Lunch that Works

I remember the days when I’d be pleased to escape the office and eat a sandwich over a plate rather than the keyboard.  Thirty glorious minutes, sometimes even a luxurious 45! Things have changed for me because – as has been trumpeted by the siesta stereotype – Spain’s lunch window is traditionally from 2-4pm.  Yes, that’s right: two hours in the “afternoon” when the rest of the world is considering a snack.

It’s not that all Spanish workers rise from their desks and go eat somewhere for two hours, but this time in the day is generally respected, much the way Americans honor dinner hour.  No meetings are scheduled (well, lunch meetings), no emails sent nor phone calls made.

The Spanish lunch is, ironically, very good for productivity. Many people, I suspect, use (part of) the time to work uninterrupted. Maybe we are all at our desks working away and taking advantage of everyone else being at lunch.  These two hours might surely please Jason Fried, coauthor of the book “Rework,” who thinks that the constant commotion of the modern office ruins everything.

It is also good for living.

One day, my colleague suggested we eat at a cafeteria he’d just discovered that serves great paella.  The only thing, he said, is that it is about 15-20 minutes’ walk from the office.

I balked.  Couldn’t we just go down the block and grab a salad to go?

But he looked so excited that I agreed.  Partly because he is nice but also because living in Spain has helped me notice that sometimes I act like I have no time for anything.  (We Americans do busy quite well).  And in reality, there is always time to be had.  It’s just that we choose, even if by plain acquiescence, a self-imposed busyness.

So my colleague and I head out the door.  It’s 2:15pm.  The sun is shining and the air is crisp because the Madrid winter is clinging to April.  The twenty minute walk flies by.  And when we arrive, I see that my colleague’s new spot is the cafeteria at the bottom of the Fundación Juan March (calle de Castelló 77) – the very location that is hosting a Paul Klee exhibit (for free) which I’d been hoping to see.

Of course, some habits stick around...  I always seem to get the keyboards that have a taste for sandwiches.