Lunch alone or simply don't have colleagues of the same waveline?

[HAPPY CHERRY]

I work in a aunty environement, and being only 22....hiaz...there is no common topics. Even though some of them are like 28, they are married with 2 kids type. Its a torture eating with them, coz its CHILDREN 24/7.

So I opt to eat alone. Very envy those people who go to lunch in big groups. Wonder if you are in the same predictament.

I asked my colleauge, what the fomer gal (ie the one I replaced was like). The fomer gal had many friends in other dept lei.... But I hardly (or rather never) get to interact with other people in other dept lei (different floor level somemore - harder).

[CLEO]

have you just started work?

[verena]

hi there.. if you've just started work at your current work place, i should think as time goes by things should better right? usually the "aunty"-colleagues are generally nice people to work with, especially if you are the only young one in the group, they'll take good care of you! no doubt their topics typically centre around their children and homes, but when you get used to it you probably will also enjoy their lunch company. just take it as learning more things from them.

and i assume you should be from a pretty large orgn since the company spans different levels in various depts.. when you get acquainted with other pple from the different depts, you can start making more friends and by and by you will be able to find pple of the same frequency. cheer up!

[PiscesGalGal]

i agree that it's so sad to have colleagues of different frequency.. our part we can try hard to go lunch with them but turned out to be the odd one out and worse still, people can comment that we are too quiet .. the feeling is so terrible... then when we choose to go alone.. they said us anti-social... hm.. really difficult

[hapimint]

hmm... when i first came out to work, I also end up working in company that is all ladies and all married... well, seriously, I have no friends aft work but still it is good company as i learned alot abt families from them.... take from a positive note then it is fun....

As for the company that I work in now, worse, they work shifts except for me and a few seniors who are all males at the age of 40 and above.... some are even as old as my dad... haha... so I usually lunch alone.... aft 2 years, I still lunch alone... but its okay... no point thinking that much abt finding colleagues....

[blurblur25]

Normally I lunch alone or ask my friend out for lunch. Seldom lunch with colleague in face most of my colleague dont really go lunch with 1 another as well. I find it quite funny when I first join this company but is almost my 4years now in the company and is still the same. Only once a while will go lunch with boss & colleague.

[namida]

today i have a lunch with a new colleague who is 23..she is facing the same problem as u. she told me she don't feel like working anymore in this company and i believe it is partly because her last company, the people were more fun loving and she have alot friends there and when she joined my company ..people tend to be more hostile. even my own team maters didnt even ask her out for lunch. wth.

So she asked whether she could join me and she felt better after talking to me. I guess humans need a avenue to vent their frustrations at work thus we do need someone to talk to during lunch time. i don't mind her having lunch with me but sadly i wld be leaving them on this friday. But have asked my lunch kakis to include her next time.

i had been thru what u r going ..and from there i built up my independence. i have to agree with what piscesgal said. but i chose to follow my heart. no point eating with people whom u can't click or feel comfortable with.

[verena]

hmmm.... maybe i'm luckier in a way.. my first job was with a company where there were a lot of new joiners at the same time, all of the same age group so there wasn't a problem at all finding lunch partners, other than when i have no choice when i'm out on assignment with seniors. no topics to talk about other than the project on hand.

2nd job... initially i don't lunch with my colleagues bcos they all have been there for eons while i was new. but slowly they asked me to join them and i did, and till now i still am friends with some of them.

current job.. if i don't have lunch partners at work i can jolly well not eat lunch cos my office is basically in a place where only my company pple can lunch at the canteen. so.. still quite fortunate i found pple of even the same age and similar interests... but job nature is such that most of us tend to not be around in the office much, so sometimes no choice but to lunch with pple i can't really connect with. at this point.. PR skills come in quite handy. :p

[vivadiva]

Hi happy cherry,

It must have been tough adjusting to a different age grp of colleagues. Actually, I agree that the more "auntie" types are more helpful, more loving. At least thats my general impression from some of the interaction with them. I feel that there is surely topics to talk about with ANY person, see their perspective to things. Quite interesting really.

This may sound cheesy and a tad naive. But i choose to think that everybody has a heart, and if you treat them sincerely, most of the time it'll be just fine.

I hope you are ok BABE!

[loves]

oh dear, u must feel so lonely.

i did not like to lunch with colleagues as we tend to talk too much, eat too little. plus it's my only time "off", i see them at work for the rest of the 8 hours anyway so i cherish my one hour of quiet time great time to catch up on the papers or book

[pinkdewy]

I am in an even stranger position.
My "auntie" partner (late 40s to early 50s) who sits next to me don't talk to me unless abt work.
Needless to say she goes with her "kakis" for lunch and me with mine.
Very boring to sit there whole day w/o talking to anyone.
I am so sick to work with her.
Lazy to elaborate here but am thankful there's such a thread.

[pps]

same as me.

this is my 4th yr in this dept but i nvr hv lunch with my colleagues except from other depts.

i can't click with them, they r all in their 50s. i feel old when i'm together with them.

they r also very bossy so i tend to think of work when i eat with them, might as well eat alone or with other depts.

[shan]

i didnt know there's such thing in coy?

am in my 1st job only. initially only lunch with the newbies who join with me. no one ask us out for lunch, so we always settle ourselves like ta bao at canteen or take bus out to foodcourt.
after a few months, due to work i'm always not in office and soon they slowly forgets me. luckily i got other colleagues(they drives) who will ask me out. and soon, we're disband.

dont be envy, i'm so far, the youngest in the coy. so everybody treats me like a 'xiao mei mei' (i'm 22 already). even i've change department, they treat me like 'ah girl'.
my colleagues are at least in their late 20s to 40s. plus being in an engineering field, most are guys.

my current lunch kakis is a bunch of guys, including my direct boss. so if my female colleagues are not free for lunch, i would ask the guys to go ahead. so pai seh to squeeze in a all guy car.

talking of this, i feel so guilty. i dont lunch with my current department cos i'm too used to lunch with my previous team. do i seems anti-social?

[se7enseas]

guess i am more lucky, i lunch with pple from my own dept and also other depts, we have our own catering daily, so when is time to lunch, any pple who clicks with me, will knock knock on my glass window to signal me its time for lunch and i will just sit at whoevers table has a seat available at the cafeteria.

some of my girl friends even wash my disposable spoon and fork, and take for me my lunch packet, before I reach, they are very helpful, makes me very paiseh sometimes

[miracle]

i remembered when i was working for a mnc a while ago, no one invited me for lunch. i was just transparent. lucky i had a friend working nearby who faced the same situation as me.