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Say Goodbye to Spain's Three-Hour Lunch Break

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Re: Say Goodbye to Spain's Three-Hour Lunch Break

#101

Post by baddox »

mrkrabo wrote: post #94
hueving wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

With the invention of air conditioning and an abundance of solar power during the desert day, it's pretty stupid to let the weather dictate your behavior. People exist in Chicago despite the fact that it would be completely inhospitable without heating sources. The only difference is that air conditioning is a newer invention so people like you view it as some kind of opulent luxury rather than a technological tool l…

Try to go out with 45 degrees, with direct sunlight, etc. Some people will even faint within minutes. Because remember you don't get teleported to the shop, you have to walk.

I'm from a much milder but still hot climate, and while the summer weather probably wouldn't make you faint in minutes, people spent very little time outside of air conditioned homes, cars, and shops, and the towns were designed around that fact.

Re: Say Goodbye to Spain's Three-Hour Lunch Break

#102

Post by jonknee »

Clubber wrote: post #65
untog wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Greeks are a prime example -- despite the intense crisis and austerity measures, the country still values its lunch and coffee breaks Right, and their economy is in free fall. I'm not saying you can't do it, but that cost to doing it is ever-increasing.

The US economy was in free fall in 2008 and 2001 and had nothing to do with how or when people worked. We're overdue for another one.

All a matter of perspective I suppose, the current "stabilized" Greece is in much worse shape now than the US was at the worst point of the Great Recession (> 20% unemployment!).

Re: Say Goodbye to Spain's Three-Hour Lunch Break

#103

Post by scalesolved »

I've worked for two different tech companies in Barcelona, neither had lunch breaks longer than an hour.

When I moved from the UK I was shocked that 9-5 was not the norm, in both places the schedule was more 9-7 with the same amount of lunch time as in the UK and far more pressure to stay on later than 7.

Re: Say Goodbye to Spain's Three-Hour Lunch Break

#104

Post by magic_beans »

jorgemf wrote: post #21

This is a non-sense of article as other spaniards have commented. The only companies that close 3 hours in the middle of the day are the shops, usually small shops. They do it because for long part of the year no one goes to the street from 2pm to 5pm, because it is so fucking hot. So instead, our culture close the shops at those times but keep them opens until 9pm or later. It is very common to see shops full of peo…

For the people that eat lunch for 2 hours... do they go out to lunch every single day?? No one brings lunch from home?

Re: Say Goodbye to Spain's Three-Hour Lunch Break

#105

Post by hbosch »

davidw wrote: post #78
mrkrabo wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Spaniard; can confirm. 3 hour breaks are simply mandatory for small shops. In the south of the country during summer there is literally no way you can go out until... 19 or so if you don't want to die. So if shops closed then, there would be no business.

Small shops manage to operate in, say, Arizona during those hours. That said, I think Spain's hours are a more natural adaptation to the climate than Arizona's.

Go into a restaurant or small shop during the 3 hours between 2pm and 5pm, and you can see they might as well be closed (generally).

Restaurants refer to those hours specifically as "dead hours" in my experience.

Re: Say Goodbye to Spain's Three-Hour Lunch Break

#106

Post by pyrale »

readhn wrote: post #14

In the startup arena im in (USA) folks often work 8-9am till 7-8pm with half hour to hour MAX lunches. No one complains, people just burnout and move on in 1-2-3 years. No one gets overtime. It would be nice to have an open discussion with HR or whoever but its a sensitive topic, in this culture you are not "allowed" to tell how much you actually work... I guess its a "dirty little secret" but 9-5 does not exist anym…

Alienation is rarely a welcome topic for the people who benefit from it.

Re: Say Goodbye to Spain's Three-Hour Lunch Break

#107

Post by magic_beans »

franciscop wrote: post #36

I am sorry but this is totally backwards. As a Valencian Spaniard I want to set the record straight. First, siesta is not dead. However, it is considered mostly a holiday luxury or reserved for small shops. It is normal in the extremely hot summer, after lunch we stop for 1h or so. While I do not do siesta, I would say about half+ of the people I know do it (holiday times). I would also say it is highly coupled with…

That almuerzo looks like enough for breakfast AND lunch!

Re: Say Goodbye to Spain's Three-Hour Lunch Break

#108

Post by Clubber »

jonknee wrote: post #102
Clubber wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The US economy was in free fall in 2008 and 2001 and had nothing to do with how or when people worked. We're overdue for another one.

All a matter of perspective I suppose, the current "stabilized" Greece is in much worse shape now than the US was at the worst point of the Great Recession (> 20% unemployment!).

Yes, they are/were in bad shape, but from what I understand their problems stem from what our problems were: greed and corruption, not the workforce taking long lunches or not working 40 hours a week. Puerto Rico has similar issues with their economy. They took a lot of loans they shouldn't have.

As an aside, our unemployment is a funny number in that it doesn't include people who have given up looking for work. I think that category is the highest it's been in a while, or in US history. I'm not sure if Greece calculates it in the same manner.

Re: Say Goodbye to Spain's Three-Hour Lunch Break

#109

Post by wavefunction »

kondor6c wrote: post #93
JBReefer wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Until recently, most Arizonans also grew English-style grass lawns, with water that had to be piped in and species that are certainly not native. Apparently that's rapidly ending, so maybe the standard schedule will change as well someday.

I wouldn't say most Arizona homeowners had grass lawns, as far as Phoenix goes, there are districts such as arcadia that have very large lawns, but I would say that is limited to specific areas. There are many plants that are not native that still grow very well ranging from Mediterranean species to some that are from the desert regions of Asia. *edit (Thu Jul 20 13:35:05 EDT 2017) I about parts of Chandler and Gilbe…

You fly into Phoenix and the rampant waste and misuse of water is obvious. All those lawns and pools sitting idly by while Arizona (and California) drink far too deeply from the Colorado and other rivers.

Re: Say Goodbye to Spain's Three-Hour Lunch Break

#110

Post by FullMtlAlcoholc »

hueving wrote: post #86
JBReefer wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Until recently, most Arizonans also grew English-style grass lawns, with water that had to be piped in and species that are certainly not native. Apparently that's rapidly ending, so maybe the standard schedule will change as well someday.

With the invention of air conditioning and an abundance of solar power during the desert day, it's pretty stupid to let the weather dictate your behavior. People exist in Chicago despite the fact that it would be completely inhospitable without heating sources. The only difference is that air conditioning is a newer invention so people like you view it as some kind of opulent luxury rather than a technological tool l…

> With the invention of air conditioning and an abundance of solar power during the desert day, it's pretty stupid to let the weather dictate your behavior.

You do have to go outside to get anywhere. We don't have completely domed cities yet.

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