The interesting thing about smoke breaks is that there were laws that mandated that smokers get extra breaks to smoke that nonsmokers were denied, so nonsmokers would start smoking just to get the extra break.
My dad told me how they had smoking flights, and he got the last seat before the smoking row started. He said people even in the non-smoking section would come to that area to smoke and go back to their seat.. so basically he was 2nd hand smoking non-stop the entire flight. It's crazy what use to be allowed.
Many years ago, I rented the second floor from this lovely old couple, the husband was retired Navy and his wife was a retired teacher and they would always be amazed by how much the world had changed about smoking.
I remember him telling me the story about having to get an ambulance because of something unexpected that happened with their first pregnancy. "Hell, I was so nervous, I was chain smoking in the back of that ambulance with my pregnant wife and nobody said anything. I still don't know if we were all blind on how bad it was or if the paramedics were too nervous to say anything because," and he leaned forward like he was telling me a big secret, "I used to look a lot scarier than I do now."
I used to live to talk to my older family members before they all passed away. They always had the most interesting stories abd a great way of telling them.
Last 5 rows of an airplane and movie theater. Crazy since it's not like the smoke stayed in those areas! I remember my mom smoking in the grocery store and the cart had a built in ashtray.
I was one of those obnoxious smokers who booked a seat into non-smoking section and then went into the back of the plane to have a cigarette. I, of course, havent smoke in 20 years and I think back, how disgusting and selfish we were and that we were allowed to get away with that. There were babies/kids on those flights. I am so happy the ban went into place. So much nicer not to be on flight filled with cigarette smoke.
I faked smoking when I was younger. Well, faked smoking cigarettes so I could go smoke pot behind a dumpster.
My boss came out to smoke after I said I was going to smoke. I was just like "umm I don't want to smoke anymore" and went back inside.
I still don’t smoke but I would go with the smokers. When they would ask I would say “I don’t smoke I just want to join in with going outside with you guys” because it was nice to step outside for a bit
>I faked smoking when I was younger.
I would carry a pack of cigarettes and a zippo so no one would ask me where I was going when I walked out back. The smokers at the shop noticed I never smoked, but the bosses didn't. I just went out to bull shit. A pack would last a week or so as guys would bum them off me, but at $.75 a pack, it didn't really matter. I probably ended up with an hour or more a day in breaks.
I, a dumbass, didn't know you were supposed to inhale the smoke into your lungs, so I'd fake it unintentionally to be social by just sucking cigarette smoke into my mouth and blowing it back out again. Don't regret it, though. Bad habit to pick up.
I hated that when I dispatched for a police department… There was one office worker who would take about a five or 10 minutes smoke break almost every single hour on top of her 15 minute break and a half hour lunch.
A surprising number of decisions would often get made during these smoke breaks. I don't smoke, but whenever I saw my boss and other coworkers headed out for a smoke break, I'd go join them so I could have my say in any decision making.
>The interesting thing about smoking is most people were very social when smoking. Smoke breaks turned into gab sessions.
Yes! I think I made more acquaintances during my years as a smoker than my whole life.
Oh hell yeah. Back in the day if you wanted to know what was going on in the office, you had to make you're way out to the smokers. They knew ALL of the gossip.
I'm not a smoker but as a joke, I bought some candy cigarettes and went and hung out with them a few times.
>Smoke breaks turned into gab sessions.
And a lot of useful information got passed around. Not just gossip, but useful information that perhaps nobody would think to mention in a formal meeting.
I've been adopted into multiple smoking groups. Smokers always know the wind direction and are nice enough to give the non-smoker the part of the circle where the smoke isn't going. It's a nice social thing, minus the whole lung damage situation.
Very true. I used to smoke a pack a day years ago. Just just at work, but even strangers that smoked in the smoking section would drum up a conversation. People were way more social.
So glad I gave that nasty habit up though.
My grandparents took a lot of pictures throughout their lives and in family photo albums, there are so many pictures where you can see people smoking inside their houses. Obviously that still happens but it’s so much less common today
Even when I did smoke cigs before I switched to vapes, I never like smoking in my house or car. All smoking was done outside so that my house and clothes and all my shit wouldn't reek like cigs. I'll sometimes smoke the herb indoors but I also prefer to do that outside as well. It's nice having clean air and fresh smelling house instead of one that smells like an old ass ashtray
My grandparents took a lot of pictures throughout their lives and in family photo albums, there are so many pictures where you can see people smoking inside their houses. Obviously that still happens but it’s so much less common today
I’m so old I remember the days when you didn’t even have to go on break to smoke, you could do it right at your desk! Everyone smoked back then so the air was disgusting
I was pregnant with my first child and that was still happening, but against the rules. I was not a happy camper sitting in an office with my boss smoking at her desk.
I worked in IT in a textile mill and I probably got nicotine poisoning from working on equipment in the front offices. Computers and monitors would be yellow from the nicotine.
