03/20/2024

Why You Hate Bringing Your Lunch to Work

Lunch breaks are mini-vacations for many

Jeff Moriarty was once the guy who always brought his lunch to work. Pre-pandemic, he dutifully meal-prepped for the week on Sundays, and when he worked from home during the worst parts of COVID-19, he whipped up healthy feasts between meetings. Grilled chicken salad? Coming right up. Scrambled eggs in the afternoon?

“They’re not just for breakfast,” he said.

But Moriarty, 44, who lives in Bolingbrook, Ill., and works in e-commerce, hasn’t packed a lunch since going back to the office a year ago. “Lunch has turned into my great escape,” he said. “It’s my daily mini-vacation from the world of spreadsheets and conference calls”—an opportunity to burst out of the office doors, smell deep-dish pizza instead of stale office air and think about what’s on his plate in a literal rather than metaphorical sense. Plus, it’s easier than the alternative. Moriarty feels “older and busier” than he used to be, and who has the time and patience to think about lunch the night before? 

Please select this link to read the complete article from TIME.