Eating in class - that's a beatin'

The BBQ Pit
81

[QUOTE=Queen Bruin]
Read the thread - I have no beef with bagels or other quiet foods.

The other students in my class don’t seem to be able to tell the difference between potato chips and bagels, however.
[/QUOTE]

Well, I said in my post that I only ate a sandwich or something not loud, but you attacked me anyway.

And my statements about not caring only apply to strangers and their feelings about me eating my lunch quietly and not bothering them. Not that I make lots of noise and said to hell with them. It was meant as a hyperbole to emphasize my point, not say that I eat deep fried twizlers and individually plastic wrapped corn chips with my mouth open.

Yeah, sorry for the confusion. No, I am no social misfit that does whatever the hell I want. I have respect for those around me, I just don’t let them wholly dictate my choices, but that isn’t to say socially accepted norms aren’t followed.

My statement was meant more along the lines of “I never knew people got offended at this, but even though I am now aware of it, it isn’t going to stop me from eating in class.”

82

[QUOTE=Epimetheus]
Well, I said in my post that I only ate a sandwich or something not loud, but you attacked me anyway.

[/QUOTE]

Uh, your first post was seemed to be meant to put me on the defensive anyways, or at least that is how I saw it. Or I must be hyperbole impaired at the moment.

ETA:

[QUOTE=Epimetheus]

Yeah, sorry for the confusion. No, I am no social misfit that does whatever the hell I want. I have respect for those around me, I just don’t let them wholly dictate my choices, but that isn’t to say socially accepted norms aren’t followed.

My statement was meant more along the lines of “I never knew people got offended at this, but even though I am now aware of it, it isn’t going to stop me from eating in class.”
[/QUOTE]

Got it - understood. Out of curiosity though, if someone did voice their upset at it, would you modify your choices any?

83

This thread opened up a new thought to me. I didn’t realize that people could be annoyed by furtive chewing and crunching. I honestly didn’t. It doesn’t annoy me. Then I thought to myself; oh dear, what if everyone at work is annoyed by my crunching? I’m at work for eight hours at a time; I can take a lunch or not. Sometimes I don’t have the gas to go home for lunch or sometimes I just want to get out an hour early, and I skip my actual lunch period in favor of eating some saltines, chips or fruit throughout the day (I have hypoglycemia, so I tend to eat either something sweet or something with carbs that get broken down into sugar - saltines are cheap, and I always have a sleeve of them in my desk).

So I asked my cubicle mates if my eating bothered them. No one answered in the affirmative - it was mostly stuff like “Uh, no. How can you go eight hours without eating? I’d be an asshole if it bothered me.” Then I asked my husband, my mom, my dad, and a few friends because it was making me self conscious about eating in public places that aren’t restaurants. None of THEM were annoyed by it either.

I’ve been a lot of places and met a lot of people, and this is literally the first time I’ve ever heard of someone being annoyed by the sound of chewing. Chewing with one’s mouth open, I’ve heard of people being annoyed by. But chewing in general?

I feel so sheltered. :o

~Tasha

84

tashabot, did you even read the thread before posting? Eating in general is not bothersome - it never bothered me at all at work, where I was usually concentrated on something internal, like crunching numbers. In fact, my office housed both the monthly potluck and the water cooler was right by my desk (not to mention the plotters and color printer - in fact, my work was constantly interrupted all day long with inane requests, people passing through to use the microwave in the vault, etc). This isn’t a quirk of sensitivity on my part, it’s genuinely annoying in the classroom context where people are trying to pay attention to someone who is speaking. Do you break out the Fritos when someone is giving a power point presentation? During a conference call? Your comparison is totally invalid.

Judging by the responses in this thread, more Dopers seem to agree with me on this particular issue than not. I mean, I’m sure we’re going to have an errant fatass with an overblown sense of entitlement, but surely you aren’t one of those? You don’t give me that impression, anyways.