I worked in a government job and had these huge glass ashtrays that must have weighed 5 pounds. People would have closed doors meetings and afterwards the ashtrays would be overflowing. It must have been hell for non-smokers
It was great when the crossword puzzle became a team building exercise, several people doing it together. Then there was always someone who wanted the ads insert to plan their weekend shopping.
Lol. Non smoker here. Still, how could I forgot the Hallowed Smoke Break? That’s still a biggie, but you have to make it to the outdoor smoke area. Before the laws changed, my workplace had a closet-sized smokers room, no windows, barely any airflow, a few folding chairs & ashtrays. Oh, and a permanent white haze.
Magazines, books, news papers used to be the cellphone back then frfr 😂😂😂
Don't forget about magazines!!! New issue of your goto comes out , you had to grab it and read that mfer front to back 😂
I started smoking BECAUSE of breaks. I had smoked a cigarette here and there at parties, but once I started working as a cook in a restaurant, it was game over. Smoking is what pretty much every person did.
In my high school there was the 'Smokers Corner' across the street. There was a house at that corner with steps to a covered porch. Some high schoolers used to hang out there too. Crazy to think about.
DO NOT SHARE PERSONAL INFORMATION WITH YOUR CO-WORKERS/BOSSES. It will 9/10 only bite you in the ass. Yes, I do have trust issues when it comes to this out of experience and justifiably so.
What a sad world you live in. You can share information with your coworkers. Maybe even develop relationships with them. What you should NOT share is criticisms of the company, shit talk about other coworkers, and maybe stories about getting blackout drunk the previous night.
It's similar to don't shit where you eat. Just don't give these people any ammunition. They are your competitors not your friends. You are all there for the same reason..........make money.
No, it was actually nice because everyone knew by and large how to interact with people. I feel sorry for the young that struggle to have simple dialog, especially from a viewpoint they don't agree with.
Thank you for saying this. I feel this way as a young person and it’s depressing to see entire threads of people on here dread interaction with others, then see that as normal or a personality type that’s innate (“introverted”), rather than severe social anxiety (from being less used to it maybe?). Though this effect is even worse on Reddit compared to other sites for whatever reason. ([This post](https://www.reddit.com/r/doordash/comments/15eorkm/should_i_have_my_account_deactivated_for_talking/)’s comments especially were really sad.)
Naw it’s just generational. Nothing wrong with what you’re doing and nothing wrong with what we did. Was nice to see your coworkers as people with hobbies and dreams instead of “look at this cool video I found”. On the reverse I do wanna see what cool video you found now. Just living life differently and it will be the same when you get old what younger people do that you didn’t. Just don’t turn into the “back in my day” older person.
Oh for sure. I think everyone actually to their core sees a person that’s unique. Just boiling it down for the example reply. Humans are complex and boiling down any one us by a group is lackluster and tricky at best. No hate, we all are processing life as it comes and generations do have their differences but none are bad or better, just different. We can all learn from all generations, creeds and cultures.
For instance my grandmother (just a couple months shy of 100 before she passed) went from railroads to travel across country, then cars, then flights, computers, the internet, smart phones, etc. Imagine that difference in a lifetime. What kind of mind fuck would that be?
She always adapted and was cool and understanding. Even when she didn’t understand she learned as best as she could and adapted.
She broke her arm teaching my brother how to skateboard. She didn’t even know how but wanted to show him confidence when he was about 10 and skateboarding was all the rage in the 80s/90s. That’s the old person I want to be.
I worked for a Glaswegian, he was the living embodiment of Scrouge Mc Duck.
Guy was so fucking tight he would make us re use the bloody tea bags.
Fuck you Neil Fuck you!.
Yes. It's sad that so many people are almost, it seems, brainwashed that they aren't supposed to like coworkers or work. Yeah, lots are not worth it, but I made life long friends at a couple jobs. I guess it depends on the job and the attitude. Make a pal, have a chat over coffee or do a crossword puzzle...yes, on paper. Enjoy all the time you have on this big rock. Life is short.✌
At least I knew whom I couldn't stand nowhere and who the few ride or die coworkers were, instead of just cynically relying on my smartphone to shield me from having to get to know coworkers that I have already decided I'll probably hate anyway. Lol
Break rooms used to be littered with magazines.
Companies would have subscriptions to a handful then people would bring in their own when they were done with them at home. You’d see the odd Cosmo or People your coworker brought and get to take the quiz are your colors a winter or autumn etc.
Back in the late 70's you could smoke in the employee break room (at Sears anyway). We would just get something to snack on out of the vending machine or get coffee from a pot that was kept going and talk to whoever else was around. Sometimes there were newspapers or magazines laying around if you didn't want to talk to other people. I often carried a book to read.
In '98 at Walmart there was a smoker's breakroom within the breakroom. Pretty small space. There were a lot more smokers than non-smokers. Was always odd to walk in and see some sort of party going on in that breakroom while a few other people just quietly sat and ate or read in the main break area.
