Lunch.

I am sitting in my car doing my daily lunch routine with a twist today. I took my lunch at 11:00 instead of 12:00. This is going to be part of my Monday routine from this point forward due to work responsibilities that begin at noon.

Eating lunch at 11:00 just seems wrong to me. It’s just too early. This is ironic to me because in high school, once you moved to the senior high level, lunch began at 11:04. Fifth period was divided up into three segments, 5E, 5M and 5L. Grades 9-12 ate at 11:34 (5E) and grades 7-8 at 11:48 (5L). In the six years I was in that school I never really figured out who ate during 5M or for that matter when 5M really took place. For some reason I figured it had to do with detention and special education. By the way, I could right now rattle off the entire bell schedule of my high school, even though it’s been 25 years, if I wanted to and I could do it with ease. And they say the things we learn as teens don’t last a lifetime. Oh, and the “bell” was actually an annoying chime that played over the intercom speaker. It was an A-flat above middle C. I could get the chorus to leave early by striking that same note on the piano if there was ambient noise in the room. Pavlovian response and all that.

So while it is technically my lunch break, I won’t actually be eating my lunch until I get back to the office because that’s the way things work. While the 11:00 a.m. lunch break is an old trick and I’m an old dog, I’m set in my ways of a proper lunch at noon and that’s the way it’s going to be.