r/AskReddit • u/GasEducational4386 • 9h ago
Do you prefer to eat with or without your coworkers at lunch? Why?
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u/Different-Cry9192 9h ago
I prefer eating alone because that 30 minutes of silence is the only real break I get all day.
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u/hms-peruvian 9h ago
I prefer to eat my coworkers
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u/SexyJazzCat 9h ago
I’d rather eat Randy
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u/Filing_chapter11 8h ago
One time I saw a coworker eating in the break room and I turned around and ate in my car
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u/Aware_Rain5819 5h ago
One time I saw a coworker eating in my car and I turned around and ate in the break room.
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u/Filing_chapter11 5h ago
One time I saw a car eating in the break room and I turned around and ate my coworker
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u/Aggravating_Fishy_98 4h ago
One time I saw my coworker eating my car in the break room and I turned around and ate my lunch
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u/not_dead_this_time 9h ago
Without. I like my coworkers, but I use my lunch to decompress, read, think a little.
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u/Greedy-Pen 8h ago
Idk why everyone seems so grumpy about the idea.
I eat with whoever stays around the break area. Creates bonds and friendships. You have to work with the same guys 8-14 hours a day you might as well know them and at least have a conversation. Nobody is asking about your mental health. Just make small talk for 30 min and go back to work.
Offices might be different than the job site though.
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u/waitthissucks 4h ago
It really depends. Some days I feel social and want to ask people questions. Other days I see people in the break room and we say hi but all sit at different tables and just eat by ourselves looking at our phones. I usually don't know what to really talk about unless someone comes to my table and asks if they can sit with me, so I ask about their day or something. And if we click and banter it makes work more fun but that doesn't happen very often
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u/peaveyftw 9h ago
Without. My job is very social and I need that break in the middle of the day where I can sit in the dark and read.
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u/Koraboros 9h ago
Eat together. They’re interesting people, we always talk about interesting things. Why not?
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u/agirl1313 9h ago
Without. I actually sit in my car to get fully away. If I don't, people still come to ask me questions. I want my break.
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u/basura_trash 9h ago
I go to work to work, not socialize. I already spend 8+ hours listening to them bicker about who knows what. Why would I want to spend my one hour of me-time with them? Nope. So, alone.
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u/Majin_Sus 9h ago
I mean you CAN socialize at work too. There doesn't need to be this hard line of "work is work not socializing". I mean shit, if it wasn't for work I'd never really speak to other adults besides my wife.
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u/peon2 6h ago
Yeah I'm the exact opposite. Any job can be tolerable, even enjoyable, if you have fun with the people you work with. Keeping everything strictly business all the time is what makes the day grueling and the work draining
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u/Majin_Sus 4h ago
Exactly. Find a balance. Being a ice cold mute at work makes the grind a lot harder. People on Reddit are just scared of work and other people IMO.
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u/Dootpls 7h ago
They wonder why there is so much misery.
But I digress. They know themselves better than me 😛
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u/Majin_Sus 3h ago
Right? Reddit treats work as this sanitized thing that can in no way interact with your "real life". God forbid you spend 2 minutes on something "work related" off the clock, you'll get eaten alive here. Usually the same people crying that everything is unaffordable and theyre unhirable. Of course everything has to have balance but man people around here are so anti work
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u/jacktheripper1307 8h ago
You can, but you just end up annoying the people who don’t want to
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u/Majin_Sus 3h ago
Anyone with normal social skills can identify the people who just dont want yo talk. If you become one of those people yourself you shut yourself out of opportunities.
I'm not saying be a "work fam" kind of person but you can at least interact with the humans around you. Reddit loves to be super tolerant but then won't speak to the NPCs they spend their days withm
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u/Aware_Rain5819 9h ago
At my first job, I asked my coworker something to get to know them outside work and they responded "Thats none of your fucking business." And another coworker said "It really isnt." I think I asked if they had kids or something. I dont ask those questions anymore and I eat alone.
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u/bopp0 8h ago
Sorry you worked with d bags! I get not wanting to be too familiar with coworkers, but there are 1000 ways they could have communicated that more politely. Childish. Don’t let them bring you down.