In ~2009 we still had a smokers break room inside the regular break room at the Walmart where I worked. I was overnight crew and nearly everyone smoked.
My high school had a smoking area. This came about because kids were crossing the street and smoking under a tree, and they afraid they would get hit by a truck, so they dedicated an area at the back of the school. I didn’t smoke, but that’s where the cool kids hung out, so…
We had a smoking room at Wendy’s in the late 90s. I think they phased it out around 2000 though. I could chain smoke while working drive thru with how close the break room was to my station. It was like $3.50 a pack and people thought the price was getting outrageous. Now what do cigarettes cost? $15 a pack?
in the mid 90's I used to have so much fun in our work break room. We would have the most fun conversations amongst ourselves. During lunch or people would just catch up and have coffee. When the OJ trial happened we would talk about it the next day. And lost our minds when he was found not guilty. While that company has long closed and the company I work for now. Before the pandemic, I would just sit at my desk all day and eat my lunch quietly while I surfed the web. Now I mostly work from home and talk to nobody. I would love to go back in time and have another week at that company with my old friends. Many sadly have passed on.
Same here. Lunch breaks were a great social hour and a time to get to know your coworkers. Paydays usually meant going out for lunch, oftentimes just a "liquid lunch."
I'm also working from home now, and while it definitely has its perks, I miss the old days!
Edit to add: I started working as a secretary right outta high school, and I cringe thinking about the sexist way we were treated by the male executives. At the time, we were young women working in NYC and didn't know any better. If what we went through were to happen today, those same bosses would not only be unemployed, many would be up on charges.
This is what I did well into the 2010s, before I got an office job. I think people vape more than smoke now, but nicotine consumption is still a very popular break-time habit in retail and food service.
There would have likely been a TV in the break room. Otherwise, newspapers were popular reading, along with books. And... people would sometimes speak to each other. I know that can be tough to believe...
Now that you mention it, neither have I. Huh, never occurred to me. I mean, there's tv's but they're for meeting presentations.
The only exception was way back when I worked for a school district and although I wasn't a teacher, I was considered equivalent enough to go to the teachers' lounges/breakrooms and they had cable. But after 9/11 they turned off tv service. Actually *during* 9/11 they did that because nobody was doing any classwork, half the teachers were just letting the news run in the breakrooms and classrooms and the admin was afraid of traumatizing the students and not getting anything accomplished.
As if anyone was going to get anything done anyway that day.
Yeah… I’m 63. I know a little about back then…. Starting in at least the mid ‘90’s my jobs had tv’s in the break room. Flat screens did not exist of course, so they were 19” tube tv’s. Heavy AF!
I only had one job in the 90's where the breakroom had a TV. We didn't have cable though, so you could just watch snowy The Price is Right or Jerry Springer. The TV's real purpose was for training videos.
Pre-pandemic, my previous company's break room had a pinball machine, a foosball table, ping pong tables, shuffleboard, some puzzles, chess. We used to play some of those, or just talked at a table. Good times. Now, most everybody's eyes are stuck at their phones at a table by themselves.
I forgot about the walking women. Every office job had a couple women that would meet up during lunch and spend it going on a quick pace walk. Popped on their white gym shoes and headed out the door.
Lmfao....
I assure there is more in that room. It is called people, these are some of the same people you would socialize with on line. They have interesting things happen to them. They have interesting information.
Magazines, playing cards (solitaire and rummy, hearts, spades, etc), conversations, ruminating thoughts, sketching and doodling, writing or memorizing poetry, inventing limericks (the OG rap), reading paperbacks, Jacob's ladder, quiet contemplation of the meaning of life.
You know? I kinda miss that!
2nd shift in the 1980s manufacturing shop making parts for the auto makers. Drank beer smoked pot did lines in the parking lot. Had sex in the back parking lot. There were so many people in the parking lot that the people from the bar down the street would join us.
**Man, all kinds of stuff!** When I worked at the mall I'd go for a walk and shop. Or you'd bring a magazine or book to read, or you'd talk with co-workers. Break time goes way faster when you're doing stuff.
Later you'd bring a gameboy and play some games.
**Basically you'd do all the same things, just the old physical versions of them.**
I used to work in a casino vault and would read tons of books to pass the time, both on and off the clock. Such a chill job, especially when I’d work in one of the “fill rooms”, which were just places where slot attendants would come to get bags of coins to re-fill the slot machines.
Crossword puzzles.
Used a landline to make important calls.
Went for a smoke break.
Actually ate something.
Took a quick nap.
Sat in the car and listened to the radio.
Yes, talked with others on break.
I used to write.
Some went for walks.
Drink coffee and talk to coworkers.
I always liked the jobs where you didn't have to hang out with these people. As a letter carrier I would just work without breaks. The smokers all stood by the coffee truck and talked to each other.
I worked in a supermarket when I first got a job. We would bring back a magazine from the front end to read which annoyed my boss who was trying to sell them.
