When I arrived at this my first full-time job, I didn’t really know what I was supposed to do for lunch. At home, I grab lunch whenever I want and eat it as soon as I make it. At college there’s this cafeteria with lots of options, all (ostensibly) free, and generally made for you. I haven’t packed a lunch since high school. But that’s what I generally do at work, and eat at my desk as I catch up on my personal email, blogs, and facebook.
Today, though, I went on my first office lunch outing, with four coworkers to a nice new Vietnamese restaurant. It’s strange going out to lunch with coworkers in the middle of the workday! All of your relationships with them are centered around the work environment and mindset, and then here you are in a social situation where you have to converse about things not related to work! Really, it seems like work-related things are a conversation topic of last resort in such a situation. We talked about birds and squirrels and local businesses; it wasn’t that awkward, but I was stricken by the distinct social nature of the outing.
But, of course, almost all of my coworkers are absolutely fantastic, and I really enjoyed the interaction with these four, even if it was a little odd.