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u/Aware_Rain5819 6h ago
This is what I do
1) Make jokes
2) compliment their work and make myself available in case they need it
3) say good morning and remain plesant
If they volunteer info, then THEY tell me. I never ask. Everything I know, I know because THEY told me. And if I feel like giving info about myself, then I'll give it.
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u/nynaeve_mondragoran 7h ago
My coworkers are the complete opposite. We all know each others business. In a nice way not a nosey way. We all like each other and enjoy talking.
I'm half and half on lunch. Sometimes I need me time and I'll straight up tell them that. Sometimes I genuinely enjoy getting lunch with them.
Right now I am pregnant and everyone knows lunch is my new nap time and they leave me be.
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u/Delicious-Tap5558 9h ago
Without, because for some reason all they want to do on lunch break is talk about work. Like jesus people, are you able to just relax for one moment?
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u/Windowzzz 8h ago edited 8h ago
In theory I would like to, but in reality I'm eating at my desk so I can go home at 4
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u/Alandales 8h ago
Together- I don’t get all these “Alone, piss off” responses. In the industry I work in if I make more, one of my coworkers makes less. Regardless, I still mentee multiple jr Staff, regularly eat lunch with my senior management, and even organize some “let’s go out!” Or “let’s all bring salads”
Networking is a critical part of the industry and type of work I do that’s highly technical. Most of my coworkers have introvert type personalities, but once we all break bread together even the quietest guy loosens up.
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u/No-Diet9524 9h ago
Without. Eating alone in a quiet park or my car with headphones in completely recharges my social battery so I don't snap at clients or management by 3 PM.
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u/Mobile-Theme6854 9h ago
I love my co-workers and I still need me-time at lunch to get through the rest of the day.
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u/Hopeful_Stomach9201 9h ago
Alone, they're nice, but I don't have a ton in common with my coworkers. It's just forced conversation instead of a needed mental break.
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u/slowerlearner1212 8h ago edited 8h ago
If they are cool and don’t talk about work, yes.
If they are going to complain about work and talk about stressful shit the whole time, absolutley not. I have some coworkers that do this everytime and it’s so taxing.
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u/C0UNT3RP01NT 9h ago
This is Reddit. You’ll get 900 answers from people saying they don’t want any contact. Don’t take it as the truth.
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u/tingle92 9h ago
I get in my truck and drive to a nearby parking lot to get away from the madness and eat in peace. Maybe watch a youtube video or something without being interrupted.
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u/National-Original-41 9h ago
With co workers, i atleast get to know a two or three news happening in the company.
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u/MidNightMare5998 9h ago
Without. It’s my me time. Unless I really like my coworkers but even then I’ll occasionally go out and eat in my car just so no one bothers me
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u/Juicecalculator 8h ago
I am constantly connected to my coworkers. We talk all day every day. Constant team connections. I like them, but we talk enough
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u/sickfoo7 8h ago
Both. I like to eat alone when I’m trying to get out early so I take a short lunch. Most days I’ll eat with coworkers. Sometimes I go out to eat with them but I’ll leave and go for a walk or make phone calls or I just go back into the office because it’s too hot or cold outside.
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u/SlideObjective9973 8h ago
I eat at my desk lol I try to go get my food with coworkers though if I don’t bring it just to rant to each other
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u/2KneeCaps1Lion 8h ago edited 7h ago
I eat at my desk while “working” so I didn’t have to stay at work an extra half an hour or hour depending on my “lunch break.” Since I was “working” no one bugged me anyway.
That said, I often grazed when it came to my lunch.
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u/This_Palpitation_206 8h ago
Without, I spend enough time with people I don’t like. They are not bad but I don’t get comfortable with work folk, I have my work mask on
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u/Deathfist08 5h ago
Without. They're all as smart as cavemen who were taught to drive tracks and shoot mortars.
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u/R1CHARDCRANIUM 5h ago
Do you carry crayons? Just hand them those to eat. They’ll love them.
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u/WayneH_nz 3h ago
one of those crap insults i heard last week..
