Do you think eating in the classroom is rude?

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In most cases I restrain myself from passing a judgement on obsessive eaters.

In recent weeks though, I have become severely agitated when I go to my classroom which has a sign right on the door reading "NO FOOD OR DRINK" and people insist on bringing their dinner or their snacks in and eating them in front of everyone while people are trying to do their work and socializing while they eat. The classroom should not be treated like their living room.

They almost seem to be testing their limits. The teacher lets them get away with it and the school has ignored the complaint I sent to them.

I find the sound of them chewing their food revolting, offensive and distracting. Sometimes the sound of the food sloshing inside their mouths gives me chills down my spine.

The cafeteria is just right in walking distance, a place where if I see them eating, I refrain from evaluating them.

They also have option to take their food outside, a place where I can easily mind my own business.

Not only do people insist on bringing food into class but also continue to eat for extended periods of time. They go get more food after they finish what they have.

Unless it's a small class with a mutual agreement about food, eating in front of people is disgusting and disrespectful.

Specializes in retired from healthcare.
Are you in school now? Is this a current event?

I think it is rude and I am sure it bothers some more than others. I would speak to the instructor...it is their class and if the choose to not enforce the rules it is their choice.

Yes, this is current and I have changed to another time of day and another teacher where the class is more quiet.

Our lab instructor banned food or drink in the lab for health reasons.

I've always thought it was a distraction to the learning environment (former teacher), but it only really bothers me if they're being noisy, rustling wrappers, etc. I see nothing wrong with drinking in the classroom, as long as your container has a lid that can be secured to prevent spills. I personally believe food is meant to be eaten at a table - not at a desk or on a sofa - so I don't eat in the classroom for the courtesy of my fellow students and the teacher.

I do think it's rude, however, if there is a sign or someone has specifically stated no food or drink.

Really annoys me during lecture, I'm trying to listen and all I hear is the noise coming from potato chip bags rattling during the instructors lecture.

Specializes in critical care.

I find the sound of them chewing their food revolting, offensive and distracting. Sometimes the sound of the food sloshing inside their mouths gives me chills down my spine.

I have read no other comments in this thread, but I wanted to tell you that this is an actual "thing". It's called misophonia. I've restrained plenty of nasty violent rages over the sounds of people eating. Bananas, tortilla chips and gum with an open mouth are my triggers. OMG.

That said, and with my misophonia in mind, I am a polite eater in classrooms. Never in "no food allowed" spaces, never noisy, and never smelly. Our classes were always back to back, and the way I generally eat, I am a big snacker, small mealer.

I'd have to glare daggers at the noisy people.

Specializes in critical care.

Well, crap. Apparently I should have read the thread before posting. 9 pages! And its ugly from page one. ?

Specializes in critical care.
There is actually a name for this.....Misophonia, literally "hatred of sound", is a neurological disorder in which negative experiences (anger, flight, hatred, disgust) are triggered by specific sounds. These sounds can be loud or soft. The term was coined by American neuroscientists Pawel Jastreboff and Margaret Jastreboff and is often used interchangeably with the term selective sound sensitivity. http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0054706

The disorder comprises a unique set of symptoms, most likely attributable to neurological causes unrelated to hearing-system dysfunction. It can be described as an immediate and extremely negative emotional response accompanied by an automatic physiological flight response to identifiable auditory, visual, and olfactory stimuli. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/06/health/06annoy.html?_r=0

People who have misophonia are most commonly angered, and even enraged, by common ambient sounds, such as other people clipping their nails, brushing teeth, chewing crushed ice, eating, slurping, drinking, breathing, sniffing, talking, sneezing, yawning, walking, chewing gum, laughing, snoring, typing on a keyboard, whistling or coughing; saying certain consonants; or repetitive sounds. Some are also affected by visual stimuli, such as repetitive foot or body movements, fidgeting, or movement they observe out of the corners of their eyes; this has been termed misokinesia, meaning hatred of movement.

Hyperacusis: Evaluation, Diagnosis, and Treatment. - Hyperacusis Information Site

I had never considered that the rage impulse I feel was an actual autonomic response. It truly is awful and there are times when I feel like I am suffering dreadfully, which my higher mind knows is utterly nuts. It's a sound, for goodness' sake. And it's incredibly embarassing, but not in any way that someone would actually notice, because the urge to scream loudly, "OMG STOP CHEWING GUM LIKE YOU ARE A COW CHEWING GRASS!!!!!!" is just that overwhelming. I just had this happen in the car with my grandmother, who I love more than life itself, and as she chomped away, wanting to continue our meaningful conversation, I realized the least rude thing to do at that time was to turn the radio up. It's not that I feel the intentional emotional of rage. But the physical feeling of rage fills my body. I have total control over it (in that I only complain to loud chewers who understand this about me and who wont be upset by my request), but I adapt my environment accordingly. It's been okay so far. I did learn, though, that the sound of a patient trying to give a sputum sample is a trigger as well. This one may be more tricky being that I'm starting work on an ICU step down unit and we get a lot of pneumonia there.

I also have hypoglycemia and I do not solve this with junk food. I respect my classmates and the NO FOOD OR DRINK sings so that I leave when I think my blood sugar is out of balance. I'm sorry but they don't have any right to disrupt the class this way.

And I think it's disruptive when people get up and leave class.

Specializes in critical care.
If you are this freaked out by people eating in your presence, what will you do when they are pooping, peeing, puking, bleeding, belching, screaming, crying, etc. in your direction? I mean, you do realize you are preparing to become a nurse, right? In which profession, people EATING will be the least of your worries?

If this person does, in fact, have misophonia, this is a disorder specific to only certain sounds. For each person, there are different triggers. I have this condition, and I can listen to poop, pee and vomit until the cows come home, but if you eat a banana anywhere within a mile of me, I will want to main the innocent.

Specializes in critical care.
As heartless as this sounds, it's not my problem that you work 900 hours a week raising 20 kids you adopted from Zimbabwe and this is the only time you can eat. That's a deficiency of your scheduling. Your problem, not mine. Don't make it mine.

Fancy that!

You're going to make a fantastic nurse one day.

it is very wrong for a nursing student to eat in class. Why were you then given some hours to go le for you to for break, it is possible for you to do all your eating at the dining hall.

Specializes in Pediatrics, Emergency, Trauma.
it is very wrong for a nursing student to eat in class. Why were you then given some hours to go le for you to for break, it is possible for you to do all your eating at the dining hall.

How about when the dining hall is about 30 minutes away from class??

Not everyone goes to college during the day, or has a dining hall two steps away from class. :blink:

Just something to think about...

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