Do people really consider it unreasonable to eat on the train?

[MyNewBearTotoro]

Reading another thread in which a poster mentioned eating on the train and I was really surprised by the responses calling her unreasonable/ antisocial for bringing food onto the train and the vitriol she was facing for this alone.

Do people really consider it unreasonable to eat on the train or is this just one of those 'only on Mumsnet' things?

I know it's not pleasant to be stuck next to someone eating smelly food, but equally lots of things are unpleasant on trains - being crammed in close to a stranger, oversized luggage, crying babies, other people's conversations, air-conditioning to high/low etc - but just because some people may find it unpleasant does that automatically make it unreasonable or anti-social?

In an ideal world people would not bring smelly food onto the train, but in an ideal world neither would people bring on crying babies/ noisy children etc but we are human and we need to eat, especially as many people will be making journeys over several hours long. Choices of food are usually limited by either what is available on board the train or what is available from the shops on/ around the station and sometimes hot or fast food is the only option available.

Obviously hot food is permitted on trains, my local train company has buffet carriages which sell hot food (including bacon rolls) and sandwiches (including tuna fish or egg mayo) for people to buy. So I'm not questioning whether it's allowed but I guess I'm curious as to whether people genuinely think it shouldn't be. And, considering it is allowed, are people who do eat on trains genuinely considered anti-social or unreasonable by some?

it's not like they're clipping their nails and dropping them all over the seats/floor (I've seen this on a train once and feel it was unreasonable)

UNACCEPTABLE. A woman once sat next to my mum and I on the beach and started hacking away at her dry heels with a pediegg thing. BOAK!

As for eating on the train, I don't tend to get too worked up about it unless they are particularly noisy!!! SLURP CHOMP SLABBER much more offensive than any smell!

'A woman once sat next to my mum and I on the beach and started hacking away at her dry heels with a pediegg thing. BOAK!'

Now that is fucking minging.

I respect the right of others to eat on trains as long as they clean up after themselves. If not -

If I go up to London on the train, it takes six hours. Clearly I have to eat at some point.

I have NEVER encountered anyone in RL who is disgusted by this!

Or are you talking about short commuter, SE England journeys?

Yes it is normal to eat on a train journey. It takes 6 and a half hours on the train for me to visit some of my family. And no the trains don't always have a buffet car. Why would I not eat anything during that time?

I sometimes work in London at the weekend. If I finish a teaching session at lunchtime I have three options. 1. Buy something and eat it on the train. 2. Eat before I get on the train, meaning I get home later than i would if I choose option 1. 3. Not eat until I get home, likely to result in me fainting from hunger.

I'm always going to chose option 1.

cleaty that is disgusting if some of the longer travel distance trains don't have a buffet car (surely missing a trick there?).

I can't stand the smell of greasy food on trains, it makes me feel ill. I don't have any objection to people eating on trains as long as its not smelly stuff, but I think people eating McDonald's, KFC etc are inconsiderate.

After a long day's travelling a few weeks ago I was stuck on a packed train for 2 hours sat next to a bloke who troughed on pasties the whole way. I lost count of how many he ate, he kept fishing another one out of his bag. Inevitable flakes of pastry all over the place. And it was washed down with several cans of cider so I had to smell that all the way home as well. Made it a horrible journey for me.

Eating smelly food (last night someone had curry) or like a pig (like the gent chewing his sandwich this morning ... No i dont need to see your tonsils or have you gob your food over me while you talk to your buddy .Arrgghhh!!) is not acceptable and I think a little consideration goes a long way. If I am expected to consider others while commuting surely they can do the same.

However I would rather that than the phone sex I was exposed to a while back

What an odd thread! Of course people eat on trains-they travel over meal times. I am going on a long journey soon and as it starts mid morning and gets in after 5pm. I shall take lunch. It is perfectly normal! The buffet car send a trolley around to buy lunch. They eat on aeroplanes too.

I agree it is a weird thread.

Eating is fine! Smelly food is not so nice, but there are worse things in the world.

Eating is perfectly ok but I hate it when people eat smelly food. I don't think anyone is doing anything wrong if they are eating smelly food but I rather they didn't.

Some fast food really! really stinks

So that's a yes to a polite ham sandwich but a no to a curry.

Blimey, some of you really need to stop being so precious! Absolutely fine to eat on a train. Any food at all.