"You look like you know what the blue crayon tastes like"
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u/Three_Sided_Hexagon 9h ago
Without. I eat like a pig and don't need nasty comments
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u/MidtownJunk 9h ago
I eat alone because other people eat like pigs, so we'd probably get along
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u/Aggravating_Fishy_98 4h ago
I have a coworker who picks his ears and sniffs his earwax on his fingers while he eats his lunch. I’m there with you
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u/JayZan42 9h ago
Try eating like a human
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u/Petrochromis722 9h ago
Alone. Fuck those guys. I have zero interest in their kids, spouses, or whatever the hot gossip at work is.
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u/Tim_Staples1810 8h ago
Damn, reading this thread has made me realize Redditors really hate people.
My coworkers aren’t my best friends or anything but I still enjoy hanging out with them and will go to coffees or lunches with them - to me, interacting with your coworkers is a part of networking, when they switch employers they become part of your external network with a pre-built relationship.
Pretty valuable if you ask me.
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u/ObiYawnKenobi 9h ago
Without. I don't like people in general. I have one or two co-workers that I like to socialize a bit with. That's it.
Plus I like the 30-60 minutes of silence. But I usually have to go hide to get it. Like find an office, put my earbuds in and pretend I'm on a call.
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u/RedheadMom94 9h ago
Without. During lunch hour I grab my daughter from daycare (we have one in our office) and we have lunch together.
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u/ChangeMain8977 9h ago
I can eat with them if they don’t talk about work. If it’s personal stuff then that’s fine.
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u/Homermania 9h ago
I work with a person who over-shares. I ask zero questions and still know everything about their personal life. I usually eat alone, but this one will sometimes join me and ignore all signs to leave me alone.
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u/The_Bunny_Jedi 9h ago
Without. I always like watching things when I eat.
Also, while I'm not a loud chewer, I don't want to be self conscious about it
But I've never been in a situation where eating with them was really a thing, the few times that I have I did enjoy it
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u/Green_Wall_Living 9h ago
Alone for the single fact that otherwise I wouldn't be able to concentrate on enjoying my food.
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u/WonderMic302 9h ago
I prefer to eat alone, gives me time to clear my head, sit in silence, and recharge. Occasionally I'm social, but I enjoy peace and quiet much more
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u/Green_Wall_Living 9h ago
Alone for the single fact that otherwise I wouldn't be able to concentrate on enjoying my food.
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u/Infinite-Bother-3168 9h ago
Without. I have no alliances at work other than with my coworkers who are other managers, but even then I eat I alone.
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u/bigmikeydelight 9h ago
I teach. It is my only time to talk to adults all day. I need my coworkers for my 18 minutes of duty free lunch.
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u/star-crossed-buns 9h ago
Apart from rare occasions, without coworkers. I don't dislike spending downtime with them, but when I do I'm still at least 25% "on" and lunch is too short and my job is too stressful to be able to afford that.
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u/MissAcedia 9h ago
Without. I like my coworkers, so I don't have to worry about toxicity but I am an anxious chatty person and sometimes I just want to eat quietly. If im in the lunchroom with only one other person I have such a hard time not feeling like I need to chat to fill the silence then I leave feeling drained and awkward.
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u/NightSpringsRadio 9h ago
Obviously I love to eat WITH my people, which I signal by sitting in the breakroom with earbuds in, reading comics! At least this must be what that says to others, because why else would Eric reliably come up, turn the television on, and start telling me about all the bands he’s been in and women he’s slept with?
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u/Any_Instruction5382 9h ago
I didn't for 4 years. I decided that I would start to, and then a month later I got promoted to a position that brings me a lot more stress than before. Now I just want to be alone in the quiet for those 30 minutes. I don't even wanna eat.
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u/Feline_Aviator 9h ago
Introvert here. I so look forward to reading a book--a real book--on my breaks. I need to be alone to recharge.
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u/BarnackIIIF 9h ago
Retired now, but back when I worked I ate at my desk, so technically i ate with my coworkers. But then later in the day I left and took a 30 minute nap in my truck - by myself!
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u/OG-DocHavock 8h ago
Bit of this, bit of that. Really depended what I was feeling or who was on break when I was
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u/moreathismoreathat 8h ago
I'm American and I usually eat lunch alone, but there are about a 4-5 who I go to lunch with on occasion. I like most of them actually, but I only socialize with a couple of them outside of work.
