Why Is It So Awkward to Have Lunch with (New) Colleagues?
The new year has begun, which means we’re all getting back to work in droves. Have you survived the train journey with fellow passengers munching on rice crackers with hummus (people eating on a packed train arghargh!), then there’s already the next hurdle to overcome: having lunch in the company of (new) colleagues.
As a free, happy freelancer, I hardly ever work in an office. I’m one of those spoiled millennials who spends entire days alone or with similarly self-employed friends in coffee shops. Not on just one lousy tea and a slice of banana bread, mind you—the restaurateurs do actually make some money from us. But sometimes I suddenly do have to go to the office, and it completely throws me off. That’s mainly because of the communal lunch. Because: how do you eat with people you know, but not inside out? I think I’ve forgotten how.
Rumbling stomachs between the desks
First of all, I always find lunchtime a whole thing. My stomach is already rumbling between the desks while the rest don’t look hungry in the slightest. I secretly try to nibble on a cucumber beforehand, but of course everyone can hear that. Talk about noise. Once you’re actually having lunch, I feel as though my cracker is being pulverized at thousands of decibels. The madness between my teeth must be audible at least five metres away, all the way to the other end of the lunch table. At least, that’s how they look at me. I think. The last time, I did see someone swallow when I took another cracker.
No one eats cottage cheese voluntarily
But actually, the whole ordeal starts with bringing food from home. In the morning, I become completely flustered because I suddenly have to fill a Curver container with whatever I might possibly want to eat that day. Good grief, a snack, of course. What am I saying? Two. And then lunch, but perhaps I’ll also get hungry on the way home. Meanwhile, I’m trying to take another shot at achieving a future beach body by eating Hüttenkase. When you bring this with you, people always look at you a little sorrowfully too. As if to say: girl, I feel for you—you’re trying to lose a few pounds, right? Which is true. Let’s just be honest: no one eats cottage cheese voluntarily, of course.
Curver container filled with raw vegetables
Recently, I arrived at the office and all my crackers had already broken before lunchtime. I then headed towards the lunch table with Hüttenkase, hummus and raw vegetables. When I started laying out the ingredients, I thought it was a bit much myself, but you need to have some choice. I topped my little pieces of cracker, while also poking around in my Curver container filled with raw vegetables. Everyone else seemed to be eating so casually that I felt even more awkward.
A little awkward
Obviously, I’m making it all much bigger than it is, but I still find eating with new colleagues you want to like you a little awkward. I do hope everyone recognises this feeling, otherwise they also have no idea how uncomfortable I felt during that half hour. Next time, I’ll just bring a cheese sandwich again—it’s the safest option.
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