How do you respond when someone asks you a question...

[Mrs. Charming]

How do you respond when somone asks you a question and you have a mouth full of food? I was eating a granola bar this morning and I was asked a question three times.. it's like, how am I supposed to respond? One of my biggest pet peeves is people talking with a mouth full of food, so I don't want to do it, but I can't seem to get the point across!

 

[tlbwriter]

I hold up a finger to say "wait," and then point to my mouth. Most people get it.

 

[Carly_Roach]

I usually hold up a finger or put my hand to my mouth so they can see I've got a mouth full of food and will answer when my mouth is clear again. If they're still so uncouth as to continue to ask me the same question when they can see I can't answer, then the onus of being the disrespectful one is on them, not me.

If it's a cubicle mate who continues to ask the same question (or call my name) over and over again when I don't respond, I then have a choice:

• Wait for someone else to come around and see that I've got a mouthful of food and to tell the questioner to shut up for a second
• Don't ever answer and let them think I'm not there

 

[The Mystery Machine]

I raise my finger up and point at my mouth.

 

[Acklander]

I hold up a finger to say "wait," and then point to my mouth. Most people get it.

This.

 

[MickeySP]

Yep the finger up & point. They know I heard them, and will answer.

 

[MIGrandma]

I hold up a finger to say "wait," and then point to my mouth. Most people get it.

Same here.

I remember many times as a waitress people would talk to me with their mouth full and I hated it. I felt it would be rude to look away from them when they were talking to me but it was disgusting. If I had to ask them a question I tried to ask so they could just nod their head yes or no if they were chewing, or would refill their water glasses and wait until they were done chewing before I asked.

 

[indimom]

Same here.

I remember many times as a waitress people would talk to me with their mouth full and I hated it. I felt it would be rude to look away from them when they were talking to me but it was disgusting. If I had to ask them a question I tried to ask so they could just nod their head yes or no if they were chewing, or would refill their water glasses and wait until they were done chewing before I asked.

I use the same one finger up to tell them to wait, and had to add to your waitress comment:
WHY, DO THEY ALWAYS SHOW UP AND ASK IF EVERYTHING IS OKAY/YOU NEED REFILLS/WHATEVER JUST WHEN I'VE PUT A BITE IN MY MOUTH?? I ALWAYS HAVE TO USE MY 'BEST' SIGN LANGUAGE TO ANSWER THE QUESTION SINCE THEY CAN'T WAIT AROUND FOR ME TO FINISH THE BITE. IT NEVER FAILS....

 

[NMAmy]

Same here.

I remember many times as a waitress people would talk to me with their mouth full and I hated it. I felt it would be rude to look away from them when they were talking to me but it was disgusting. If I had to ask them a question I tried to ask so they could just nod their head yes or no if they were chewing, or would refill their water glasses and wait until they were done chewing before I asked.

Servers seem to have a real knack of catching their customers with their mouths full. I usually just nod and give a thumbs up because every time they stop by to ask, "Is everything ok here?" or "How's the food?"

 

[MushyMushy]

I raise my finger.

But this subject does make me chuckle. When my husband and I are eating together, if I ask him a question when he has food in his mouth, he'll do this little hand gesture thing, which is fine. I'll wait til he's finished chewing. Then after I've waited, he'll go and put another bite in his mouth and do the hand gesture thing again. I always say, "Are you kidding?? Just answer me!"

 

[redlight]

On a related note, I hate when waitstaff in restaurants ask you how the food is when it's obvious that you are chewing.