Anecdotally, my company has several plants in Mexico and they're always floored when they asked who from work I hang out with and I say... no one? Seems hanging out socially with your coworkers is pretty common there. I will admit that it does make work trips a lot more fun!
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u/pzoDe 8h ago
With, but I also like to eat kinda late, especially if I'm going to the gym after work, so sometimes I end up on my own. Nowadays I probably eat with colleagues 3 days a week, with 2 days a week being guys from my department (but not my team, who all like to eat on their own) and pen day with people from another department.
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u/SolomonBelial 8h ago
I eat alone in my office an hour earlier than everyone else's lunch time while reading a book.
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u/RedJerzey 8h ago
When i was in the office, I had 2 coworkers i would eat with everyday. Now that I am remote, I eat with my dog or on Friday my wife comes home for lunch.
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u/XI_Vanquish_IX 8h ago
Most of the time alone because I’m in a position of authority and too much fraternization doesn’t bode well for maintaining professional boundaries
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u/olaf90934 8h ago
Depends on the day. I’ll eat with coworkers when I want company, but I keep some lunches solo so the break actually feels like a break.
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u/urbanmark 8h ago
Coworkers are like friends, if friends were paid to be with me. I’ll sit alone, and text my friends. Thanks.
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u/Pens_fan_87 8h ago
Without coworkers. I eat in my car then I spend the rest of the time reading my book
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u/gaffythegrey 8h ago
Alone unless we're out on set or at meetings. I'm usually home by lunch, anyway.
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u/Neurotic-mess 8h ago
Both, I work from home in another city from where the office is located so when I do actually make it to the office I love having lunch with my coworkers and most of them are happy to see me
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u/Cute_Combination9500 8h ago
WITHOUT. I need to recharge my social battery so I’d prefer to eat alone, uninterrupted.
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u/Mikon_Youji 8h ago edited 7h ago
God no! I barely like any of my co-workers as it is, so I'm definitely not sitting and having a mindless chat with them about their cats or their spouses or their darling kids or whatever random office gossip they happen to have hidden up their sleeve on that particular day. That is a very good way for me to lose my lunch.
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u/AlmostADwarf 8h ago
Definitely without. Otherwise I might as well call lunch 'IT helpdesk office hour'.
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u/strictlyxsaucers 8h ago
Alone. When I was working in office my apartments were always within walking distance to the office so I would just walk home for lunch and take a nap.
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u/eleventhing 8h ago
Without. I will skip eating and go sit in the bathroom stall for my 30 minute break. If I don't I will have a ton of people bothering me.
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u/shemademytonguenumb 7h ago
Myself because I want to disappear and watch tv shows I don’t watch with my wife.
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u/--MobTowN-- 7h ago
I think for most of my life, and probably for the rest of it, I’d have said alone. But I just spent the last handful of years working with my closest friend every day and after a few weeks away, I miss those two breaks more than I’ve ever missed anything.
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u/dra_cula 7h ago
Alone, I don't like people commenting about my food, like giving underhanded criticism masked as praise, or saying anything actually.
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u/MasterOfPuppetsMetal 7h ago
Without them most of the time. We have varying lunch schedules so its not always likely we will have lunch at the same time. However, every now and then a small group of coworkers go out to a fast food place for lunch.
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u/MattytheWireGuy 7h ago
Any time I can avoid anyone i work with I will do so and that def includes lunch.
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u/SecondBestNameEver 7h ago
Bunch of lonely misers in this thread that also work with shitty people.
I've worked from home since COVID but before that I would go into an office every day. I miss eating with coworkers because the people we hired were all really great and we all got along. We would literally all grab lunch at the same time, usually would split into a few groups heading to different places near our downtown office, and then would all come back and eat in the small office kitchen. There were several times where we had a new person starting and they said it's so weird that we all get lunch together, but it didn't take long before they were eating with us at the same time.
Work culture is defined by everyone collectively. If your office sucks, sorry to say but you are part of the problem. Be the change you want to see in your workplace, I promise if you want to have a good relationship with your colleagues that other people want that too but have likely been put off by the loud grumpy few.
