Eating Al Desko

Eating al desko* is most definitely a bad thing and no one should be so busy at work that they can't escape the drudgery for at least 20 minutes in one godforsaken day. In fact, it should be law that office toilers should be able to leave the building to go and stretch their legs, to get some fresh air and get something decent to eat. Spending an hour off-duty at the very least, every single day. 

What do you mean it is law? Why has nobody told me this?

Anyway, occasionally there really is no escaping the monitor and phone, especially if you are working under the hammer of deadlines and drowning under endless reams of photocopy paper. Sometimes, there you remain, all day long, from dawn till dusk, with eyes like dust and unflinching, unfeeling buttocks, numb and bloodless. And sometimes, that is just the way it goes.

However, that doesn't mean to say you can't inject a sense of adventure into your lunchtime proceedings at the desk. After announcing an exciting lunch of spag bol and honeydew melon on Twitter, word nibbler @CarolineTecks suggested that I hollow out the melon and use it as a bowl for the spaghetti. Which, in part, was a dare. But it also seemed like a cracking idea so I gave it go.

Honeydew melon, as melons go, is quite an unobstrusive sort of fruit and I have to say that juice left behind lent a pleasant sort of tang to the pasta, which countered the umami of the ragu. What sounded unusual was actually very good. And plus I saved some time. 

I like these happy sort of accidents, marriages thrown together at the last minute, nights out you didn't plan. So I am going to be more open minded about what I bring to the desk in future. On the menu tomorrow is sliced chicken escalope in rolls and strawberries and maybe some crisps. 

I wonder how that combination will work out?

*Eating al desko was first coined by Hollowlegs but lots of people it seems, also use the expression. Lots of people who sit at their desks eating their lunch, staring out the window; wondering what the hell they are doing eating inside, instead of outside. Even when it's raining.