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Comment by thaumasiotes | Hacker News Reader

> 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.

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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.

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