[skyyler]

>it's not infantilizing because you still pay for lunch

I don't buy it, they've still made the decision of where you're getting your food for you. The only way to escape infantilisation is to never be an employee. Why would you let mommy and daddy tell you what projects you're allowed to work on?

[crazygringo]

No they haven't, because you have the choice to save money and bring lunch from home. That's the whole point.

And no, there's nothing inherently infantile about being employed, because you're freely entering into a work contract. But what is adult and mature is exchanging your professional work for money. What isn't adult and mature is your company starting to provide things that aren't related to work or the workplace at all.

[edejong]

FTR, I read this thread. You’re 100% right but probably misunderstood because new generations have not known anything else.

To me, when employees took company healthcare insurance in the US as a perk, I think the problems began. It’s worse than infantalising. It is creating servitude. “Work, lest thou looses their primal needs of bodily integrity.”

[skyyler]

You can decide to bring lunch from home at a company that provides lunch as a perk.

Either way, I'm glad I don't care about appearing adult and mature to my peers.