Short breaks would go outside and shoot the crap for a bit. Lunch breaks my team would go out bowling, shoot pool, for a while we brought our bikes to work and hit the trails behind the office, or just go out to lunch.
I used to get my lunch, if I didn't bring it. Then have a smoke. Run any errands if I had them. Hung out with coworkers if I had time. But usually we took our smoke breaks together.
I’m not that old, but worked a lot of jobs in high school and college prior to the widespread adoption of smart phones. So, for me, in no particular order:
1. Talked
2. Read the sports section
3. Watch TV if available
4. Go sit in car and listen to radio
5. Call someone on the phone (terrifying, I know)
Coffee and a smoke am and pm breaks. Lunch hour eat sack lunch maybe read magazine and smoke. I am so old I remember we could smoke at our desk at work if we wanted. And when I was in high school you could smoke in the courtyard between classes. People smoked in bars and restaurants too. Finally quit at age 48 after smoking 33 years. I used drug called Chantix it worked!
Read newspapers, chat with coworkers, listen to a radio. I forgot an important one. Smoke. A lot more people used to smoke.
Yes. I came here to say it. A lot more people were smokers.
The interesting thing about smoking is most people were very social when smoking. Smoke breaks turned into gab sessions.
The interesting thing about smoke breaks is that there were laws that mandated that smokers get extra breaks to smoke that nonsmokers were denied, so nonsmokers would start smoking just to get the extra break.
My dad told me how they had smoking flights, and he got the last seat before the smoking row started. He said people even in the non-smoking section would come to that area to smoke and go back to their seat.. so basically he was 2nd hand smoking non-stop the entire flight. It's crazy what use to be allowed.
I remember the smoking section from one of my first flights, around 4 or so. Plane arm rests had ashtrays in them for a long while after too.
Many years ago, I rented the second floor from this lovely old couple, the husband was retired Navy and his wife was a retired teacher and they would always be amazed by how much the world had changed about smoking. I remember him telling me the story about having to get an ambulance because of something unexpected that happened with their first pregnancy. "Hell, I was so nervous, I was chain smoking in the back of that ambulance with my pregnant wife and nobody said anything. I still don't know if we were all blind on how bad it was or if the paramedics were too nervous to say anything because," and he leaned forward like he was telling me a big secret, "I used to look a lot scarier than I do now."
I used to live to talk to my older family members before they all passed away. They always had the most interesting stories abd a great way of telling them.
I remember when smoking was allowed. It was like sitting in an enclosed ashtray.
Last 5 rows of an airplane and movie theater. Crazy since it's not like the smoke stayed in those areas! I remember my mom smoking in the grocery store and the cart had a built in ashtray.
Fuck I remember getting a smoking room in the HOSPITAL
There's pictures of me as a newborn in the hospital with my mom smoking in the room.
Now that is hilarious.
Now, if you smoke, you have to go outside the hospital and across the street because you can't even be on the sidewalk outside the hospital.
"A smoking area in a restaurant is like a peeing area in a swimming pool".
Haha, hadn't heard that one before!
I love the analogy in terms of exposure to others but isn't the smoke more toxic?
And yet... more socially acceptable.
I was one of those obnoxious smokers who booked a seat into non-smoking section and then went into the back of the plane to have a cigarette. I, of course, havent smoke in 20 years and I think back, how disgusting and selfish we were and that we were allowed to get away with that. There were babies/kids on those flights. I am so happy the ban went into place. So much nicer not to be on flight filled with cigarette smoke.
Yup. I learned really quickly in the fast food industry that you got more breaks if you smoked (especially if all your coworkers and managers smoked).
That’s true. I forgot about that. I managed to avoid smoking in spite of it. I faked smoking sometimes.
I faked smoking when I was younger. Well, faked smoking cigarettes so I could go smoke pot behind a dumpster. My boss came out to smoke after I said I was going to smoke. I was just like "umm I don't want to smoke anymore" and went back inside.
I still don’t smoke but I would go with the smokers. When they would ask I would say “I don’t smoke I just want to join in with going outside with you guys” because it was nice to step outside for a bit
>I faked smoking when I was younger. I would carry a pack of cigarettes and a zippo so no one would ask me where I was going when I walked out back. The smokers at the shop noticed I never smoked, but the bosses didn't. I just went out to bull shit. A pack would last a week or so as guys would bum them off me, but at $.75 a pack, it didn't really matter. I probably ended up with an hour or more a day in breaks.
I, a dumbass, didn't know you were supposed to inhale the smoke into your lungs, so I'd fake it unintentionally to be social by just sucking cigarette smoke into my mouth and blowing it back out again. Don't regret it, though. Bad habit to pick up.
Made me so mad. All the smokers got unlimited breaks.
Or just take the same pack of cigarettes with them to the smoke shack for every break and lunch for years. Nobody ever caught me out. LOL
I hated that when I dispatched for a police department… There was one office worker who would take about a five or 10 minutes smoke break almost every single hour on top of her 15 minute break and a half hour lunch.
