Do you think eating in the classroom is rude?

Nursing Students General Students

Published

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.

To the OP. I work nights. I have class 9-1. Food and note taking are the only way I stay awake. However, I make extra effort to have it be quiet food since I record lectures.

I am am sound sensitive as well. However, as a nurse you are going to have to learn to deal with noise.

Specializes in Psych/Mental Health.

No, I don't think it's rude at all. I don't even notice it when someone sitting next to me eating.

See, it depends how the person is eating it and what he's/she's eating. If its a quick snack that has no odor it's fine, but if a person brings a whole meal then I'd be annoyed. No one wants to sit in a smelly room. Our school doesn't have this problem though, because we get 5-10 min brake every 1:30hour of a lecture.

Specializes in Emergency, Telemetry, Transplant.
And I think it's disruptive when people get up and leave class.

Not to pile on, but....it would also be disruptive for someone to have a hypoglycemic episode during class. I can see the post now "It is fair that I failed a test because paramedics had to come in and disrupt the class???" But, hey, at least they honored the "no food or drink" sign.

Specializes in Prior military RN/current ICU RN..

Is it petty to follow the rules of the classroom? Hey it is annoying to wash my hands when I leave the patients room..should I stop doing that? It is just a stupid rule. Or how about parking in handicap spots? It is just a stupid rule. Who cares if it affects other people. Screw everyone else as long as I get to do what I want.

Specializes in Emergency, Telemetry, Transplant.
Is it petty to follow the rules of the classroom? Hey it is annoying to wash my hands when I leave the patients room..should I stop doing that? It is just a stupid rule. Or how about parking in handicap spots? It is just a stupid rule. Who cares if it affects other people. Screw everyone else as long as I get to do what I want.

That is not a valid comparison at all. The "rule" to wash your hands is in place to prevent the spread of communicable diseases. Handicap spots are there to allow access for individuals with disabilities. There is not some greater good to the no food/drink rule.

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. PLOS ONE: Misophonia: Diagnostic Criteria for a New Psychiatric Disorder

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

And if someone bears this diagnosis, I imagine nursing might be a difficult field to venture into, no?

Patients WILL be eating, drinking, pooping, peeing, scratching themselves, farting, yawning, coughing, vomiting, chewing ice, giggling, screaming.....well, anything and everything one can imagine.....and the nurse WILL be present during this.

Can't imagine trying to avoid it and still function in nursing.

Specializes in Emergency.
Is it petty to follow the rules of the classroom? Hey it is annoying to wash my hands when I leave the patients room..should I stop doing that? It is just a stupid rule. Or how about parking in handicap spots? It is just a stupid rule. Who cares if it affects other people. Screw everyone else as long as I get to do what I want.

Haha, now this post is golden. +1 to you, sir!

Lol@op. You sound like you get agitated easily. But you know what? Be a leader, or not. Suck it up, or go do something about it. You're gonna get opinionated support or get attacked but really everyone's post here won't address your personal problem. But hey I'm just a ghastly figure typing away at you as I'm resting inbetween squat sets

If someone quietly and discretely eating during class bothers you to the point that it affects your grades you probably have some serious OCD issues and should look into medication to control that.

Specializes in Prior military RN/current ICU RN..

Right..but there is no RULE against a patient eating or vomiting. What about a nurse who comes into the patients room and has a doughnut in her hand and is munching away...yeah sorry..I just have NO other time to eat..I HAVE to do it here in front of you. I applaud the initial poster for standing up for her right and for everyone in the room to follow the written RULE of no eating in class. Hey hold on...I may as well light up a cigarette in class as well. It is just the ONLY time I have....

Specializes in retired from healthcare.
Right..but there is no RULE against a patient eating or vomiting. What about a nurse who comes into the patients room and has a doughnut in her hand and is munching away...yeah sorry..I just have NO other time to eat..I HAVE to do it here in front of you. I applaud the initial poster for standing up for her right and for everyone in the room to follow the written RULE of no eating in class. Hey hold on...I may as well light up a cigarette in class as well. It is just the ONLY time I have....

While you're having that cigarette, I'll bring in my radio and turn it on to my favorite station.

+ Add a Comment