New guidelines:

1. Eating - eat what you like in public (provided you don't drop bits), but you have to be prepared to share.

2. Applying makeup - anything goes, but you have to be prepared to do requests (so if I suggest more lipgloss, smokey eyes, glitter etc., you have to do it)

I was on a bus in Croydon once and a guy got on eating goat curry from a box, and chicken wings. He proceeded to suck the meat off the bones and then chuck the bones on the floor.

Disgusting!

Uglyswan I so desperately want to get the train with you! "YOU OVER THERE! MORE LIPLINER! NOW!! And I'll have a bite of that croissant too whilst yer there"

This is an odd thread because the original thread it refers to was deleted by MNHQ because it was offensive. I don't thing the vitriol was aimed at that poster for eating food on a train at all, and that's not what caused it to be deleted. A very strange take on it by this poster and not what I would have thought was a major issue.
The original poster was thoroughly lambasted for discriminatory behaviour that was appalling.

newsflash - all food smells of something, what smells yum to one person smells vile to another. It is impossible to police acceptable foods as there will always be someone who hates it. I used to travel 7 hours + so always had a packed lunch with me, something I would enjoy. plenty of people would eat over lunchtime and yes there would be a food smell, but it fades quickly. Anyone who has such a keen sense of smell that finds food smells so intolerable for a short time has no place on public transport that ferries people over long distances. I do however agree that packed buses tubes and transport going from a to b in a short area should be food and drink free but certainly not long haul travel. Most people can arrange life in such a way that they can wait until they get off a short journey to eat their food on the street instead or local park bench, wall, in fast food joint etc or at work. If your job is so busy that you can't get at least a 10 min break to eat lunch then something is wrong with your time management, it's employment law that you have breaks, and should be flagged up with managers.

I often eat on the tube on the way home. Normally have sushi, and make sure I stand to eat so as not to.annoy anyone sitting next to me.
I have to eat on the tube as I am often too busy to take an evening dinner break and when I get home it's too late to eat.

The original thread's deletion message. Not about vitriol about food on a train at all!

I have a long working day and a long commute, and yes I often eat my dinner (inoffensive cheese sandwich) on the train.

I have a friend who stayed with me on her way to the airport once. In the morning insisted on preparing a tupperware full of hard boiled eggs to eat on the plane. Her dc were begging her not to, her dh was begging her not to, I was in tears of laughter - she wouldn't be told. I'm amazed they didn't do an emergency landing when she got that lot out

This is an odd thread because the original thread it refers to was deleted by MNHQ because it was offensive. I don't thing the vitriol was aimed at that poster for eating food on a train at all, and that's not what caused it to be deleted. A very strange take on it by this poster and not what I would have thought was a major issue.
The original poster was thoroughly lambasted for discriminatory behaviour that was appalling.

Not wanting to make this a TAAT but I did post on that thread and I'm aware most of the vitriol against the poster was regarding her disablist attitude - that in my opinion was well deserved. BUT there were also several posters in that thread who posted along the lines of 'YABU for bringing food on the train.' 'Anyone who would eat McDonalds on a train is obviously unreasonable.' Etc.

Obviously wasn't the crux of that thread but this attitude of thinking food shouldn't be on trains was something I picked up on within it - I wondered whether it was just a reaction to an unreasonable poster or whether people actually disagree with eating food on the train. From this thread it seems that yes, many posters do take offence with people just for eating on trains.

I don't think it was vitriol though. I think the comments about that burger in that thread were really to point out to that poster the questionable nature of their complaint - the other posters joked about the burger.
I am still a bit mad about that whole thing and am probably just venting about it here. Food wasn't the issue.
I'm sad that's what has been the take away issue for someone (no pun intended ) and not the issue of some peoples astonishing ignorance about disability. Truly shocking.

That was not the take away issue for me and I posted my thoughts regarding the OP's attitude and contributed to the discussion several times on the original thread.

This is not meant to be a TAAT. It is intended as a separate discussion about a different issue. I only mentioned that thread to give context regarding my observation some mumsnetters think eating on trains isn't okay. I do think important issues were being raised on the other thread which is why I didn't want to derail the thread by querying this (in comparison quite minor issue) there. I wasn't going to start a new thread about the same issues that were being pointed out on that thread regardless of whether they are more important than this as that thread was already covering them. Incidentally I don't think that thread had yet been deleted when I started this one.