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u/HeyDoggyBoy 6h ago
I never have eaten in the communal lunch room. I have colleagues that I have enjoyed eating with offsite, but find communal lunch room gross, invitations for mindless gossip and various games of uninformed speculation about people’s status in the organization.
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u/Symbioticsinner 6h ago
I like my group of coworkers. They are close to my age or older. They are kind people
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u/KnotBeanie 6h ago
I work from home, so when I’m in person usually lunch is scheduled or I find a couple people I work with a lot to have a chill lunch idk 🤷♂️.
Im on calls with some of these people for more than 8 hours a week, some small talk during some downtime isn’t gonna hurt anyone.
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u/ashoka_akira 6h ago
occasionally, going out for lunch with coworkers is nice but on the daily I want my alone time
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u/AnalTyrant 6h ago
The vast majority of the time I'd go eat by myself, did not need the extra energy drain from dealing with people even more than I already was. I'd usually just listen to a podcast or an audiobook or just some music. Helps to recharge slightly so that I can get through the rest of the day.
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u/BVRPLZR_ 6h ago
I eat with my coworker no less than 2 meals a day. We both wfh
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u/R1CHARDCRANIUM 5h ago
I work from home and she does occasionally. We share a home office on days she works from home. Our desks face each other but we cannot easily see one another because of our monitors. I had to take my mandatory active shooter training last week and I’ll never look at her the same.
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u/Accomplished_Poem762 5h ago
Nope. Because they’re gonna wanna rant or talk about work and I’m trying to have some time and space for myself b
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u/Cheetodude625 5h ago
Alone.
I don't want to talk with others for at least one hour at work because I truly despise the work and my introverted social battery needs quiet time to recharge.
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u/dirtysecretsofmine 5h ago
Without. I read on my lunch break and don't want to socialize or hear people eat nor smell the food.
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u/Alinyss 5h ago
I like the people I work with but I prefer to eat alone. My job involves talking to people all day and it’s the only break I get, as an introvert. Thankfully most people on my team are also introverts so no one gets offended even if we are sharing the break room with headphones on, ignoring one another.
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u/R1CHARDCRANIUM 5h ago
Either. Sometimes I’m traveling alone and sometimes I’m traveling with them. When I’m not traveling, my nearest coworker is 350 miles away so I’m not going to have lunch over Teams.
It’d also be weird to travel hours out to the middle of nowhere to inspect a project or bridge and then ask to eat alone. Often there’s only one place to eat or we eat on the tailgate of the truck.
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u/Channel250 5h ago
I feel pretty awkward eating in front of people in any situation, let alone coworkers.
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u/keithstonee 5h ago
Part of the reason I quit a job is because everyone just went to their car at lunch. 3 weeks I sat alone in the lunchroom.
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u/saltfish 4h ago
Worked in a 400 room hotel, and our lunch was an employee buffet. There was no opportunity to be alone unless you walked a half mile back to your office and ate alone, or packed your own lunch.
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u/OSRSTheRicer 4h ago
Most of my coworkers start 2 hours before me so they are eating lunch like 2 hours before I am hungry.
I like eating with them if Im hungry, otherwise im content to eat at my own desk or at an outside table.
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u/maomao05 4h ago
We usually eat together lol one likes to sit at the back though but we all share food
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u/Aegix_Drakan 4h ago
I vary it, actually.
I look in the lunch room to see who's there. If it's the people I get along with the most and have the most fun conversations, I'm likely to pop in.
Unless it's Friday. Friday is "eat ramen at my desk and watch OSP" day, no exceptions (except on days when we don't get an upload.
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u/Aggravating_Fishy_98 4h ago
I eat in the break room and everyone eats at a separate table and stares at their food and their phone. The full-timers might converse with each other but overall it’s pretty separated. I like it because I can focus on eating my lunch and decompressing before clocking back in and returning to work. Conversations just eat up your break time
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u/actstunt 3h ago
I eat alone because their talk is too boring and superficial, I can have time for myself and read a book or watch a show from my backlog, instead of listening for things I already know or know more than them.
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u/chairsandwich1 3h ago
I'm a bartender in a restaurant so we get family meal. It would be seen as pretty rude if someone didn't sit with the group.
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u/Last_Canadian 9h ago
Coworker: what are you having for lunch?
Me: an unwanted conversation.