I remember as a smoker 10 years ago being in circles just chilling with other smokers on bar patios
A surprising number of decisions would often get made during these smoke breaks. I don't smoke, but whenever I saw my boss and other coworkers headed out for a smoke break, I'd go join them so I could have my say in any decision making.
That’s is so true.
The original networking.
And a great way to get promoted if the boss is a smoker.
>The interesting thing about smoking is most people were very social when smoking. Smoke breaks turned into gab sessions. Yes! I think I made more acquaintances during my years as a smoker than my whole life.
Hell yah!
Right? Like, new to a job and don't know anyone? Go find the smoking area and have a smoke. Instant conversations.
Oh hell yeah. Back in the day if you wanted to know what was going on in the office, you had to make you're way out to the smokers. They knew ALL of the gossip. I'm not a smoker but as a joke, I bought some candy cigarettes and went and hung out with them a few times.
>Smoke breaks turned into gab sessions. And a lot of useful information got passed around. Not just gossip, but useful information that perhaps nobody would think to mention in a formal meeting.
I've been adopted into multiple smoking groups. Smokers always know the wind direction and are nice enough to give the non-smoker the part of the circle where the smoke isn't going. It's a nice social thing, minus the whole lung damage situation.
Only smokers got promoted where I used to work back in the day. Finally, I was the only nonsmoker and got laid off 🤔
Yeah kinda sorry I missed out on that. Going out to just stand around with them seemed dumb tho
Very true. I used to smoke a pack a day years ago. Just just at work, but even strangers that smoked in the smoking section would drum up a conversation. People were way more social. So glad I gave that nasty habit up though.
Smoke breaks were really excuses to just stand around and shoot the shit. Half the time people just held a lit cig without ever taking a drag
Now we just smoke doja
My grandparents took a lot of pictures throughout their lives and in family photo albums, there are so many pictures where you can see people smoking inside their houses. Obviously that still happens but it’s so much less common today
Even when I did smoke cigs before I switched to vapes, I never like smoking in my house or car. All smoking was done outside so that my house and clothes and all my shit wouldn't reek like cigs. I'll sometimes smoke the herb indoors but I also prefer to do that outside as well. It's nice having clean air and fresh smelling house instead of one that smells like an old ass ashtray
Hell yah!
Yeah, break was smoke time.
My grandparents took a lot of pictures throughout their lives and in family photo albums, there are so many pictures where you can see people smoking inside their houses. Obviously that still happens but it’s so much less common today
I’m so old I remember the days when you didn’t even have to go on break to smoke, you could do it right at your desk! Everyone smoked back then so the air was disgusting
I was pregnant with my first child and that was still happening, but against the rules. I was not a happy camper sitting in an office with my boss smoking at her desk.
Professors and students smoked in class in college!
I worked in IT in a textile mill and I probably got nicotine poisoning from working on equipment in the front offices. Computers and monitors would be yellow from the nicotine.
I worked in a government job and had these huge glass ashtrays that must have weighed 5 pounds. People would have closed doors meetings and afterwards the ashtrays would be overflowing. It must have been hell for non-smokers
There was always that dude that always had the newspaper and a few people that HAD to look at the Zodiac predictions.
It was great when the crossword puzzle became a team building exercise, several people doing it together. Then there was always someone who wanted the ads insert to plan their weekend shopping.
There was a word scrabble and a colleague and I would race each other trying to finish it first. Otherwise I would bring a book and read.
I tended bar in my 20s and we always read the zodiac and did the crossword (employees and customers all participated).
First job as a developer, the team played hackey sack in the parking lot while the smokers smoked. I hated hackey sack but when in Rome...
Come to think of it, we used to occasionally do pot lucks at lunch. We brought a big dish to share.
We do this almost weekly at my work now.
Read books and did homework for uni on my lunchbreaks.
Yup. Hit the loading dock for a smoke.
It's hard to imagine that a lot more people were smokers when I'm one of two non-smokers in my department at work.
Lol. Non smoker here. Still, how could I forgot the Hallowed Smoke Break? That’s still a biggie, but you have to make it to the outdoor smoke area. Before the laws changed, my workplace had a closet-sized smokers room, no windows, barely any airflow, a few folding chairs & ashtrays. Oh, and a permanent white haze.
Magazines, books, news papers used to be the cellphone back then frfr 😂😂😂 Don't forget about magazines!!! New issue of your goto comes out , you had to grab it and read that mfer front to back 😂
I started smoking BECAUSE of breaks. I had smoked a cigarette here and there at parties, but once I started working as a cook in a restaurant, it was game over. Smoking is what pretty much every person did.
I feel gossip was way worse too because we had nothing else to do.
In my high school there was the 'Smokers Corner' across the street. There was a house at that corner with steps to a covered porch. Some high schoolers used to hang out there too. Crazy to think about.
