By+Stephanie+Buck

Lunch as we know it has only existed for some 200 years. Before the 19th century， a Western lunch was defined as“as much food as ones hand can hold，” according to a 1755 dictionary entry1. But when industrialization came to major cities， people （mostly men） stayed at work for longer hours， or all day. A new meal had to be created so workers could literally2 regain strength for the rest of the days labor.

Later， technological innovations like the pocket watch and punch clock ensured workers every second was accounted for.3 And the quicker a person could bang out said meal， the sooner he could punch back in.4

“Haste seems to be a controlling factor in the luncheon of the worker，” observed Munseys Magazine in 1901.5 It named the new phenomenon the “quick lunch.”

The culture of the quick lunch originated in New York， says culinary6 historian Laura Shapiro. “New York has all the conditions that make America different from the Old World7 in terms of speed and work and the arrangement of life. In New York， the focus of peoples lives is work， and lunch is the meal that was just made to fit into the industrial， urban work day.”

Geographically， more businesses and factories clustered in lower Manhattan， making the area chaotic with congestion and noise.8 As a result， more residents moved north to quieter areas and restaurants， automats， and food carts took their place.9

Counter-service restaurants， also known as “one-arm” joints， were complicit in the culture of speed.10 Patrons could order fast food and eat it at counters standing up， packed in tightly—using only one hand.11 Restaurants encouraged the pace. Some menus even warned they were “not responsible for personal property”if it was stolen in the hustle12.

One intrepid New York Times reporter spent a month timing diners in a single quick-eating establishment in Times Square， in part because Americans had earned the reputation by this time of “gobbling food almost whole.”13 Two men stood out， he said. One finished his meal in 48 seconds； the other in one minute and 55 seconds. Of the latter， “The man simply tossed14 the food into his mouth， which was large， and swallowed it as fast as his throat could work. The putting of the food into the mouth and the swallowing seemed almost simultaneous15.”

Some people got tired of the quick lunch and restaurants monotonous16 menus. They brought bagged lunches or pails and checked out all together.17 According to a 1901 feature for Munseys Magazine， manual laborers would “sit in the half finished doorways， or prop themselves against the walls” or “even spread their luncheon on the curb.”18 He compares their “hour of luxurious ease” to businessmen who would “feed，” rather than lunch.

Office professionals fancied their own version of lunch escapism.19 A 1904 issue of Good Housekeeping chronicles one readers solution： a simple bag lunch of sandwich and a “little dainty” like almonds or raisins—eaten at his desk.20 About 60% of professionals eat lunch at their desks， and about half eat alone. What would otherwise be an hour free of work obligations is spent catching up on email and punching out small tasks， like responding to Slack messages； in other words， minutiae that can survive the “distraction” of a sandwich.21 And theyve been doing it for decades. Its why we have bromidic lists titled “12 Lunch Break Ideas That Improve Your Productivity，” with flamethrower tips like “read about your industry” and “make phone calls.”22

Its New Yorks fault， really. When lunch outside the office got too crazy， people began retreating23 to their desks. Top that off with decades of increasing productivity pressures and on-demand delivery options and youve got the recipe for todays sad desk lunch， with only a greasy keyboard for company.24

Hope your productivity is worth it. （Its not.）

1. entry： 條目。

2. literally： 真正地，确实地。

3. 之后，怀表和打卡钟这样的技术创新确保了工人们的每分每秒都能尽其所用。pocket watch： 怀表；punch clock：打卡钟，考勤钟；account for： 解释，说明。

4. bang out： 匆匆做出，这里指匆忙吃完（午餐）；punch in： 上班打卡。

5. luncheon： 正式午餐；Munseys Magazine：《芒西周刊》，由美国报业大亨弗兰克·芒西于1889年创办。

6. culinary： 烹饪的。

7. Old World： 旧世界（欧、亚、非），与新世界（New World，指美国）相对。

8. cluster： 成群地聚集于；lower Manhattan：曼哈顿下城，指曼哈顿南部地区，华尔街所在地；chaotic： 混乱的；congestion： 拥挤，拥塞。

9. automat： 自动售货机；food cart： 食品车。

10. 柜台服务式餐厅，又称“单臂场所”，正顺应了这种快节奏文化。joint： 公共场所（尤指价格低廉的饮食和娱乐场所）；complicit： 串通一气的。

11. 顾客们挤在一起，点一份快餐，站在柜台前只用单手就能搞定午餐。patron：顾客，（老）主顾。

12. hustle： 推搡，挤。

13.《纽约时报》一名勇敢的记者在时报广场旁一家速食店里蹲守了一个月，测算食客的用餐时间，部分原因就是那时的美国人已被冠以“整吞食物”的不雅名声。intrepid： 勇猛的，无畏的；time： v. 测时；gobble： 狼吞虎咽地吃。

14. toss： 扔，投。

15. simultaneous： 同时的。

16. monotonous： 单调的。

17. pail： 提桶；check out： 下班。

18. 根据《芒西周刊》1901年的一篇专题报道，体力劳动者会“坐在半完工的门廊里，或者倚靠着墙壁，甚至把午饭摊在路边”。feature：（报纸、电视等的）特写，专题；prop against： 倚靠在……上；curb： 路边。

19. fancy： 喜爱；escapism： 逃避主义。

20. issue： 刊期；chronicle： 记录；dainty： 美味；almond： 杏仁；raisin： 葡萄干。

21. 原本可以免于工作的一个小时则用来处理邮件或完成琐碎工作，比如回复Slack（企业聊天工具）信息，换句话说，就是那些不会因吃三明治而分神的小事。obligation： 职责；catch up on： 赶做（尚未做或忘记做的事），弥补；punch out： 打孔，打掉，这里指完成一件件工作；minutiae： 细节，琐事，minutia的复数。

22. bromidic： 无聊的，单调的；