Short story, work!=school, as has been pointed out to death already by Contrapuntal.

85

Agreed: there are plenty of places where one can eat, and some places where one cannot or should not, for reasons which have already been posted here.
I eat with my colleagues and other staff in our work room. It has dining tables and a kitchenette.
I do not eat in my classroom, nor do I let students eat in there. It is not the dining room, a cafeteria, or someone’s home. I tell them they can snack all they want outside, before and after class and during the breaks.

Are we done yet?

86

[QUOTE=Queen Bruin]
This isn’t a quirk of sensitivity on my part, it’s genuinely annoying in the classroom context where people are trying to pay attention to someone who is speaking. Do you break out the Fritos when someone is giving a power point presentation? During a conference call? Your comparison is totally invalid.
[/QUOTE]

In my last job, there were many, many days when if I didn’t eat during a conference call or meeting, I didn’t eat, at all. So, yeah, not Fritos, generally, since that’s not my thing, but eating at work, and during meetings? All the time. I can’t imagine anyone was particularly annoyed by it, especially as, in general, it would be a lot quieter than the noises people made taking notes on their laptops.

87

Seem to be a lot of sufferers of “hypoglycemia” among the defenders of in-class dining. Is this really such a common condition, or is it another one of those things (like bibliomania, genius-level intelligence, ADD, and Asperger Syndrome) that seems to manifest itself in Dopers at a much higher ratio than in the general population?

88

This is bringing back some memories. I am a compulsive eater but when I was in school I don’t remember ever eating in class. For someone on the meal plan, meals are served for a couple of hours at each mealtime, and there are alternatives around campus for picking up a bag lunch or snack.

Of course we didn’t have cell phones or laptops then either.

My mom taught a course when she was a grad student and she explicitly wrote “No chewing” on the syllabus. I don’t think anyone protested, even for health reasons.

89

Arrange to sit at the front of the class in front of the prof.

90

[QUOTE=Vinyl Turnip]
Seem to be a lot of sufferers of “hypoglycemia” among the defenders of in-class dining. Is this really such a common condition, or is it another one of those things (like bibliomania, genius-level intelligence, ADD, and Asperger Syndrome) that seems to manifest itself in Dopers at a much higher ratio than in the general population?
[/QUOTE]

I’m starting to catch it, myself. It is contagious you know.

No seriously though, what I mean is, after reading this thread, I’m starting to think I might have a problem.

I’ve tried to go without food for several hours before, and while I wouldn’t say it was impossible, it seemed to me the effects were really severe. Like, I’d start to feel really lethargic, as in, strongly tempted to refuse to move any part of me at all. I’d start to get bad headaches, nausea, and so on. The worst thing was also kind of strange: I’d get really sad. This sounds weird, but I can’t deny it: going without food for more than three hours or so literally makes me feel depressed, like I want to just collapse to the floor and cry. You got me why this should be.

So anyway, I just figured, “Well, this must just be what people feel like when they’re really hungry,” and so figured it was just the kind of thing one has to tough one’s way through when one ought not to eat for a while.

And I do think there can be situations where I ought to go through that rather than eating.

But I’m starting to think the physiological reactions I just described aren’t normal.

And I do know that my mother is hypoglycemic. (This is medically certified. :slight_smile: And her whole family has blood sugar issues, so its both certified and plausible.)

I also know my mom is depressed in the must-take-medication-or-go-crazy-with-insane-sadness sense. Is there a connection between hypoglycemia and depression?

So anyway, this all starts to make me think maybe I’ve got some kind of minor hormonal imbalance, inherited from my mom’s side, that ends up giving me “blood sugar issues” as well, though issues not nearly so severe as those suffered by my mom and people from her family.

Or, on the other hand, maybe it’s all in my head.

Point is: I find it very plausible that the prospect of going without food for a few hours is a much more serious and difficult prospect for some than it is for others, even if this doesn’t amount to there being a large number of people who have full blow hypoglycemia.

