[Book Sip] See You at Lunch: Prose for People Eating Lunch Alone

Some sentences encapsulate the entire content of the book itself, while others instantly reach the reader's heart, creating a connection with the book. We introduce such meaningful sentences excerpted from the book. - Editor's note

Lunch time is not simply a time to eat. Its meaning changes depending on where, what, and how it is spent. For some, it is a much-anticipated break, while for others, it is a time when creative urges surge, leading them to skip meals and immerse themselves in writing. Writers Kang Jihee, Kim Sinhui, Shim Neoul, Eom Ji-hye, Lee Sera, Won Do, Lee Hwon, Jeong Jidon, Han Jeonghyeon, and Hwang Yumi add new texture and volume to the daily repetitive lunch hours and spaces through five essays each. The collection includes diverse writings focused on lunch time or written during lunch.

Many irregular workers often skip lunch and live irregular lives. Some might say that taking care of meals and managing one's body is a small but sincere form of self-care. However, there are surprisingly few people who can simply worry about what to eat for lunch. Skipping lunch is often not due to weak willpower or low self-esteem leading to neglect of self-care, but rather a problem of circumstances that inevitably happen when one is in that place.

As the youngest in the office, I had no choice. If the manager said, "Today is Chobok (the first of the three hottest days in summer), let's eat Samgyetang," I sat at the floor-seated table of a Samgyetang restaurant where various flowerpots were placed at the entrance. If the director specially offered to treat sashimi, I got a ride in the assistant manager's car and headed to a sashimi restaurant in the city center. I hated both Samgyetang and sashimi set meals. The lunch menu I wanted was the cafeteria meal I could eat silently by myself.

Lunch on weekdays somehow feels lonely. No matter how delicious the menu is, I have to eat quickly. It has been a long time since I had colleagues with whom I could openly talk about work. Those I liked and trusted have all left. Unless I meet former colleagues who occasionally visit, a few people with whom I can reveal my inner thoughts without fear, or seniors and juniors who became friends despite meeting through work, my lunch will likely remain lonely.

In fact, lunch at the company is a meal eaten with people you are not very close to, so sometimes a single spoonful stuffed into your mouth feels truly burdensome. How sad it is that people from all walks of life, who have traveled across the narrow yet vast Republic of Korea for their respective livelihoods, hastily eat without considering tastes just to satisfy hunger without any particular purpose.

Essays for People Who Eat Lunch Alone | Kang Jihee et al. (9 others) | 307 pages | 14,000 KRW

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