<i>That the world would keep on turning if you weren’t doing that thing you do 9-5?</i>

Sorry for the off-topic, but is it normal to work from 9am to 5pm? Does this mean people have no lunch time, or they work "only" 7 hours?

Most places I've worked are 8-5 with an hour lunch. Like you, I don't know where 9-5 comes from.

It was a hit song in 1981: http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/9_to_5_(Dolly_Parton_song)

it's shorthand for a tedious job.

Yeah I know it's shorthand now, but I was trying to figure out where it came from and why.

I bit the bullet and googled it, and found out that people were just paid for lunch, or they weren't paid (37.5 hours a week, half hour lunch).