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Friday, December 01, 2023

Shit that drives you up a wall

NEW YORK - There are certain sounds that really get to some people, like chewing of gum or breathing loudly. These noises may be annoying, but for some folks, it's bigger than that. 

Sounds such as coughing, slurping, or the crinkle of a bag of chips can cause them to feel distressed, leaving them anxious and angry. It’s a condition called misophonia.

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With me, it's somebody slurping their food, smacking their lips while eating, or popping their gum. I don't know if it's that misophonia bullshit or the fact that I was raised with manners, I don't know. Or care. But if you want to be rude, I'll be rude too - I'll get up and walk away from the table if somebody is smacking their lips or slurping their food.

25 comments:

  1. I agree 100% and go with the manners.

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  2. Just like the internet. If you don't like it. don't go there.

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  3. Manners....my gma....."yer not a horse, you do chew with yer mouth open". She was also fond of fine dining and theatre....she worked at a "Dinner theatre". Now whether or not it was "fine dining" could be argued, but i got to attend most openings and it was there that I learned dining etiquette......havent thought about this in years......Thanks GMA!

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  4. Yes, two habits that bug me is chewing gum then popping rapidly and singing to a song on the car radio when you can't sing worth a shit. The last remedy is I open a window and when they complain, I tell them I'm hearing an annoying sound and trying to identify what it is. Sarcasm does get me in trouble.

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  5. Misophonia sucks. Specific sounds cause a flight or fight response. It’s like synesthesia where senses are cross wired: people see colors when hearing musical notes; others experience flavors associated with textures, etc. Slurping is actionable. Weird but real.

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    1. I don't get a flight or fight reaction, I just get irritated as hell.

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  6. I Absolutely HATE the ads on the radio that have someone slurping something trying to sell it. Makes me want to rip the radio out of the dash and throw it out onto the highway.

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  7. Children are not grounded in such things as table manners any longer because meals and mealtimes have gone completely free-form. They eat whatever microwaved junk mom buys when they feel like it. Almost no "family dinners" anymore, since there are almost no "families" any longer with dad conspicuously absent. When was the last time you heard a kid ask, "Hey, Mom, what's for dinner?"

    MG

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    1. I think you pretty much nailed it.

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    2. We were just discussing this yesterday. Think about where family discussions happen. The dinner table was the place. We still do it and I’m thankful for that. And yes I was always reprimanding my now teenage son about chewing with his mouth closed. Neanderthal

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  8. With me it's whistling to a song when you can't whistle worth a shit. (...or even if you can whistle halfway decent, it's still annoying as hell.)

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  9. HOLY COW !!!!!!!!!
    My in-laws (each 82) talk with food in their mouths !!!!
    Even my wife is disturbed by it !!!

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  10. Oh, also, my 7th grade science teacher Mr. Frazer (one glass eye) also commented on how impolite it was for girls to comb their hair in public......

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  11. Misophonia is rampant in my family. Some of it might just be that we, like you, were raised with manners. I can't handle being at a table where someone is smacking their food or eating with their mouth open, especially something crunchy. The worst is popping or cracking gum. It makes me want to go postal. It seems like at every one of my kids' choir or band concerts, there was at least one person popping and cracking gum all the way through it. Usually one of those people whose lives matter.

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  12. I can get fighting mad hearing people chew.
    But, it's cute if it's babies or dogs.

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  13. I call them out on their manners and turn to the host and excuse myself and proceed to leave. I don't put up with that. I believe it is you were taught proper manners and behaviors.

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  14. I eat alone and it's great, just like my sleep!

    Chutes Magoo

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  15. It is a very difficult syndrome to live with, and mine gets worse as I get older.
    I have to seclude myself frequently to avoid becoming unsocial and irritable. Well, more than usual.

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  16. It's friggin' contagious. There was a guy Cody Alcorn on the local Greenville, SC news station in the afternoon who couldn't begin one sentence without starting with a big loud slobbery lip smack. It got so God damn irritating I had to switch stations. Then I noticed the news woman and the traffic guy who never lip smacked before began doing it. Cody left a couple of years ago and soon after no one was lip smacking

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  17. Re: manners. You at my table you will exercise manners or be asked to leave. I don't give a shit who you are. I busted ass bought, prepared, am serving you and all I ask are manners. My kid started school and learned all sorts of shit. The third time I corrected her at the table I said ok, I'm done with this. The next evening she found her plate, glass, napkin and untensiles on the floor by the dog bowl. Of course she was bewildered. I said, if you choose to not use manners you eat with the animals or you can use manners and eat with the humans. Your choice, not mine. She chose the humans. Never a problem after that.

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  18. I never knew slurping was a bad thing. I grew up with grandparents and parents that slurped coffee poured from a cup into a saucer at the table everyday. Blow on and slurp hot soup from a spoon. Saw older folks all around this area that always done the same.

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  19. I felt terrible for people around me. Was visiting NYC to see museums and a play, before the Covid, and had a cold. Kept opening cough tabs in plastic wrappers. It was awful.
    I couldn't come back a week later. If I wasn't against suicide I would have killed me for being an ahole.

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  20. I have an ex-wife, who invariably would call me at work while chewing gum. I asked her to remove the gum. She refused, I hung up. She would also accept phone calls from her friends during supper, instead of explaining that we were at the supper table and she would call back. I brought up these and a few other of her indiscretion's during marriage counseling. The counselor was incensed that she was so uncaring with her behavior and blasted her. Didn't change her behavior and of course the divorce was all my fault because I was "always picking on her".

    Nemo

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  21. Sounds that make me nuts:

    Boom cars. What I really want is an electromagnetic pulse canon. One shot and I've got silence from the boom car, and a frustrated driver with a burned out sound system.

    Eating while talking on the phone. This is truly one of most socially offensive things anyone can do, especially on some kind of group business meeting. The slurping and chewing noise gets right under my skin.

    Slurping through a straw. There may be a few drops left of your beverage in the bottom of the glass, and (usually) a child will noisily hoover it up with a straw.

    Bad table manners. I once dated a divorcée with three young children, and no one had taught the kids table manners. We were having breakfast, so I started in by teaching them how to use their knife and fork - then I glanced over at their mother. She was having blueberry pancakes, and was covered in blueberry syrup up to her elbows. Oh boy...

    Kids will learn, but the parents must teach them. When the parents don't know, and are slurping and slopping away at their dinner, I've been known to quietly excuse myself from the table.

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