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The People Who Eat the Same Lunch Every Day

Alex

By Alex
in Food Traditions & Culture

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Alex

Alex

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From The Atlantic

 

Quote

The daily rituals of office life are characterized by their monotony and roteness, and bringing a different lunch each day is a sunny, inspired attempt to combat all the repetition. I do genuinely appreciate the optimism of those attempts. But in my mind, eating the same thing for lunch each day represents a sober reckoning with the fundamental sameness of office life. It seems like an honest admission that life will have some drudgery in it—so, accept that and find joy elsewhere instead of forcing a little bit of novelty into a Tupperware and dragging it along on your commute.

 

But I am probably overthinking this. 

 

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"There is no sincerer love than the love of food."  -George Bernard Shaw, Man and Superman, Act 1

 

"Imagine all the food you have eaten in your life and consider that you are simply some of that food, rearranged."  -Max Tegmark, physicist

 

Gene Weingarten, writing in the Washington Post about online news stories and the accompanying readers' comments: "I basically like 'comments,' though they can seem a little jarring: spit-flecked rants that are appended to a product that at least tries for a measure of objectivity and dignity. It's as though when you order a sirloin steak, it comes with a side of maggots."

 

Ignorance breeds monsters to fill up all the vacancies of the soul that are unoccupied by the verities of knowledge. -Horace Mann, education reformer, politician

 

Read to children. Vote. And never buy anything from a man who's selling fear. -Mary Doria Russell, science-fiction writer

 

A king can stand people's fighting, but he can't last long if people start thinking. -Will Rogers, humorist

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KennethT

KennethT

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I'm one of these people who brings basically the same thing for lunch each day - but I think the concept that it represents ANYTHING is ridiculous.  I do it because it's convenient - I make my lunches for the week (usually a simiple pasta dish) all at once over the weekend and portion it into 4 portions.  I go out for lunch 1 day a week.  Usually, I'm so busy during the day that I don't have much time to eat or really enjoy what I'm eating anyway, so my lunches are designed to be eaten quickly and easily with no mess and such that I don't need to use my hands (which are commonly a little dirty)...

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chileheadmike

chileheadmike

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I make a big pot of something on Sunday and portion it out for the week. I rotate between a few different things. But, yeah, sometimes it seems like a rut. 

That's the thing about opposum inerds, they's just as tasty the next day.

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JoNorvelleWalker

JoNorvelleWalker

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Invariably my work lunch is a sandwich of bread, Hellmann's mayonnaise, Di Lusso salami, provolone.  There is variation:  sometimes baguette and sometimes boule.

 

Cooking is cool.  And kitchen gear is even cooler.  -- Chad Ward

Whatever you crave, there's a dumpling for you. -- Hsiao-Ching Chou

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scamhi

scamhi

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my office lunch varies. but does go on repeat occasionally.

Leftovers from dinner or a green salad- avocado, lettuce, tomato red pepper and chickpeas or a greek salad with cucumber red pepper, tomato, and feta

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ElsieD

ElsieD

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I hardly ever eat breakfast unless a cup of tea counts, so I used to love lunch.  When I was working, I never ate the same thing twice in a row.  I always made interesting lunches for both me and my husband.  Mind you, we hardly ever had the same lunch so it entailed making two different ones.  I never minded though, as we both looked forward to them.

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ElsieD

ElsieD

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10 minutes ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

Invariably my work lunch is a sandwich of bread, Hellmann's mayonnaise, Di Lusso salami, provolone.  There is variation:  sometimes baguette and sometimes boule.

 

 

You sure know how to mix things up!🙂

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JoNorvelleWalker

JoNorvelleWalker

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6 minutes ago, ElsieD said:

 

You sure know how to mix things up!🙂

 

Yes, and sometimes the provolone is Shoprite and sometimes Black Bear.

 

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Cooking is cool.  And kitchen gear is even cooler.  -- Chad Ward

Whatever you crave, there's a dumpling for you. -- Hsiao-Ching Chou

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Tri2Cook

Tri2Cook

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I have no problem with taking the same lunch to work every day from home. As mentioned already, it's generally a matter of convenience and preparing in advance. What's strange to me is the people who go to the same restaurant and order the exact same meal for lunch every day. We have some of those where I work. I mean, yay for regulars and yay that they enjoy something we serve enough to eat it every day but I can't think of any meal at any restaurant that I would want to eat for lunch every single day Monday - Friday every week. Well, maybe a good taco place... :D

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It's kinda like wrestling a gorilla... you don't stop when you're tired, you stop when the gorilla is tired.

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kayb

kayb

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I'll go on a streak where I'll eat the same thing for lunch (or breakfast) a few days in a row, but eventually I get in a rut and have to change up. Now that I'm working at home, it tends to be whatever I forage from the fridge. Once or twice a week I'll go out, if I'm in a notion for something particular.

