There really isn’t much of a point to taking a long lunch or sneaking off in the middle of the day if you don’t have someplace to go or something to do. Often, I’ll have those days when I know that my manager is going to be in a meeting from 2 to 4. It might be important to be seen when he gets out, but where to go during his meeting before coming back to the office?

I think one of the most important things to keep your slacking fresh is to work in an area with a lot of retail stores. A mall is a wonderful thing. If you just want to break away from the office for an hour or two, here are my favorite places to visit.

Borders/Waldenbooks/Barnes and Nobles — Why subscribe to any magazine when you can just read them for free? After spending a few lunch hours at the same store, you’ll start to notice a lot of the same crowd there each day. And, like me, none of them probably buy anything. I’ve read novels over the course of a few weeks…just pick one off the shelf, read a few chapters, then come back the next day.

Fantastic Sam’s — I like to do this in the mid afternoon when the time has come for a fresh cut. Lunchtime tends to get too crowded and if I wanted to sit in a chair and read magazines, I’ll do it at the previously mentioned bookstores. Just make sure that nobody who might notice your new ‘do sees you right before you go. If somebody comments, you can say you somehow squeezed it into your lunch hour.

Trader Joe’s/Whole Foods/Wild Oats — Why pay for lunch when you can eat for free? Go to any one of these places and you can fill up on sample fruit, cheese, bread, and other food. Watch your back to make sure nobody is noticing how often you keep circling back to the same station.

Best Buy/Circuit City — Find some good video games and play for as long as you want.

Mall Food Court — Gotta love free samples of General Tso’s Chicken. The food court is a good place to people watch and just zone out for a little while in a different environment.

Verizon Store — I never enjoy going to Verizon store, but it seems that whenever I do, I end up in line for 20 minutes because there are 3 or 4 sales people and one guy working the service line. I certainly would rather waste company time than my own.

Department store – Spray yourself in some cologne and lounges in the leather recliners.

• art of a long lunch
• Slackers get no sympathy
• Buying a ventless dryer