Because you’re damned if you do and damned if you don’t in this life, it is frowned upon to be seen as too hard-working, too devoted to your job–just as it is to be the lazy fuck that drives everyone mad (in the U.S. work force, the only way to be accepted is to be mediocre). Which is why if you actually have a real task to complete instead of pretending to work by online shopping or throwing up some rando spreadsheets, you might find yourself “working through lunch” to finish what you need to do by a certain deadline so that the boss is pleased with you long enough to believe that you actually give a fig about fulfilling the demands of your “job description.”
Naturally, you’re still required to acknowledge your semi-humanity by needing to eat in order to get through the drudgery of your assignment without passing out from a combination of hunger and boredom. So you sit there at your desk, side-glancing at all the others clacking out to their Midtown feeding frenzy and palpably pitying/judging you. But hopefully you’ve opted for a lutefisk and Vieux-Boulogne sandwich to give them the appropriate stink to fill their upturned nose.