so today i did a very odd thing. i drove across the street to wendy's and got the exact same thing i would have gotten had i walked to the company cafeteria, except it wasn't as tasty, and cost more. and involved driving rather than walking.

it wasn't until i returned to my desk to eat it that i really gave much thought to what i'd done, and why.

and i think the reason why walking to the cafeteria alone and getting a salad and bringing it back to my desk and eating it alone is so unappealing, is because i had no choice but to do that for many, many years. and now i just don't want to.

for the first seven years i worked here (this is now my fifteenth year), i maintained phone coverage from 9-5, usually switching off with just one other person. between the two of us, we had to be sure those phones were answered by a live person during office hours. and usually, that person was the only person i really knew very well, well enough to eat lunch with. and we couldn't eat lunch together in the cafe-- because one of us always had to cover. so we ate at our desks, out in the hall, in front of the bathrooms, with big mobs of tech guys passing by on their way to lunch, sticking their noses into our plates and asking, "what's for lunch?" every damned day.

ok, so i didn't have the greatest social skills. i could have done better with the lunch companionship if i'd tried harder. but that's the way it was for a long time.

now i'm kind of addicted to lunch companionship and/or freedom. i can come and go as i please; any of my co-workers can go with me. it's nice.