 

Don't ask. Eat it.

www.kayatthekeyboard.wordpress.com

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heidih

heidih

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I have approched in  different ways. Sometimes leftover good stuff to MW, somtimes we'd go to the very adjacent Mexican. Having a "go to" can be comforting  even if repetative when time crucial. So maybe my take is comfort on a busy day trumps innovative Hard to use  word trump but it fits linguisticaly

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chromedome

chromedome

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Since I work from home, lunch is whatever needs to be used up. Often that's the same thing for a few days in a row, unless I think to package and freeze some of it (assuming, of course, it's freezer-able). Doesn't really bother me much to eat the same thing repeatedly.

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“Who loves a garden, loves a greenhouse too.” - William Cowper, The Task, Book Three

 

"Not knowing the scope of your own ignorance is part of the human condition...The first rule of the Dunning-Kruger club is you don’t know you’re a member of the Dunning-Kruger club.” - psychologist David Dunning

 

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lindag

lindag

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Cooking for one, I often have loads of leftovers even though I scale recipes to halves for less.

So I will have the same dish for two or three days but then I get really bored with it and need to have something different.  I toss a lot of food just because I can't look at it any longer.  I used to be able to use up some of my leftovers by giving the appropriate parts to my dogs mixed with their regular food.  Both have allergies now that prevent that since they're on prescription foods.

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Thanks for the Crepes

Thanks for the Crepes

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No!

 

When I was working, I still cooked very actively. I always or very nearly always had a partner for whom I was cooking as well.

 

We had a microwave every single place I've worked. I very often brought in leftovers and got negative feedback because the smell just was not fair to the rest because I did not bring enough for everyone.

 

Okay, make your own great food, and leave me alone, please.

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> ^ . . ^ <

 

 

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SLB

SLB

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On 3/8/2019 at 10:49 AM, chromedome said:

Doesn't really bother me much to eat the same thing repeatedly.

 

Me neither.  My lunches are almost always some collected mess of various scraps from prior dinners.  

 

I used to have a quote  of Nigella Lawson's on my fridge that went something like:  "I like repetition, and if something tastes good, I eat it often."  

 

 

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SLB

SLB

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Here's a followup from The Atlantic:  https://www.theatlantic.com/letters/archive/2019/03/readers-share-their-lunch-routines/584815/?utm_campaign=the-atlantic&amp;utm_medium=social&amp;utm_source=facebook&amp;utm_term=2019-03-18T18%3A08%3A48&amp;utm_content=edit-promo&amp;fbclid=IwAR13SbgJ39hoqboY4UpeVlSKt-QN725UCIUqBgWLa0SiFaee5BOreckUr3k&amp;fbclid=IwAR2N06bUhjjl8eToHdHL_0A7NrO2_oWDCy7phbUYSh97Ty90tzvupn3IXHI

 

I think what's most striking to me is just how little people seem to be eating for lunch.  I am one of these people who needs a big lunch.  And a pretty big breakfast, honestly. 

 

I do enjoy a comparatively light dinner (at home), but a small lunch would demolish my whole possibility for the afternoon.  

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gfweb

gfweb

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1 hour ago, SLB said:

 

I do enjoy a comparatively light dinner (at home), but a small lunch would demolish my whole possibility for the afternoon.  

 

Go figure.

A big lunch and I'm done for in the afternoon.

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kayb

kayb

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34 minutes ago, gfweb said:

 

Go figure.

A big lunch and I'm done for in the afternoon.

 

Particularly if it's pasta. Pasta is my turkey. Sends me straight to the couch for that afternoon nap.

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Don't ask. Eat it.

www.kayatthekeyboard.wordpress.com

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Kim Shook

Kim Shook

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4 hours ago, gfweb said:

 

Go figure.

A big lunch and I'm done for in the afternoon.

That's me.  I have this odd reaction to eating.  After eating almost anything, I grow incredibly sleepy.  To the point that if I eat out when alone, I sometimes feel unsafe driving home and have to either eat close to our house or wait out the sleepys in the restaurant.  None of my doctors has any clue what this could be.  So, if I need to get something done, I tend not to eat anything but a small snack until dinner time.

Kim

Kim's Cookbook

What Fresh Hell is This?

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E.Scott

E.Scott

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I usually have salads in the morning after my workout. This really makes me feel fresh and at the same time it's healthy as well. You can also try various soups in the morning to rejuvenate your mornings

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suzilightning

suzilightning

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On 3/18/2019 at 8:48 PM, Kim Shook said:

That's me.  I have this odd reaction to eating.  After eating almost anything, I grow incredibly sleepy.  To the point that if I eat out when alone, I sometimes feel unsafe driving home and have to either eat close to our house or wait out the sleepys in the restaurant.  None of my doctors has any clue what this could be.  So, if I need to get something done, I tend not to eat anything but a small snack until dinner time.

John has the same reaction to eating and it usually lasts 15-20 minutes.  He says "It's the blood rushing to my stomach to digest the food".

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Nothing is better than frying in lard.

Nothing.  Do not quote me on this.

 

Linda Ellerbee

Take Big Bites

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