Does anyone else have some big pet peeves about the way people eat? or am I just a big intolerant dork?
I’ve had the aversion since early childhood when my mom taught me not to chew with my mouth open or to scrape my teeth against my utensils. It’s not like she was this horrible despot or anything, but for some reason the lessons she taught me kind of transformed me into someone who couldn’t stand other people’s eating manners.
As a child I played a ‘game’ with my other friends that we were children of the colonial times and weren’t allowed to make any noise at all. I discovered that if I asked them to be quiet they got upset, but if I made it like a ‘game’ then they thought it was fun. So I was able to control them that way.
Now, though, as an adult, I realize of course that it’s my problem and not everyone else’s. It’s still hard for me to eat with some people with particularly atrocious manners. There’s a guy in my office who constantly chomps gum with his mouth really open and makes an enormous amount of noise. He also chews ice which drives me nuts. No matter how much I like or respect someone I have to leave the room when they eat.
Is there a name for this, or does anyone else have similar problems?
OfficeGirl
I also dispise ice chewing. another thing I can’t stand is people who mix evwerything together, like their meat and mashed potatoes and corn and everything. If I meant you to eat it that way I would have fed you in a trough.
To deal with men by force is as impractical as to deal with nature by persuasion.
If I’ve got a pile of corn & a pile of mashed potatoes on my plate…well, they get mixed together. Same with peas. Sorry if this grosses anyone out. I do not do this in public, though. As if that matters.
I don’t like the teeth-scraping-on-the-cutlery, either. It’s like fingernails on a chalkboard. Talking is perfectly acceptible, though, as long as it’s not with a mouthful of food.
Cristi, I agree with you. Talking is fine, unless the mouth is also chock-full of nasty food and it goes flying everywhere.
I’ve noticed that my tolerance for people’s eating is extremely high when I first meet them. For example, my last boyfriend. For the first 6 months or so I marveled at the fact that his eating never bothered me. Then, suddenly, I couldn’t stand a thing he did. I still loved him but couldn’t stand to see or hear him eat.
Sometimes I wish someone would hypnotize me to make me stop this really mean aversion.
OfficeGirl: when you were younger, did you have to leave the table when you were done eating because the sounds of people chewing was too reminiscient of cows with cud? I did…it still bugs me, so usually I eat really slowly so that I can’t hear it. Noisy restaurants also do the trick.
Open-mouth chewing is one of the grossest thing I’ve ever seen. (I have never seen people bludgeoned or all the terrible things the other posters have seen.) My poor grandmother is a terrible offender in this regard; I love her dearly but things have a way of falling out of her mouth that makes me feel quite ill.
I hate it when people breathe in through their mouths when shoveling in the food really fast. You know, so they sound like they are gasping for their last breath. Use your freakin nose, that’s what it’s there for…well one of the reasons.
Don’t let the loveless ones sell you a world wrapped in grey.
Oh, and also: in what way are others’ poor manners YOUR problem? But I agree…it’s not something one can bring up to them without scarring the friendship for life.
Whoa, how is it unfair of you to want to get away from others’ rudeness? You must be an extremely polite person.
Although I guess if the aversion is so strong you have to actually leave the table, you might consider really dark glasses, covering your face with a napkin, or pretending to have dropped something under the table until they’re done eating.
I get totally grossed out by “eating sounds”. There is an ad that runs each fall locally for apples. This girl takes a big, sloppy, wet, loud chomp out of an apple and goes “mmmmmmm” with juice running out of her mouth. No lie, first time I saw it I almost heaved.
I have actually said (not recently)- can you PLEASE close your mouth while you eat? (to people I know well enough to do this). I mean, cripes!!
Then again, I may be an intolerant bitch. Probobly
An optimist sees an opportunity in every calamity; A pessimist sees a calamity in every opportunity.
how funny! i actually have devised methods of distracting myself from eating noises.
in the movie theatre, because i see a LOT of movies, i can’t stand popcorn or nachoes crunching loudly. recently i discovered that if i wear earplugs very loosely i can still hear the movie but the crunching noise is filtered out.
when i still lived with my parents. ugh. my Dad, as much as i love the man, is the worst eater. he even makes ice cream loud! i used to arrange the table so that i could avert my eyes from him, and basically force him out of my line of sight.
I eat fast, but I am not sloppy, make noises, nor do I act all impatient when I enevitably finish eaating before them. So DO NOT say I am rude or i eat to fast. I eat at a pace i am comfortable with, and to make me change this when I am doing nothing elkse ill-mannered is BULL!
This is also known as the “ex-wife” clause…
Not a pet peeve, but something I do. I eat in segments. First the veggies, then the potatoes, then the main course. No mixing of peas and stuffing for me! I even do this when eating stew - broth, followed in succession by potatoes, veggies and finally the meat!
