# Have you ever run into a FAST eater? (How to deal with socially)

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-run-into-a-fast-eater-how-to-deal-with-socially/919978>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [September 6, 2020, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-run-into-a-fast-eater-how-to-deal-with-socially/919978 "2020-09-06T23:38:56Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Page:** 4

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**Author:** ![Ann\_Hedonia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ann_hedonia/32/319_2.png) [@Ann\_Hedonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Hedonia)\
**Post date:** [September 16, 2020, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-run-into-a-fast-eater-how-to-deal-with-socially/919978/61 "2020-09-16T18:25:25Z")

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I’m a slow eater, even more so in a social setting.  
I don’t really like eating large amounts of food in a social setting. Especially if the food is really good. I feel that combining the two activities (food and conversation) diminishes the pleasure I get from each of them.

Also, I am really prone to anxiety attacks after a big meal, which sucks if the meal is a part of a larger social plan for the evening.

In a restaurant situation where both the food and conversation are excellent, I’m probably just going to nibble a little bit and take the rest home. Once, at a business lunch with a couple of vendors I got so caught up in the conversation (it was rare to find someone that actually listened to my product and marketing suggestions) that I literally forgot to eat. I had been in deep conversation for an hour and I looked down and realized my salad and steak sandwich were completely untouched - I just asked the waiter to box it up. It didn’t seem to bother anyone and I got to enjoy the excellent sandwich at home where I could savor each bite without distraction.

I’ve never felt any need to modify my behavior by speeding up my food consumption. In some situations, like a first date, I usually let the person I’m dining with know before the meal that I’m a slow eater and that I don’t eat a lot. I do this because I don’t want them to be concerned that I didn’t like the food.

But dining with a fast eater wouldn’t bother me at all. I’m used to keeping my plate in front of me for at least twice as long as everyone else at the table and I probably wouldn’t even notice if someone ate 4 times faster than me rather than just twice as fast,

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