Free Lunch

I was sitting in a staff meeting the other day at my place of work and our manager told us about some planning going on.  The planning involved a reward for the employees and our manager indicated that the reward was either a free lunch or breakfast.  While he was saying this I thought to myself that often rewards or perks in most office places involve free food.  Of course my mind wondered about that for a while.  Why is free food so desirable?

The only answer I could come up with was that food is generally expensive and having someone buy you lunch or dinner is a good thing because you don’t have to spend any money to eat.  Having someone prepare food for me is a really special treat in my world.  Even though I like cooking, I don’t always feel like doing it.  But I am sure that money is not the only reason people crave free food so much, but I can’t figure it out. Does free food taste any better?  I don’t think so because I have had some horrible stuff that passes for combustible goods in my life.  Thinking back even knowing it was free to me didn’t make it taste any better. Does free food fill you up faster?  I know that when our company offers a free lunch, people tend to get as much as they can, probably more than they would normally eat.  I don’t think free food is more gastronomically satisfying, but that could just be me.

I have often heard that there is no such thing as a free lunch, and if you think about it especially regarding the manner in which the food was given, that can be true.  One doesn’t usually get a free lunch unless you are being rewarded for something, or maybe in the dating world the person buying the food expects something, so it really isn’t free.  It might not cost you money, but it does cost you something.  Bottom line is that I think free food can be a reward that is satisfying on a level but I just can’t see it.  I would rather have the money.