I've worked over the years have been entirely happy to permit it. Or expect it.

-That really depends on where you are.

In Scandinavia, lunch breaks are mandated by law. In Norway, if you work more than 5.5 hours, your employer must give you at least 30 minutes off (unpaid) to have lunch. If the nature of your workplace is such that you cannot leave work, the lunch break is paid. [0]

Hence no desperate souls at the gate, ready to take my place without demanding any lunch break.

Also, as other scandinavians have pointed out - this is not a recent measure to make life easier on your employer; it's just the way it has always been.

[0] https://lovdata.no/NLE/lov/2005-06-17-62/§section10-9

All places I worked so far in sweden had mandatory lunchbreaks. From 30 minutes in care-jobs to 1 hour in IT. After 5 hours your employer is required to give you a longer break where you are allowed to leave your job for lunch or whatever. Many eat out but it's also common to bring a lunchbox with rests from yesterdays dinner. A lunch is usually around 10 euro at a restaurant so many eat lunchboxes to save money and/or live healthier.

I too worked in France. I hated the long lunches, since it meant you left work at 6 or 7 in the evening. I’d rather be out the door at 5 (like I do now in the US) or 3-4 (like I did in some previous Swedish jobs) than spend the entire evening in the office.

I usually eat lunch at my desk these days and just leave an hour earlier.

Your lunch hour isn't really an hour, by the time walk somewhere or prepare a lunch. I can't use that hour to actually spend time with my friends or do anything meaningful. I'd rather skip lunch and just head to the pub with my mates at 5.

> It’s kind of sad to see the meal culture eroding in other parts of the world. The “quickly ingest some food at your desk so you can keep working” mentality has taken hold.

I really preferred eating at my desk while clocked in to eating a slow, luxurious lunch while clocked out. The slow lunch just means less time for the things you actually want to do.

But taking a break with decent food is exactly one of the things I want to do

Yeah, but not everybody shares that preference. Either is good. Take a break with decent lunch. Do it with colleagues if you want. It's fine. Or if you want, stay at work and eat something simple while you keep working. That's fine too if that's what you want to do. But this criticizing people for their preferences is just annoying and unnecessary.

Well, in addition to cultural differences, being hourly vs. being salaried is a big difference. I am salaried. I don't clock in and out. I'm just expected to be there during business hours, which don't change if I work through my lunch hour. Eating quickly at my desk just donates my "free" lunch hour time to my employer. You don't get anything back for that lunch hour donation in many salaried jobs (at least in the USA).

> I'm just expected to be there during business hours, which don't change if I work through my lunch hour.

Having also held salaried jobs, it was very much the case that some people worked different schedules than others. One was particularly notable for leaving in the early afternoon.

Yes, your employer's expectations for "business hours" are set by how many of those hours you spend being present at work. Try extending your lunch another hour and leaving at the same time, see what your employer thinks.

Very few people I know are eating home. Home prices have increased and city centers became unaffordable for many people. So people are buying homes outside the city center, which adds commuting time. I have 30min drive to reach my home, 16km away from work. That leaves me just an hour to prepare food and eat, and I have to bear the traffic.

Also, people are planning meeting at 13h, because they can't find a time where everyone is available. I have a weekly meeting set up every thursday at 13h, I hate it because I have to rush my lunch.

I never understood this nordic lifestyle I saw in Scandinavia

Norway and Sweden are completely different. In Sweden most people either go out to a restaurant for a warm a lunch or eat a warm lunch they brought with from home. An hour lunch break, while not official sanctioned, is hardly uncommon.

And even when I worked in Norway where many people just ate sandwiches for lunch, almost everybody ate lunch in the lunchroom.

Sitting glued to my chair in front of the computer for 8 hours straight

Or you sit glued to your computer 6 hours straight, get done what you where supposed to do and go home at 3 to be with your family or get in some other afternoon activities. A very common mindset in Norway.

I (Norwegian) recently had a meeting with our Portuguese colleagues about optimal meeting times on a Friday. For the Portuguese, anything between 12 and 14 was impossible (due to lunch), whereas in Norway, anything after 14 was impossible (in the car on the way to the cabin for the weekend).

Is the workday 6 hours in Norway? When I was there it was 8. What you said makes no sense to me.

I'm highly sceptical of this meme online that office workers in Scandinavia, Germany etc quickly get their work done and focus on productivity and leave as early as they can each day instead of waiting till 1730 or whatever. I know better now that this doesn't actually exist anymore these days.

Nope, working in Norway, I can confirm that the office gets very empty very quickly after 16:00, and more than once have I been reminded not to stay all day when I was still at my desk around 17:00.

Ok, but everywhere in Europe people start leaving after 16 the question was whether the working day is 6 hours or 8 in Norway?