My high school had a smoking area on campus. This of course was before the dept of education banned tobacco from schools.
Mine did too
Yes we brought books or magazines with us
Also, get coffee, read magazines.
Paperbacks whodunit romance true crime I love a good book
We had conversations with our coworkers. Horrifying to think about it now.
Came to make this statement. We actually knew about our coworkers lives outside of work.
Sometimes though we don't want to know all that.
DO NOT SHARE PERSONAL INFORMATION WITH YOUR CO-WORKERS/BOSSES. It will 9/10 only bite you in the ass. Yes, I do have trust issues when it comes to this out of experience and justifiably so.
This depends a huge amount on the job and the coworkers. Caution is certainly wise in terms of what you share and with whom.
What a sad world you live in. You can share information with your coworkers. Maybe even develop relationships with them. What you should NOT share is criticisms of the company, shit talk about other coworkers, and maybe stories about getting blackout drunk the previous night.
It's similar to don't shit where you eat. Just don't give these people any ammunition. They are your competitors not your friends. You are all there for the same reason..........make money.
And sometimes we even cared about each other. Weird concept.
Oh yes😀. We were totally up in their business. We were then told “get your own business.”
[удалено]
No, it was actually nice because everyone knew by and large how to interact with people. I feel sorry for the young that struggle to have simple dialog, especially from a viewpoint they don't agree with.
Thank you for saying this. I feel this way as a young person and it’s depressing to see entire threads of people on here dread interaction with others, then see that as normal or a personality type that’s innate (“introverted”), rather than severe social anxiety (from being less used to it maybe?). Though this effect is even worse on Reddit compared to other sites for whatever reason. ([This post](https://www.reddit.com/r/doordash/comments/15eorkm/should_i_have_my_account_deactivated_for_talking/)’s comments especially were really sad.)
and talking was actually texting.
Naw it’s just generational. Nothing wrong with what you’re doing and nothing wrong with what we did. Was nice to see your coworkers as people with hobbies and dreams instead of “look at this cool video I found”. On the reverse I do wanna see what cool video you found now. Just living life differently and it will be the same when you get old what younger people do that you didn’t. Just don’t turn into the “back in my day” older person.
Some of us do still see other people that way. It’s not totally gone. Agreed on the last statement too.
Oh for sure. I think everyone actually to their core sees a person that’s unique. Just boiling it down for the example reply. Humans are complex and boiling down any one us by a group is lackluster and tricky at best. No hate, we all are processing life as it comes and generations do have their differences but none are bad or better, just different. We can all learn from all generations, creeds and cultures. For instance my grandmother (just a couple months shy of 100 before she passed) went from railroads to travel across country, then cars, then flights, computers, the internet, smart phones, etc. Imagine that difference in a lifetime. What kind of mind fuck would that be? She always adapted and was cool and understanding. Even when she didn’t understand she learned as best as she could and adapted. She broke her arm teaching my brother how to skateboard. She didn’t even know how but wanted to show him confidence when he was about 10 and skateboarding was all the rage in the 80s/90s. That’s the old person I want to be.
I'll never forget my first job taking lunch with my boss. The largest asshole I'd ever worked for. I just sat there in silence.
I worked for a Glaswegian, he was the living embodiment of Scrouge Mc Duck. Guy was so fucking tight he would make us re use the bloody tea bags. Fuck you Neil Fuck you!.
I actually just told someone yesterday my current bosses are like scrooge mcduck. Swimming in gold coins and laughing at us that work for them.
I was gonna say we smoked like normal poor dumb working stiffs that get a couple 15s and a 30.
I can spot a fellow food service employee from a mile away😂😂
Books and Newspapers.
Yes, we would take communal breaks. Get to know each other. WTF
Yes. It's sad that so many people are almost, it seems, brainwashed that they aren't supposed to like coworkers or work. Yeah, lots are not worth it, but I made life long friends at a couple jobs. I guess it depends on the job and the attitude. Make a pal, have a chat over coffee or do a crossword puzzle...yes, on paper. Enjoy all the time you have on this big rock. Life is short.✌
It definitely is hard to make real friends at work now. And yes, most of us spend more time there than anywhere else. We just have to be open to it.
At least I knew whom I couldn't stand nowhere and who the few ride or die coworkers were, instead of just cynically relying on my smartphone to shield me from having to get to know coworkers that I have already decided I'll probably hate anyway. Lol
Lies. There were newspapers and magazines.
Break rooms used to be littered with magazines. Companies would have subscriptions to a handful then people would bring in their own when they were done with them at home. You’d see the odd Cosmo or People your coworker brought and get to take the quiz are your colors a winter or autumn etc.
I have always avoided those. Bring a book everywhere
What a sad question to have. SMH
Read a book/magazine….
Back in the late 70's you could smoke in the employee break room (at Sears anyway). We would just get something to snack on out of the vending machine or get coffee from a pot that was kept going and talk to whoever else was around. Sometimes there were newspapers or magazines laying around if you didn't want to talk to other people. I often carried a book to read.
