Noisy snackers at work

[asta]

I worked next to a lady for 15 years who popped and cracked her Wrigleys gum all day, every day. If she was at her desk she had gum in her mouth and making noise with it. Her mouth was so ugly it reminded me of a horse's mouth. She drove me crazy. I still can not stand to be around someone chewing gum.

 

[mhsjax]

My workplace was noisy because it was a printing plant, so no gross personal noises. But just outside our partitioned workspace was the snack machine corner, coffee pot, fridge and microwave. I'm telling you, the smell of cheap microwave popcorn popping is gross, revolting, and 100 other bad words. That smell would linger for hours, it would stay in your nose, sometimes I would gag. I used to beg the snack machine vendor to quit stocking it. But no such luck.

OMG, glad to know I am not the only one who hates the smell of popcorn, but I hate all popcorn, nasty stuff.

I worked for an insurance company and we would get phone calls about claims, I spent 30 minutes on the phone with a woman who must have been on her lunch break, she slurped soup in my ear the whole time. I wanted to reach through the phone and smack the soup out of her hand. TO this day I can't stand to here anyone eat anything.

 

[anniemae]

I used to work in a cube environment. The walls give you a false sense of privacy, you can hear everything! I hated listening to the woman next to me goggly woogly talk with her boyfriend.


BUT, for the desk eaters, the bag-rustlers really bothered me. The sound of the chip bag every. single. time. the hand would reach in. Ohhh and the slurpers and loud crunchers. I think people believe that the cube walls are sound proof, but if you lifted all the cube walls, everyone would be practically sitting on top of each other!

 

[Eeyore'sthebest]

I sit on a trading desk. We each have 3 feet of space. Usually it's not too bad as we try to be considerate. I don't really care when people have bags of chips or whatnot. It's a trading desk, we all eat at our desks!
The problem is the guy who sits next to me. He chews all of his food with his mouth open. All day I hear smack-smack-smack of him eating. Ugh!!! Seriously dude, you don't need to chew yogurt. Put it in your mouth and just swallow it. And then he sings or hums. I swear I'm going to snap one day.

 

[BadgerGirl84]

Oh my gosh...my co-worker and I went to subway yesterday and brought back chips and sandwiches to eat at our desks and we talked about feeling self conscious about eating at our desks due to the chewing noises and crunching on chips.

After reading this thread, I see our fears were accurate!

So, are you all against eating anything at your desk if you work in a cube land?

 

[Minnesota!]

Oh my gosh...my co-worker and I went to subway yesterday and brought back chips and sandwiches to eat at our desks and we talked about feeling self conscious about eating at our desks due to the chewing noises and crunching on chips.

After reading this thread, I see our fears were accurate!

So, are you all against eating anything at your desk if you work in a cube land?

Anything crunchy or slurpy, yes!!!!!! It drives me absolutely nuts!

 

[HsvTeacher]

I can handle noisy snackers, but I want to gag when someone eats tuna fish for lunch. Blech!

 

[Gigi22]

If you have computers on your desks, then there is probably a "No drinks at your desk" rule and there may also be a rule banning food in the office. Over time, there's a good chance of attracting vermin. You could look into having the existing rules enforced.

That said, I do remember one post-lunch meeting with my boss at the time, I completely forget what was said. All I could concentrate on was the horrible smell of the tuna salad sandwich she was eating during the entire meeting!

 

[Janepod]

I empathize; I'm married to a noisy snacker. I can't even look at potato chips any more.

But I've always worked with computers (dating back to 1991 or so) and have never, ever seen a "no drinks" sign.

 

[wendy46001]

I worked next to a lady for 15 years who popped and cracked her Wrigleys gum all day, every day. If she was at her desk she had gum in her mouth and making noise with it. Her mouth was so ugly it reminded me of a horse's mouth. She drove me crazy. I still can not stand to be around someone chewing gum.

I hate gum chewing as well. My first job out of college i was in a cube next to a constant chewer. Drove me crazy (of course this was back when i was too nice to say something).

I thank god everyday for my nice quite office

 

[Pumbaa_]

I'll trade you go the over the wall sniveling for the snackers (I just want to tell him take allergy meds!! and blow your darn nose!!!!)

The nail clipper - used to have one of those too. Had to get up and leave for that one. too gross.

 

[Andtototoo]

There is someone who has a yogurt every day, in the next aisle of cubes. At 4:20. Work day ends at 4:30. REALLY - just go home and eat it.

He has to scrape, scrape, scrape the bottom of the container. EVERY DAY.

And - then he has to slam the spoon in his drawer.

(The next aisle is a different department - so I have no idea who does this.)