-Kris

91

I have difficulty making out what is being said when there are other conflicting noises, so rather than being frustrated by missing so much in noisy classes, I simply sat under the prof’s nose inthe front row. I found that being able to watch the prof’s mouth also helped, so being in front of the prof rather then off to the side helped a lot.

On one occasion, when I landed up at the back of a lecture hall, I spent most of the hour interrupting the prof, asking him to speak up and repeat whatever it was he just said. After getting his attention, I would then speak in a normal voice, which of course he could not hear clearly, leading to us each saying back and forth to the other, “I’m sorry, but I can’t hear you.” It got the point across to the class. Needless to say, there was always a seat at the front waiting for me after that, and the class was not as noisy.

On the flip side of the coin, when I lectured to large classes (200+), I always started with by asking if everyone could hear me and encouraging them to stop me if they could not hear or if I was going too fast, and by asking that everyone respect each other by not making undue noise. Being able project with a Voice of God [sup]tm[/sup] sure helped, as did stopping the lecture and addressing the individuals who on occasion were noisy in the first class.

Given the low cost of sound systems these days, I’m surprised that not all lecture halls are wired for sound.

92

[QUOTE=Frylock]
Point is: I find it very plausible that the prospect of going without food for a few hours is a much more serious and difficult prospect for some than it is for others, even if this doesn’t amount to there being a large number of people who have full blow hypoglycemia.
[/QUOTE]
It’s just a matter of eating quietly. Chips in foil bags make for noisy eating. A sandwich makes for much less noisy eating. By all means eat, just eat softly.

And with that, I’m going for lunch.

93

[QUOTE=Frylock]
Point is: I find it very plausible that the prospect of going without food for a few hours is a much more serious and difficult prospect for some than it is for others, even if this doesn’t amount to there being a large number of people who have full blow hypoglycemia.
[/QUOTE]

I would agree, but I think as Vinyl Turnip points out, there’s a lot of self-diagnosing going on. The media has led people to believe that tummy grumbling is tantamount to death and decreased brain function. I would wager that the average American eats enough calories to go through a day, if not longer, without eating and experiencing any real harm (IANA nutritionist). Sure there are exceptions, but most of us, if lost in the woods for a day, would be not much worse for the wear.

I actually think there are some people who have never had the experience of fasting for a day. Hey, it’s not the most comfortable thing in the world, but millions of Muslims do it every Ramadan. In my more Catholic days I would fast on Good Friday. No prob. Again, not the most fun thing in the world, but as a slightly underweight kid, I survived and was able to go to school, learn, drive, etc.

I think it would be good for many of us to learn how to go hungry a little and stop treating every venue as a dining room. I’m going be fairly hard-line about this: unless you have a verifiable medical condition, eat a granola bar between classes, or munch on carrot sticks when you step out to powder your nose in my class.

Again, I think there’s a nasty little class privilege thing in here, where some folks have decided that hunger pangs supersede the time and energy of custodial staff that have to clean even more because people aren’t eating in the appropriate venue. I’m sure most people don’t think of that, but that’s why it’s privilege, right?

94

[QUOTE=Queen Bruin]
tashabot, did you even read the thread before posting? Eating in general is not bothersome - it never bothered me at all at work, where I was usually concentrated on something internal, like crunching numbers. In fact, my office housed both the monthly potluck and the water cooler was right by my desk (not to mention the plotters and color printer - in fact, my work was constantly interrupted all day long with inane requests, people passing through to use the microwave in the vault, etc). This isn’t a quirk of sensitivity on my part, it’s genuinely annoying in the classroom context where people are trying to pay attention to someone who is speaking. Do you break out the Fritos when someone is giving a power point presentation? During a conference call? Your comparison is totally invalid.

Judging by the responses in this thread, more Dopers seem to agree with me on this particular issue than not. I mean, I’m sure we’re going to have an errant fatass with an overblown sense of entitlement, but surely you aren’t one of those? You don’t give me that impression, anyways.

