After joining this company, I truly came to understand one thing: having meals provided by the company and having “delicious meals provided” are really two different things.
Back when I was at the steel company, everyone got a boxed lunch, with dishes similar to what you’d find at an outside bento shop. Although I didn’t look forward to it every day, it was at least at a normal bento standard. I often heard long-time employees complain, “Today’s food isn’t good,” or “This is inedible,” and I would chime in, thinking, aren’t boxed lunches just like that? If there were too many fried items, poor selection, or signs of cost-cutting, we could report it and the company would make adjustments. So back then, I didn’t really see any problem with the employee meals.
Later, at my previous electronics company, meals switched to a buffet style, with set meals, flavored rice, and noodle options available too. At first I thought the buffet’s wide selection would let me eat healthier, but every time I approached the counter I’d wonder, “Are these dishes really that tasty?” Sometimes I couldn’t tell if the buffet just looked unappetizing or if the flavors were genuinely lacking. After a while, I gave up trying to achieve balanced nutrition through the buffet and started going for the noodles instead—at least that way I didn’t have to stand at the counter pondering life every day.
It wasn’t until I arrived at my current company that I discovered there really are buffets that make you lose interest in eating.
Setting taste aside, at least three out of five days a week the main offerings are fried foods. Sometimes a single meatball counts as one dish. The selection isn’t large to begin with, and the portions aren’t always sufficient. For someone like me who doesn’t want to eat fried or processed foods every day, this became genuinely troubling after a while. Yet the company provides meals, so going out to buy something else every day is not only inconvenient but also means extra expense.
So now I pick and choose what to eat, avoiding fried items whenever possible. If there are still plenty of vegetable dishes left, I’ll take a bit more without affecting the colleagues behind me, at least to get some vegetables in. Sometimes I feel lunch isn’t enough, so I keep some healthier cookies or snacks in the office and have a few in the afternoon when I’m really hungry.
I also suddenly understand something I never quite got before—why some colleagues love afternoon tea so much.
I used to think that work is work, and there’s no real need to buy drinks or snacks in the afternoon. Now, after being worn down by work every day, occasionally joining everyone to order a drink gives me the feeling of “Alright, today has been tough enough—might as well treat myself to something sweet.”
Sometimes the drink isn’t even that good, but when you’re being chased by work all day, having something you like in your hand seems to help you push through a little longer.
Turns out some things I didn’t understand before weren’t because others were being overly sentimental—it was simply that I hadn’t experienced that environment yet.
Now I finally get it: employee meals aren’t just about whether the company provides them. For people who spend eight or nine hours at the office every day, what they eat, how they eat, and whether they enjoy it is actually an important part of work life.
I’ve evolved from “Why does everyone love afternoon tea so much?” to “Should we order drinks together this afternoon?” In a way, I guess I’ve been successfully assimilated into the workplace as a working adult.