The subtext of your post points more toward food culture than work culture. I've noticed most Americans eat to fuel themselves. Europeans eat to enjoy food and

The subtext of your post points more toward food culture than work culture. I've noticed most Americans eat to fuel themselves. Europeans eat to enjoy food and as a reason to spend time with other people. Often, going to dinner with people in America and they're all done eating in 5 minutes... I've barely taken a few bites. Friends call me a "slow eater". Whereas in other countries, dinner can last a couple hours. It's not just about your work schedule, but about how you regard your free time and what your relationship is with food. I've had some people use having children as an excuse for why they eat so fast, but I've seen people in Europe or Latin America take their young children to dinner and those kids behave and sit at the table and listen. Such a thing is almost unbelievable to American parents. I blame puritanism for the lack of interest in food, sure; but the emphasis on excusing it with the pressing need to work is funny because it's like a defense of joylesssness.