Short story, work!=school, as has been pointed out to death already by Contrapuntal.
[/QUOTE]

Whoa, calm down. I wasn’t being sarcastic, I was being serious. The thought had never occurred to me that crunching would be annoying to someone. If anything, I’m thanking you because now I’m going to think of this before I go doing it. No need to get all defensive.

~Tasha

95

If my professor establishes at the beginning of the quarter that they do not allow eating in class, then I won’t. But most of my professors have encouraged getting something to eat during break (for 3 hour classes we usually have a 10-15 min break somewhere in between). Granted, these are grad school discussion-based classes, so the atmosphere is a bit different from lectures. Personally, I usually just drink coffee instead of eating in class, but I don’t mind when people eat as long as it doesn’t smell too strongly.

Starving for a day is no problem, but keep in mind most students run on the same schedule for 3-5 months. There is a need for people to be considerate of one another during class, but I don’t think allowing eating in class is unreasonable, as long as no one’s being an ass about it. I’ve rarely run into people who’ll eat something loud and/or smelly in class and not clean up afterwards - but maybe I’ve just been lucky.

96

[QUOTE=Muffin]
It’s just a matter of eating quietly. Chips in foil bags make for noisy eating. A sandwich makes for much less noisy eating. By all means eat, just eat softly.

And with that, I’m going for lunch.
[/QUOTE]

Of course, I know most people here aren’t saying one shouldn’t eat at all, ever, in class. The notion that one shouldn’t ever eat has come up, though, even when not being advocated, and that was what I was responding to. I was just taking that as a topic for conversation.

-FrL-

97

[QUOTE=Muffin]

Given the low cost of sound systems these days, I’m surprised that not all lecture halls are wired for sound.
[/QUOTE]

Mine are (I’ve yet to be in a class that wasn’t, outside small seminar classrooms), but unfortunately whoever designed it didn’t read the Yamaha Sound Reinforcement Handbook before beginning construction. Probably because it was built in 1925.

As I noted upthread, I get a case of the wobbles pretty often myself. I try to eat then on the car ride over or choke something down in the few minutes before class. IOW, I am aware of my limitations and I plan ahead not to be disruptive. Totally understandable if someone has got to get their blood sugar up. Sometimes I can last until it’s time for the cross-town commute to my husband’s school, and sometimes I can’t. That doesn’t mean though that I grab a bag of Orville’s to eat in class.

98

BRRRAAAAAAPPPPPPPPP!!!
Ah, that was a nice lunch. A pastrami sandwich with french mustard and swiss cheese, followed by a blackforest woven strudel. Carry on. Don’t let me disturb your conversation.

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[QUOTE=Queen Bruin]

Got it - understood. Out of curiosity though, if someone did voice their upset at it, would you modify your choices any?
[/QUOTE]

One person or many? I am being serious in that I feel that no matter what there is going to be one person that has issues with whatever you do.

If several people comment on my eating, and I am the only one that does it, I would stop, sure. If the teacher asks me to stop, I would stop. If some random classmate said my munching was distracting him from his or her learning, would I stop? Probably not. I might say I’ll try to be more quiet or something, but for the most part, I can’t make everybody happy, and I’m not going to try.

Some people don’t like the way I look, doesn’t mean I’m an asshole for going out in public regardless.

If eating is allowed in class (and I only have a couple classes it isn’t), then It’s too bad for the complainer. If eating isn’t allowed, I don’t eat.

So I guess the answer to your question is probably not, since I don’t eat where I am not allowed, and if somebody doesn’t like it, they don’t have to sit beside, behind or in front of me. My munching isn’t loud enough to carry.

100

[QUOTE=Queen Bruin]
I am running on the expectation that the people I attend college with are not five year olds in need of a nanny.
[/QUOTE]
I would not make that assumption. Fortunately, the first term of first year weeds many of them out.