Deskfast

My particular role in electrical engineering at SMUD doesn't involve a whole lot of field work. I'm at a desk the majority of the time. My exercise comes from commuting to work, not from work.

I spend the better part of most mornings trying to goad my co-workers to go out to lunch. It can be a challenge, particularly as apparently there is no one else on this third rock who is willing to eat anything as I do. One doesn't like onions, the other doesn't care for Mexican, the third won't eat pork, and the fourth claims that Vietnamese food crawls and one should never eat anything that's still moving...that sorta thing. I eat anything. Anything.

It's a bitch, really, to get more than just one person to go out to eat, but even with just one it is always a much better day for me as I relish conversation, food (whatever it is), and the time away. I don't like to eat there in my cube, I don't like deskfast...but quite often I do end up eating alone at my desk, and I've noticed quite a few people do this, too.

This is an interesting social phenomenon for sure, and I'm wondering if this culture contributes to American obesity. I wonder about my own weight -- why am I so much larger than every South Korean? Every German? When I visited these countries they seemingly ate as much as I did, and I most certainly ate the same things they did. What is it about U.S. food and/or food culture that leads to such an epidemic of obesity?

Is it deskfast?