TANSTAAFL

The extended group I work with at Boeing had a 'recognition lunch' today (basically they take everyone out and buy them lunch).

However, we had a $10 limit on what we could actually order, which didn't give us many options on the menu. The real problem, however, was that we didn't get food until we'd been sitting there for well over half an hour. Add in the actual eating of lunch and travel time and we spent about an hour and three-quarters away from our desks as our forty-minute lunch allowance.

IIRC, the rule of thumb is that engineers cost the company ~$100/hour (including salary, benefits, office space, computing, etc.), which would mean Boeing paid $110 for my $10 lunch.

Robert A. Heinlein wins again.

(For the uninitiated, There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch.)