I had a coworker who would eat a microwave meal every day for lunch and scrape, scrape, scrape the bottom and sides of the dish/bowl until they were completely clean. It took her longer to scrape the container than it took her to eat the meal! One day I finally lost it and said, "Wouldn't it just be easier and QUIETER if you just licked the blasted thing?"

 

[Swan4Me]

I hate when someone microwaves a Frozen meal at work-all the rooms flow into one another and the smell is all over-even the sales floor-yuck

 

[Minnesota!]

I empathize; I'm married to a noisy snacker. I can't even look at potato chips any more.

But I've always worked with computers (dating back to 1991 or so) and have never, ever seen a "no drinks" sign.

Same here. I would say at least 75% of us eat at our desks for lunch, and everyone eats "something" at their desk throughout the day.

The hacking, sneezing, throat clearing irritates me just as bad..

 

[goofyintoronto]

Chomp chomp munch munch slurp slurp smack smack smack choke. Oh good grief.

I now understand what so many of you have complained about on here before.

Headphones are on, and I have the volume turned up. And I keep looking for louder music to try and mask the sounds.

I have one guy down at the end of my row that clips his nails every morning...blech! I feel your pain. Hope you have Disney music going in those headphones!

Just wait until it starts manifesting itself in burps and farts! I had one coworker who would eat loudly, then burp loudly and then a while later fart loudly.

The crunching sounds don't bother me very much. But for some reason, the bag rustling drives me crazy (opening packages, reaching in, etc.)

My coworker is eating chips right now and all I notice is the sound of the darn bag

BETTER PLAN! Instead of Mmm Bop, play Peanut Butter Jelly Time. Then, if they say something, tell them that is your loud snack.

There is someone who has a yogurt every day, in the next aisle of cubes. At 4:20. Work day ends at 4:30. REALLY - just go home and eat it.

He has to scrape, scrape, scrape the bottom of the container. EVERY DAY.

And - then he has to slam the spoon in his drawer.

(The next aisle is a different department - so I have no idea who does this.)

OMG you people are HILARIOUS! Im laughing myself sick at all of the above! The nail clipping REALLY bothers me. But seriously, every day? I dont get it! His nails must grow really fast!

The scraping of the yogurt cup is hilarious, and yes it irritates me too. I can totally relate. Also the noisy bags. Lol.

My DH hates the sound of chewing. The behavior may not actually be all that bad but if you are sensitive to it, its misery, or so he says. Every once in awhile DD or I will grab a crunchy snack and sometimes just to be snarky because he is so intolerant we will walk past him with our snack in one hand and hand him ear plugs with the other.

Its a tough call, I hate loud noise but I figure I have to find ways to cope. DH assumes that we should avoid the behavior since it annoys him. I am not sure what the answer is, perhaps settle somewhere in the middle.

I'm all the more thankful that I have my own office with a door I can close if I choose to.

Im with your DH on this. Im sensitive to bodily noises. I dont mind chewing, but if its gross inappropriate loud chewing, that bugs me. This one lady at the office would eat her apple every single day at 11am and i swear, its so annoying. Its the crunchiest loudest apple i have ever heard in my life. CRUNCH. chomp chomp chomp. CRUNCH. chomp chomp chomp. OMG!!!! I actually told her one day that her chewing is really loud. I couldnt understand why it was so loud. When i eat an apple, its not nearly as loud as hers. Its the way she eats it and the shape of her mouth/teeth I think. Thats the conclusion we came to. LOL!

The gum cracking really bugs me as well. I had an office mate who would chew like a cow. OMG the whole world could hear her! I tried loud music to drown the noise out, but that didnt work cause then i couldnt concentrate on my work. So i simply asked her to chew quietly. Problem solved.

 

[goofyintoronto]

I had a coworker who would eat a microwave meal every day for lunch and scrape, scrape, scrape the bottom and sides of the dish/bowl until they were completely clean. It took her longer to scrape the container than it took her to eat the meal! One day I finally lost it and said, "Wouldn't it just be easier and QUIETER if you just licked the blasted thing?"

OMG funny! Your like me. I have to speak up. LOL! That scraping is really annoying and totally unnecessary. If youre still hungry, go get another snack for petesake!

I love this thread. LOL!

 

[ARLO1]

The pig who used to sit next to me at work ate all day long. i dont understand how someone could eat all day long!!!when she didnt have food in her mouth she would crack her gum. i did ask her to stop and she did.then she started sucking on something instead so I had to hear her suck and play with the sucking thing in her mouth all day long.omg.what a pig. i finally just stopped talking to her altogether because she just made me sick. thankfully both our desks were relocated due to an office shifting and i didnt have to sit next to her anymore. now i have the complainer next to me...actually more tolerable...and the person on personal calls all day behind me. again omg...get me a cubicle with floor to ceiling walls and a door.