If you had the choice: 1/2 hr or hr lunch break?

[ChillyWilleys]

I'm a nurse. On the rare nights I get to scarf down my dinner without being interrupted to give pain meds or change an adults dirty diaper, I consider it a huge success.

 

[Kitty 34]

I'd rather have a half an hour.

 

[cybrkitn]

An hour. That's usually when I will go make any errands I need to do, phone calls or get take out for lunch (which isn't often). Sometimes I just have my lunch in the car and have it as I'm reading a book.

 

[cybrkitn]

? As mentioned, you can run errands and sit in the sun after work....since you'll be leaving 1/2 hour earlier, at least you have more options as to where you want to go!

It all depends on what those errands are. Sometimes, I go and pay some bills during my lunch break. On other occasions I have gone down to DS11's school to pay for his tuition or other school related things, as well as church related things that I cannot do once I get out of work. The office is only open until about 4:30 during the school year and the bookkeeper is only there until 1:30. In those instances, I definitely need the hour break.

 

[luvdzny]

1/2 hour would be a luxury! We get 15 minutes, it is tough to eat and relax in that amount of time!

 

[Sparkly]

I would rather have a hours lunch break so I could relax and enjoy my lunch. Also so I could go outside to eat rather then stay at my desk.

 

[tennisfan]

I get 1/2 hr unpaid break and prefer this as we have the 1/2hrs added to our Relief week so an hour each shift would mean we have to work more.

 

[Aliceacc]

I'm a high school teacher. Depending on the schedule we're on, my lunch ranges from 29 minutes to 38.

The short days tend to go by FAST, but the more typical 38 is plenty of time. I can Xerox a test if I have to and still have time to eat. If I had an hour, I would end up getting to more work that didn't have to be done at home that night, so it wouldn't really make a huge difference.

 

[clarkshel]

I would prefer the 30 minute lunch so I can leave early. I actually work through most of my lunches so I can leave even earlier. I like to leave by 4:00 PM every day, so I can get home before 5.

 

[Couchy]

I would definitely take 30 minutes and get home early.

 

[tcufrog]

When I had a librarian job near lots of shopping I loved the hour break because I could get lots of errands done when the streets and shops weren't as crowded. One year I even did all of my Christmas shopping during my lunch breaks. When I was moved to the main branch that had nothing around except one crappy restaurant I hated the one hour break because it dragged on. There was nowhere to go around there and no nice place to sit outside and eat.

 

[PanamaMike]

My lunch hour is part of my work day, so I'm always on the clock during it, but if I had the choice, I'd do a 1/2 hour and go home earlier.

 

[denisem]

I'll split the difference!

Office worker for over 40 yrs. and my favorite was a 45 minute lunch hour. Enough time to go out, or run errands/grab something fast, or stay in and really relax.

 

[Maleficent Dragon]

I would do the half-hour.

 

[diamondpixienc]

I've experienced both the half and full hour lunches and I preferred the full hour. Why? The full hour allowed for mid day errands i.e. the surprise trips and birthday parties I was able to plan for DH pre-kiddos of course. Of course I was still getting off at 5pm either way so the day time break was always better for me.

 

[PollyannaMom]

It would depend on location for me. When I was in a pretty self-contained office, a half-hour was great. There was a large cafeteria, where I could buy a reasonably priced lunch, or bring my own and get away from my desk for a while. When I was in the city, I loved having an hour lunch to get outside, walk around the park, etc.

 

[chicagodisneyfan]

Definitely the hour

We have a gym on the 10th floor - I can take a class, grab a shower and a snack and still be back at my desk in an hour.

I can run to Nordstrom, Saks, etc and do some shopping. I have even been know to grab a masage.

 

[Maggie Lizer]

I take a 30 minute lunch and walk, weather permitting, during that half hour. I snack on carrots and hummus or celery and cheese or some other sort of finger food while I am working, so I don't really need a "break" to eat. And we don't have a break room for people to take lunch. You can do it in your office or go out for lunch.

I work in DC but live in the suburbs and my commute home is a good 40 minutes less if I can get out by 3:30 as opposed to 4 pm.