Feel free to interrupt me ...

FSP has a cute discussion on how/when to interrupt your adviser/supervisor/colleague and lunchtime.

I find myself at odds. On one hand, I think that ever since I came to the US, I have gained quite a bit of weight. And while some of it is purely due to not walking, but driving, to places, some of it I think is due to eating at my desk, and some of it is due to eating cheap food, which in the US tends to be rather crappy. So as a new post doc -- with salary almost twice my grad stipend, and living outside of Large Metropolitan Area, i.e., in a place where I can afford to eat a bit better -- I thought I'd enjoy a leisurely 30 min lunch with colleagues. Alas, that has not been the case.

First off, this building has no lunch place. The next door (admin) building has one, but there are always large groups of people I do not know and I am a bit self conscious. It doesn't help that my undergrad degree is in math, not in This Science Field, and my Ph.D. is in specialty A which is only loosely in the same umbrella of my post doc, which is in specialty B, which is in group M, which in turn is rather loosely related to the college focus. The college itself has it's own (admittedly incredibly nice and helpful) administration, and hence feels rather isolating even though it is part of Big State University.

My lab on the other hand, is populated with people from close-enough countries that we share common culture, and a love for ... tea. So it is rather more enjoyable to bring my lunch from home, make a cup of tea, and sit at my desk. Alas, that doesn't translate into conversations unfortunately.

Secondly, noone seems to sit and socialize. Even in the neighboring lunch places, you can see only the occasional group sitting and talking. For a few weeks, I would make a giant pot of tea and offer it to my labmates. But that only rarely spurred conversations. And even if it had worked, how would it grow beyond the lab?

Now I realize that people are busy, have set routines, have families and what not. Yet, I wonder how many opportunities are lost to exchange ideas about This Science Field. After all, This Science Field is very interdisciplinary and it would be good to know what other people know/can do/ or are doing. If 30 min of lunchtime of free conversation is considered wasteful, a 30 min of lunchtime with This Science Field conversations could be fostered. After all, as one reviewer said -- it is impossible nowadays to publish new, revolutionizing ideas; instead, they must be presented in small steps as to keep up the idea that one has seen a little bit further only by standing on the shoulders of giants.

So I wonder ... do I need a post it note that says "please interrupt me"?