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 can't be good for your health to get so worked up about unimportant things.

I agree. Scoffing handheld food on a germy train so my body hardly registers I've eaten is probably equally bad for health and waist line

No problem with a sandwich or similar(not egg!)

Oh thank you very much. I've had it a long time now. There was a Wren Natsworthy hanging around a few years ago too!

*I wouldn't care if someone ate a full indian banquet next to me as long as I could read my book in peace!
*
Except for those of us who dislike smelly food, we can't read in peace because the disgusting smells wafting across are making us throw up.

Do you never go to an indian restaurant, or smell a turkey cooking or scoff some cheese and onion crisps? How can any of that make you want to throw up, food smells and apart from something that's gone off it really isn't that unpleasant. Now body odour, or unwashed socks, yes.

If your nose is that sensitive, that you have to ask someone to get you something out of their fridge because it stinks to you so much that you vomit, public transport is bound to be very unpleasant for you.

Except for those of us who dislike smelly food, we can't read in peace because the disgusting smells wafting across are making us throw up.

I'm afraid the only solution is to grow the fuck up.

I've no idea how you survive outside of the deodorised bubble you presumably live in!

There must be so many places that you have to avoid if you can't cope with food smells. Stay well away from Christmas markets, farmer's markets, street markets, fair grounds, coffee shops that roast their own coffee, roast chestnut sellers, burger vans, to name but a few. Don't go abroad!
I should seek help if it was so bad that an egg sandwich eaten by a fellow passenger was going to stop you reading your book.

Lots of trains these days have windows or air conditioning hence the smell of food won't be a problem.

Lots of trains also have bins hence if you bag and bin the packaging your food came in (or place in carrier bag) the smell is much reduced.

I agree that if people find the smell of food on public transport too much then don't travel by public transport!

I've so far eaten either at stations or on trains:-

Soup, sandwiches, croissants/pastries, crisps, chocolate bars, pasties, potato wedges, sausage rolls, McDs (very rarely), toast, yoghurt with nuts (both latter 2 from station cafe for breakfast), sausage buttie (hangover cure), the odd apple or pear (but they're messy on trains so try to avoid), fruit salad, flapjack/tiffin type things, raisin/cranberry snack thing from waitrose.

You know what hardly anyone has glared, stared, or told me off (only one person said potato wedges (from Cornish pasty shop) were making her feel sick so I moved carriage.

The other week I saw some teens eating fried chicken at the back of an empty bus, did I go cats bum face at them and sneer?! No I didn't! They looked like they were having fun after school and they cleared up after themselves. It was for what 5-10 minutes so it didn't kill me to share my space with them. If I want silence and a freshly smelling car then I drive! I don't actually like driving that much and with my recent job it was hard to drive to anyway...

I really cannot cannot see the problem...

I forgot.... Where parents have a holiday home in Bordeaux at the station there they have a Paul and various cafes. Same in La Rochelle which is the other nearest big town. I have horror seen the French eat on trains. They couldn't give a flying fish who does it. And neither can I!

IKnow

How petty. I can't help it if it makes me throw up can I?

Why can't you lot be considerate and eat non pungent food?

As for the comment about restaurants, one they aren't as enclosed and two I avoid restaurants if I don't like the smell

Mehitabel Burger vans make me feel sick too, I have to hold my breath walking past them.

Been abroad many times, never been assaulted by bad smells

" SuperFlyHigh

Lots of trains these days have windows or air conditioning hence the smell of food won't be a problem."
Most of the trains I go on smell of toilet. Urgh.

I think that some parents have a lot to answer for if they let their child get to adulthood being so precious! They would have got short shrift from me!

Tali I think we could go round the houses with you as to what you do or do not find smelly.

That means pasties etc are out. Boo hoo. However if you ask me nicely to move if the smell is so bad (if there is not a window near to open) then providing there is space I'll move.

Deal??!!

Stealth read back a few pages I had an anecdote re toilets on trains!

My London trains are clean, non smelly and often have cleaners on them, I guess I'm lucky.

The smell of frying chips at 6pm in Newquay made me feel ill- I made a mental note to avoid the place at that time.

'I can't help it if it makes me throw up can I? '

YOu move or find another form of transport. It's public. And what is pungent to you is not to others, you obviously have a very sensitive nose if you cannot open anyone else's fridge except your own because you throw up. This is your issue, not the public's. It seems you cannot even be outside your own home without vomiting or holding your breath even on the pavement. Please see a doctor. That must be an awful way to live. And going abroad? However did you cope on an airplane with all that pungent food? You must have been continuously vomiting. Seriously, a doctor can surely prescribe some help.

I will admit on tubes as more enclosed space I try not to eat anything on there, ever.

See, I am kind and considerate.

expat I totally agree!

I'm seeing my GP who does hypnotherapy on NHS next week as I get nervous when doing tests etc...

Surely these people with sensitive noses can get similar treatment?

Those spicy nut sellers in the Southbank at Xmas - bliss!! I simply had to get some. And we ate them en route to Trafalgar Square on the Tube. I could hardly move through there for all those tasty foods to smell and eat.

I dont mind what your food smells like

AS LONG AS YOU MAKE ABSOLUTELY NO NOISE WHILE YOU'RE EATING IT

all you fucking grab bag crisp eaters on the 199- yes I mean YOU

(I'd sooner put up with people smoking fags on the bus than eating crisps tbh)

'I'm seeing my GP who does hypnotherapy on NHS next week as I get nervous when doing tests etc...'

I'm seeing mine for some beta blockers and other help as am traveling in London next month to visit friends and, due to my PTSD, struggle with thick crowds. Well, they are par for the course there. It's my problem so I am getting help for it.

expat good on you. Hope that trip goes well. I agree though, if someone has a problem that bad then it is not normal and lots of GPs do accommodate you these days...

Muddha noise sensitivity eh?! See my Post re hypnotherapy. Or tell the crisp eaters to shut the fuck up, see where that gets you eh?!

expat funnily enough where I live doesn't have many burger vans and so on and when I was on the plane not many people were eating.

I never thought I had a particularly sensitive nose, however when pregnant I had a nasty case of HG that pungent smells bought on, so I wonder if I am especially sensitive.

Even so I still think it's rude to do something that has the potential to make your fellow passengers feel unwell

What? Who would think you shouldn't eat on a train?! Trains have a buffet car selling food, for god's sake. Of course you can eat on a train. I commute all over the place, if I didn't eat on train, I'd miss meal times. I go on long children's holidays on trains, for up to eight hours...are the children supposed to starve. People need to get over themselves, imo. (And define 'smelly?' different cultures have different smelling food, for instance. It's completelu subjective whether something is bad smelling. I hate bacon - I don't moan at people who've just bought a bacon sarnie on the train..)