Comments on: Is there a gum-chewing etiquette?

By: pamelales

pamelales — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 15:59:32 +0000

I can’t believe I’m not alone! I’ve been struggling with primarily gum crackes since high school and I’m over 50 now. I am sure I performed poorly on tests in high school and college just to get through them and away from the awful sound. Movies are particularly difficult so I need to get there early to get a seat on the aisle so I can get out if someone is bothering me. This makes my husband crazy! Other people think you’re crazy because something they can’t even hear is enough to make you scream! Airplanes are also a problem. The anxiety about who might sit around you makes flying that much more stressful. Thank goodness for Bose headphones.

Anyway, good luck to everyone that suffers from this and please post anything that can help get over it! Beyond outlawing gum chewing, which is not a bad idea…

By: anthony

anthony — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 22:17:45 +0000

Try tapping a coin on a desk over and over at work. When someone asks you why you are doing that tell them you were wondering why they were doing what they were doing. This is probably safer on workers who are on your level in the hierarchy. You could also yawn all throughout the day and stand up and make a big body stretch when you do it. See how they like tasting their own medicine.

By: Chloe

Chloe — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 18:16:18 +0000

This is amazing! I am in a public university computer lab so I could not laugh out loud, but I wanted to! I am so glad I am not the only one that feels this way. I thought I might be hyper sensitive and needed to get over it before reading this. The “popping” of gum is the most annoying in my book. Actually, it disturbs me so much I usually say something in a round about way to try to get them to stop. The guy behind me in History class chews gum so loudly that I cringe from time to time. The Professor probably thinks there is something wrong with me. I try always to treat others as I would want to be treated, but if I was ever bothering someone as much as that bothers me, I would honestly want someone to tell me…in a nice way ofcourse. Tell them in a round about way.

I am in my Masters currently, but used to work in an office for a few years. It is worse in that setting, because of the general silence. Oh, I am so glad I will never work in an office again…well hopefully! Thank you for the relief! I wish gum would just go away, or chew it in privacy. It is actually terrible on your digestion. Look it up:)

By: VeeKay

VeeKay — Sat, 15 Oct 2011 16:50:26 +0000

I worked for many years with a girl I really liked, and we worked well together, and were good friends … except..she ate ice (constantly), it drove me crazy ! She is a church-going person with strong morals, so, one day I told her that I had just read an article that said eating ice was a sure sign of sexual frustration !! If she started ice chomping again, I would ask her if her husband was out of town .. she cut back alot on her ice-chewing !!

By: Casey

Casey — Sat, 24 Sep 2011 03:45:50 +0000

I know how you feel. My mom and sister are a gum chewers and it drives me nuts when they pop crack their gum. It makes me wish gum didn’t exist. My mom knows how I feel about her chewing gum but she tells me to get over it which makes me more mad. Oh please help me find a way to deal with this.

By: Joyce

Joyce — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 06:28:02 +0000

My whole family and all of my friends know that I have this problem with gum-cracking and the raking of a person’s teeth on a fork. If someone is clueless about their noises effecting me, I offer then a nickle to stop cracking the gum for ten minutes. I think it is a fair request and lets them know that I have a problem with the noise. If they aren’t intersted in the nickle but would rather crack then they deserve no courtesy from me. Not many people can stand the smell of some of my favorite things…like….pickled-pigs-feet. They usually are willing for compromise. I also adore kraut and other very loud smelling food items. I just display the odor of the day and if they want to crack their gum….I want to eat my kraut. Compromises can be made. There is tact and there is attack…. I can hear one crack and be ready to behead someone. A great reason that I cannot go to inside shows….people are pigs when they eat popcorn and slurp their drinks. Maybe we can group together and rent out a whole showing of a film….it is done for kids parties and other gatherings…..

There just isn’t a good reason that manners should not be practiced.

By: thea d

thea d — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 22:39:48 +0000

Hello All,

I have my own horror stories of bovine-like auditory personal hell at work, and, while I relish the stories posted here, I won’t repeat my own, as they are parallel to those already posted.

I did want to offer that those of us with this “sensitivity” may not be crazy. There is a possibility that some may be experiencing “soft sound sensitivity syndrome” or (in my case) “misophonia.” These may be helpful to research.

Also, http://www.misophonia-uk.org/free-earplugs.html has a link to free ear plugs. I just ordered mine. Hopefully this will keep me from stealing my co-worker’s TWO bags of peppermints from her desk, or hurling a stapler at her ignorant, ill-mannered, under-educated head.
Hope this helps.

By: Losinghermind

Losinghermind — Sat, 27 Aug 2011 14:40:03 +0000

KittenMittens, you’re not alone! OMG I could have written that myself!!! I sympathise. Hugs darlin’

By: Jason

Jason — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 17:48:49 +0000

I have a coworker that is literally eating or chewing gum the entire work day in a loud enough manner that you can hear it across the room. Not a gum snapper, but one of those people where you think to yourself, “you couldn’t possible make a louder noise with that particular food if you tried”. I overheard her talking to another coworker about having to go to the doctor about diuretic issues and was told that Sorbitol in huge doses is a cause. Turns out she was chewing 50+ pieces of gum a day. I thought this would help the problem, but now she’s on a health kick and has sugar snap peas, carrots and almonds and consumes them all day mixed with a more moderate dose of gum – down to about 4hrs of gum chewing daily (yes i tracked it). Unfortuntately I work in a circus and this is only one of the abusers. The person down from her is an ice chewer. The person down from him is a true gum snapper. The kind where you actually wonder how they snap gum that loud. I couldn’t if i tried. The person across from them is a foot stomper. They stomp their feet loudly on the floor. The person across from them is the least annoying – a kettle chip lover. He’s least annoying because it only lasts for about a half hour a day. I’ve bought Bose earbuds to save my sanity, but I don’t do my job as well because of it. I’ve missed calls and sometimes i’m asked questions and have to be tapped on the shoulder for a response. It sucks that my performance has to suffer to keep my sanity.

By: Laura's Last Ditch

Laura's Last Ditch — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 20:29:50 +0000

I’m about going bonkers just reading these comments and thinking about how annoying it would be. Ugh! Ugh! Ugh! Yuck!