Thursday, April 06, 2006

Lunch Time

As much as possible, I always try to pack and take lunch to work everyday. For the following reasons:

1. I simply cannot stand outside food beyond a point.
2. Outside food is expensive and more importantly, fattening (gulp)!

Packing lunch everyday of course implies that I should have some food to pack in the first place. And if I need to have food, I need to cook. Sigh :-(! Actually I wouldn't mind cooking if there was no cleaning required afterwards. I just hate doing dishes. I have been washing dishes almost everyday for so many years now (dating from the time I landed in the US of A) - yet I *always* crib about it and wish I did not have to do it. But the same me goes to India and *always* washes plates and tumblers after eating due to force of habit :-/! But that's off-topic.

On most working days, a few of my colleagues and I go to lunch together. Most of these colleagues don't bring lunch and so need to walk to the food-court across the street to buy food. I accompany them with my lunch box after heating my food in the microwave. There is a nice eating place beneath a canopy of trees at the food-court where we all eat once everyone has bought their food. Sometimes my colleagues eat at the restaurants themselves and I just inform the restaurant management (even at buffet places) that I have my own food and happily join my colleagues. The restaurant folks never object.

I did not realize how common the sight of me with my lunch bag has become - till today. For a change, I had not brought my lunch to work (much to the surprise of my colleagues) and so had to buy lunch. We went to the Ethiopian buffet place in the food-court and once lunch was done, I got up to pay at the counter. And the cashier lady asked me "Oh, you did not bring your own lunch today?". Hehehehe - I did not know that I had become such a familiar sight! Maybe I am known as the "lady with a lunch bag" (like Florence Nightingale's "lady with a lamp" ;-)) in the food court :-D!

So, what do you do for lunch?

14 comments:

Thanu said...

me bilkul opposite I can do all the dishes in the world if someone else wud cook...

Archana Bahuguna said...

hey .. I cook everyday and wash the dishes following that! :-( And me too could cook for hours if I did not hafta wash the dishes later ... dishes depress me ..in fact there are some I need to wash NOW! :-(

BZ said...

Hey Arch, you mean to say.. you cook everyday?! Wow! You are making me feel guilty. :)

My lunch pattern, depends on my work load. I will cook and bring lunch if I have time, else, Rice and Dhaal it is, from the Cafe. AND we go out for lunch on Fridays.

And reg dishes, ..*sheepish grin* what are dishwashers for? After elaborate weekend cooking, K does the dishes.

Nice post, 'lady with the lunch bag' :))

Jinguchakka said...

Hmm..same story everywhere! I am a caffeine addict and get noted for the starbucks I come to get in the canteen!

Prabhu said...

Totally agree with you on washing dishes. Thats the part that I despise so much. I would rather cook than wash. And no matter what people say about utility of dishwashers, I use dishwashers only to drain water & for storage after I clean them all by my hands.
But those are all history - am taking home made food almost everyday, a difference being they are neatly packed by my SIL.

Archana said...

Thanu - wow, u shd have been my roomie ;-)!

Archana - I totally, totally agree with you!

Saranya - ah, my cooking schedule varies a LOT :-). Basically I cook when I have the mood else try to make do with whatever is available (I am ready to compromise *quite a bit* on what I get to eat if it means saving time). For some reason, the dishwasher has never caught my fancy - not enough dishes to put inside it or not enough cleaning done or whatever blah blah! And ah-ha - K does the dishes! Nee enjoy!

Jinguchakka - :-D! I know - you know you go to a store way too much when the sales-people start waving "hi" at you!

Prabhu - ah, one more dish-washing hater :-)! Lunch packed by someone else everyday??? LUCKY YOU!!!!

Vinesh said...

I have awesome food served in my office cafeteria, so no complaints :-)

And hey, you have the second highest number of points on my April Fool's game on my blog :-)

kuttichuvaru said...

well, me too in the same boat of cookin n washin dishes evryday :-( wud be happy if someone cud do tat part for me ;-)

Archana said...

Rahul - your lunch bag contents sound very similar to mine :-))! "like going to a picnic"? Wow! I recently felt like that when the hills near my office got snowed over (a very, very rare occurence) - otherwise "picnic" never enters my head while going to work!

Vinesh - lucky you! Thank you, thank you :-). Now, where is my prize?

Madsies - hehehe :-)! Wonder if I will get there! I think I overdosed on noodles - I can't stand it anymore :-( (and hence have shut the door on the most convenient lunch option ever!).

Kuttichuvaru - ah, doesn't everyone wish for that :-P!

Krish said...

"(dating from the time I landed in the US of A)"

So you started dating right from the moment you landed here?

;-)

Archana Bahuguna said...

Thennavan: nice observation :-)

Archana: And so..er ... how many years has it been? ;-)

Shilpa said...

Hey Arch,

Been a bit busy last few days and missed most of the new posts :-P

LOL at the Ethiopian restuarant experience...u sure must be a sight ;-)

Hmm...lady with the lunch bag...thats funny ! I don't mind cooking if - someone else cuts all the vegis and someone cleans the kithcen...:-)

Nyways...the good thing abt hving roomies is that u can share the cooking turns :-P

Archana said...

Thennavan - :-)! Ah-ha, I did not even think of that interpretation! Boringly enough, I used "dating" in the "To mark or supply with a date" sense only :-P!

Archana - please to read above ;-)!

Shilpa - adhu seri - ppl will have to prep the ingredients first and clean up afterwards. And head-chef-madam will delicately stir the contents in between ...wah, wah, wah ;-)! Yeah, cooking turns is a great idea - I miss that sometimes!

Anonymous said...

I was going through some of your blogs, they are very intersing with close to daily life.

Your narration is very good, while reading it seems as an event happening in fornt of our eyes...

archana....keep continue like this. U may be wonder..by reading these blogs I am also feeling to start writting blogs.

I will try..sure not best like you....:-)

-San