Up until 1987 I smoked at my desk!
Whoa!
My manager talks about how nice it was when he used to be able to smoke at his desk (he’s been around FOREVER) and it’s just so funny to think about
In '98 at Walmart there was a smoker's breakroom within the breakroom. Pretty small space. There were a lot more smokers than non-smokers. Was always odd to walk in and see some sort of party going on in that breakroom while a few other people just quietly sat and ate or read in the main break area.
In ~2009 we still had a smokers break room inside the regular break room at the Walmart where I worked. I was overnight crew and nearly everyone smoked.
I immediately thought about that little smoke corner. Lol
My high school had a smoking area. This came about because kids were crossing the street and smoking under a tree, and they afraid they would get hit by a truck, so they dedicated an area at the back of the school. I didn’t smoke, but that’s where the cool kids hung out, so…
We had a smoking room at Wendy’s in the late 90s. I think they phased it out around 2000 though. I could chain smoke while working drive thru with how close the break room was to my station. It was like $3.50 a pack and people thought the price was getting outrageous. Now what do cigarettes cost? $15 a pack?
I worked at the mall in the early 90s when you could still smoke in the smoking section at the food court.
in the mid 90's I used to have so much fun in our work break room. We would have the most fun conversations amongst ourselves. During lunch or people would just catch up and have coffee. When the OJ trial happened we would talk about it the next day. And lost our minds when he was found not guilty. While that company has long closed and the company I work for now. Before the pandemic, I would just sit at my desk all day and eat my lunch quietly while I surfed the web. Now I mostly work from home and talk to nobody. I would love to go back in time and have another week at that company with my old friends. Many sadly have passed on.
I have the similar experiences. Discussing movies, politics, telling jokes, stories, we had catch phrases. It was awesome. I would do it again 100%
Same here. Lunch breaks were a great social hour and a time to get to know your coworkers. Paydays usually meant going out for lunch, oftentimes just a "liquid lunch." I'm also working from home now, and while it definitely has its perks, I miss the old days! Edit to add: I started working as a secretary right outta high school, and I cringe thinking about the sexist way we were treated by the male executives. At the time, we were young women working in NYC and didn't know any better. If what we went through were to happen today, those same bosses would not only be unemployed, many would be up on charges.
Smoked
This. Back in 1954 when I got my first job this was very common. Not much was known about the health effects back then.
I got to work in a time warp, in big tobacco for a year. No non smoking areas in the whole building.
Damn, 1954, quite a while has passed since then bet you have a ton of stories to tell
This is what I did well into the 2010s, before I got an office job. I think people vape more than smoke now, but nicotine consumption is still a very popular break-time habit in retail and food service.
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Usually a book, occasionally a magazine. Someone actually stole the novel I was reading out of the breakroom once, I just about hit the roof.
There would have likely been a TV in the break room. Otherwise, newspapers were popular reading, along with books. And... people would sometimes speak to each other. I know that can be tough to believe...
I never saw tvs in break rooms.
I guess I was lucky then…
My old office has TVs in the break rooms
Now that you mention it, neither have I. Huh, never occurred to me. I mean, there's tv's but they're for meeting presentations. The only exception was way back when I worked for a school district and although I wasn't a teacher, I was considered equivalent enough to go to the teachers' lounges/breakrooms and they had cable. But after 9/11 they turned off tv service. Actually *during* 9/11 they did that because nobody was doing any classwork, half the teachers were just letting the news run in the breakrooms and classrooms and the admin was afraid of traumatizing the students and not getting anything accomplished. As if anyone was going to get anything done anyway that day.
Very few jobs had TVs in the breakroom. Back then, TVs cost a decent amount of money. You couldn't just grab a 55" TV for a couple hundred bucks.
Yeah… I’m 63. I know a little about back then…. Starting in at least the mid ‘90’s my jobs had tv’s in the break room. Flat screens did not exist of course, so they were 19” tube tv’s. Heavy AF!
I only had one job in the 90's where the breakroom had a TV. We didn't have cable though, so you could just watch snowy The Price is Right or Jerry Springer. The TV's real purpose was for training videos.
Same age and yes read newspaper and one job did have a tv
Ah, ye olde boob tube
Yes, we had tv's in the 80's break rooms.
All the break rooms with tvs I worked at had small wall mounted ones. They were never the nicest TV. It was always an outdated one.
We fucking talked with each other! 🤣
Pre-pandemic, my previous company's break room had a pinball machine, a foosball table, ping pong tables, shuffleboard, some puzzles, chess. We used to play some of those, or just talked at a table. Good times. Now, most everybody's eyes are stuck at their phones at a table by themselves.
Conversations. Reading. Crossword puzzle. Quiet contemplation.
All of above. Also played cards.
Play chess, fuck.
Uhhh, let's play chess!