Yes, but around three out of four people will have left by 16:30, which is definitely not common in all European countries.

I’d say an average working day is 7 hours plus a 30-minute lunch break, usually taken before noon.

Sounds good. Do all tech companies have a 7 hour workday?

Yes. For most Norwegians in IT and Government.

Is job done? Nop...

Actually it is between 8:45 and 16:05

Here is some proof:

https://www.dn.no/arbeidsliv/nav/tre-milliarder-til-ett-sels...

That is when Accenture billed 350 MILLION USD... for miscellaneous it services.

In Norway, in most places, a working day is 7.5 hours + 30 mınutes lunch. That is what it says on the contracts in the IT industry.

I feel the same (e.g. student's lunch in the uni cafeteria is 2.40€ with soup, proper main dish with salad, and a piece of fruit), but then again like someone else points out they also eat that way when they don't have work, which indicates it's not just to save time for your employer (which I'm sure is also part of it, and kind of sad, but still). I'll chalk it up to cultural differences, in part, and also in part to the generally stressful, time-pressed modern life, which only seems to get worse each passing year, as the demands of growth capitalism get ever more cutthroat.

It's not at all in the name of productivity for my employer, I take a 30 min lunch so that I can go home earlier. I want to get the working day over so that I start doing the things I like to do in my spare time

I agree about sitting at your desk, but a quick lunch is great for me because it allow me to take a proper lunch break, I can swallow some food then go for a walk listening to an audio book for half an hour.

Everyone's different. I prefer small simple meals and really don't care for the whole experience, regardless of whether I'm working or not. Healthy and efficient are my priorities.

Well, to me this would also look to benefit from any number of spreads, veggies, relishes, or sauces. However, I'm not Norse, and this is what "culture" means. There are lots of different ones. I'm sure the Norse would find some of my food habits puzzling as well.

> No offense, but honestly your lunch sounds depressing as hell.

I don't know about the preferences of the parent you're replying to, however the description in this article - and what others here have said - sounds depressing as hell.

You're being strongly downvoted because you're not allowed to say anything negative about Scandinavian culture.

If this food story were about the US, it would be held up as an example of how Americans are tortured in their food choices (read any popular thread on HN about American food); and in your example, in their work habits (sit there and eat your sad little sandwich, worker robot). Since it's Norway, it's an extraordinary shared cultural culinary experience in its wisely barren, enlightened simplicity of nothingness. As the article comically exclaims: it's unexpectedly genius.

No, it's perfectly fair to call it out for what it actually is: depressing, a sad tradition of mediocre sandwich lunches.

What it is is subjective. People love their sandwiches and if you don’t - pack what you like.. no one is forcing you to eat like this.

Is it like that though? If you are the only one in your office who doesn't follow the mindset of simple lunches, won't that impact you socially?

No. No one here cares what you eat. My colleagues only care that I turn up for the meeting scheduled for 12:00 when the lunch break started at 11:30. If you can fit a three course meal in that time then no one will care.

You're completely correct.

Hilariously, in this thread you have people arguing that Americans eat bland flavorless food while also arguing that Americans "obsess" over food that tastes good, both from a negative perspective.

So correct..

I guess now Scandinavians are also a "protected" "race"- list...

I like my work. I'd rather eat a can of room temperature soup at my desk than interrupt a satisfyingly productive line of thought.

I have no idea why you're being downvoted. I'm the same way. I don't take lunch breaks unless I'm completely wiped out mentally. I get to go home earlier, but also I get to keep focusing on what I enjoy doing. Also, the office is empty and quiet, which is pretty damn nice. People here seem to be making the assumption that we're grinding ourselves to the bone by not taking a break - but, no, if I need a break, I can take one. I just don't need to.

> No offense, but honestly your lunch sounds depressing as hell.

It's just food, it doesn't have to be a party.

No offense, but only kids need to be entertained to eat, most people need food only because they get hungry.

If I want to have a nice meal, I go out at night with my girlfriend in a restaurant we like.

> In southern Europe(Austria)

That's a bold statement! :)

Austria is Mitteleuropa (middle Europe) its traditions are very similar to those of Germany, southern Europe is radically different.

In Italy we call "germans" the people living in Südtirol on the border with Austria, because they are different from average stereotypical Italians.

Anyway you can walk to a bistrot (it's a French thing, not Austrian) and have warm lunch with fresh cooked quality food (it's a southern tradition, historically northern countries had problems growing fresh food in their long winters, except for apples, that grow abundantly in south Austria) in Berlin or Stockholm as well.

If you leave Wien and go to the Austrian mountains, for example Innsbruck, you can experience typical Tyrolean food, which is equally good, albeit not exactly light.

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