Life on Autopilot
Howie's life, just like the lives of countless other workers, is highly automated and driven by habit--in the sense that he does things mechanically without giving them much thought. For example, the clock dictates when he can get up from his desk and have his lunch. At the same time, masses of people stream out of the office building to search for food before they come back just before one o'clock. During his lunch break, Howie notices how cashiers at convenience stores mechanically ask their customers if they need straws or bags, with a superficially friendly tone that does not seem genuine. At the end of his lunch break, he describes himself involuntarily transferring his book and bag to his left hand, so that he can take the escalator handrail with his right.
However, Howie does not seem to mind the mechanical tasks he and others have to do. In fact, he seeks to optimize his repetitive chores, e.g. by ordering a rubber stamp with his address on it, so that he can pay his recurring bills faster. Even office talk is presented as mechanical, and therefore lacking depth. When Howie talks about the "pillow effect," his secretary Tina replies by "flirting mechanically," which indicates the shallowness of their conversation.
Howie's awareness of the mechanics of meaningless office conversations becomes evident when he explains in detail what the expected steps are when his chat with Tina is interrupted by a phone call. Even though he wants to leave, he notes that "etiquette required me to wait until her phone duty was done in order to exchange one last sentence with her." He even presents an alternative scenario if the phone call lasts longer than three minutes, in which case "Tina, who knew the conventions well, would release" him.
Superficiality of Office Interactions
Howie's relationships with his colleagues and other people he encounters during his lunch break are only superficial. For example, with Tina he "had been discussing light, dismissible subjects, and neither of [them] wanted to be perceived as having paid too close attention to them." This description of their chat indicates that he does not seem to be willing to have a closer relationship with his colleagues. Even when he meets a vice president of the company in the men's room, he describes at length why he does not have to greet him, and even if Howie is perfectly aware of the VP, he pretends that he is oblivious to him.
Finally, Howie describes a scene where he is too embarrassed to talk to a coworker called Bob, because he feels guilty that after such a long time working together they have not yet introduced each other. Moreover, they "never had one of those less-than-a-minute chats that are sufficient to define acquaintanceship in large companies," which shows how superficial relationships in those places are. Therefore, Howie decides to change his path so that he would not run into Bob, effectively evading the introduction. Ironically, Howie meets Bob shortly after in the copy room, and--in a conversation with little information value--finally makes him an acquaintance.
The Thinking behind Everyday Items
Throughout the novel, Howie compiles thoughts that others have had when they designed items such as straws, shoelaces, or milk cartons. Before such an everyday and rather boring item is produced by a machine, someone must have done a fair amount of research and development to optimize the production process and outcome. Indeed, in the end, Howie discovers a scientific paper about evaluating the abrasion resistance and knot slippage strength of shoelaces, which finally allows him to stop thinking about shoelaces and focus on other things at the end of his lunch break.