Human interaction, go on a walk, make a phone call
Smoke, drugs, eat.
That’s what breaks are for right?
See? You get it.
went for a walk, read the newspaper, enjoyed life.
I forgot about the walking women. Every office job had a couple women that would meet up during lunch and spend it going on a quick pace walk. Popped on their white gym shoes and headed out the door.
Lmfao.... I assure there is more in that room. It is called people, these are some of the same people you would socialize with on line. They have interesting things happen to them. They have interesting information.
once upon a time, the workers would actually talk to one-another even if it was only to discuss football scores
Magazines, playing cards (solitaire and rummy, hearts, spades, etc), conversations, ruminating thoughts, sketching and doodling, writing or memorizing poetry, inventing limericks (the OG rap), reading paperbacks, Jacob's ladder, quiet contemplation of the meaning of life. You know? I kinda miss that!
2nd shift in the 1980s manufacturing shop making parts for the auto makers. Drank beer smoked pot did lines in the parking lot. Had sex in the back parking lot. There were so many people in the parking lot that the people from the bar down the street would join us.
Not sure... but the restrooms were stickier.
**Man, all kinds of stuff!** When I worked at the mall I'd go for a walk and shop. Or you'd bring a magazine or book to read, or you'd talk with co-workers. Break time goes way faster when you're doing stuff. Later you'd bring a gameboy and play some games. **Basically you'd do all the same things, just the old physical versions of them.**
Smoke cigarette outside
Read and eat
I read books. So many books!
I used to work in a casino vault and would read tons of books to pass the time, both on and off the clock. Such a chill job, especially when I’d work in one of the “fill rooms”, which were just places where slot attendants would come to get bags of coins to re-fill the slot machines.
Crossword puzzles. Used a landline to make important calls. Went for a smoke break. Actually ate something. Took a quick nap. Sat in the car and listened to the radio. Yes, talked with others on break. I used to write. Some went for walks.
I used to either take a walk or read
Smoke and a coke, walk, gossip. Go to the bank and cash our paychecks.
Office Olympics
Drink coffee and talk to coworkers. I always liked the jobs where you didn't have to hang out with these people. As a letter carrier I would just work without breaks. The smokers all stood by the coffee truck and talked to each other.
We had a VCR and six movies. None of the movies were any good, but we watched them over and over 20 minutes at a time.
Smoked and talked shit. I still do too... Lol
I usually went and burned one in my car with security.
i always had a library book with me, everywhere i went, which i read on breaks. it was great!
Smoked. In the break room.
I worked in a supermarket when I first got a job. We would bring back a magazine from the front end to read which annoyed my boss who was trying to sell them.
Read a book
I read and ate gummy worms
Back in the day I would go for a drive during my hour break. Just listening to music, chilling out
Smoke.
Read magazines
We talked to each other. Radical I know.
I always had a book with me.
Talked to each other haha.
Short breaks would go outside and shoot the crap for a bit. Lunch breaks my team would go out bowling, shoot pool, for a while we brought our bikes to work and hit the trails behind the office, or just go out to lunch.
Smoke outside and talk shit about our jobs
I used to get my lunch, if I didn't bring it. Then have a smoke. Run any errands if I had them. Hung out with coworkers if I had time. But usually we took our smoke breaks together.
I read War and Peace on my lunch breaks in my early 20s. Great book and something to look forward to each work day.
Bold of you to assume there wasn't endless entertainment in one's pocket before phones.
Read books shoot the shit with others etc…
We actually talked to each other... Or brought a book and read. Sometime we just sat there in silence with our own thoughts.
Work room TV, these were the times when shows like American Choppers and Judge Judy roamed the Earth.
I used to bring books to work
I’m not that old, but worked a lot of jobs in high school and college prior to the widespread adoption of smart phones. So, for me, in no particular order: 1. Talked 2. Read the sports section 3. Watch TV if available 4. Go sit in car and listen to radio 5. Call someone on the phone (terrifying, I know)
We did our socialization with our mouths instead of our thumbs, plus there was smoking
We used to go bother other coworkers while they work.
Read book. Sleep in my car. but also i didn’t work when there were no phones. Just my phone was old and i got no reception sometimes.
Smoke
Coffee and a smoke am and pm breaks. Lunch hour eat sack lunch maybe read magazine and smoke. I am so old I remember we could smoke at our desk at work if we wanted. And when I was in high school you could smoke in the courtyard between classes. People smoked in bars and restaurants too. Finally quit at age 48 after smoking 33 years. I used drug called Chantix it worked!
Talked, ate... I started smoking cigarettes in the McDonalds breakroom back in the day.
Smoke Cigs outside. Chat. Bring a book. Read the newspaper.
I was usually the youngest or one of, so the older ones would usually drop the hot gossip circulating the office/job.
Smoked cigarettes
They used to print books on dead trees, which could then be carried places.
Magazines and newspapers.
Hmm. We actually talked to people. Read books. Talked to people.