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?

I have flown many times, yes some people are but most didn't. Is that weird? I never eat plane food, I thought that was normal...

And it is inconsiderate to have the attitude of "I'll do what I want" when it makes others uncomfortable

I haven't read all the thread but I cannot believe some people moan about others eating on a train.

I think those complaining need to get themselves an actual issue! If I'm peckish on a train journey I'll eat something and you'll just have to deal with it I'm afraid.

Do you get all stroppy if you pass a restaurant and get a whiff of food as well?

If I'm on an 11 hour flight at some point in going to eat. So sorry.

Tali

I think you are just lying. Either you haven't flown often or about people eating on a plane unless it's the 1 hour business type flight from London to Glasgow and even then some folk will be eating.

You're being ridiculous. Just let it go, you're wrong and clutching at straws now.

I'm not in.

It has to be on the list of approved foodstuffs, Hester, otherwise, it's antisocial and rude. Gah! I just know on a 10-hour journey, top food choices will be raw veg, salad with nothing on it, and plain rice.

What's for breakfast? A nibble of dry toast. WTAF? That's what you eat when you're getting over a stomach bug. I'd be hypo if I did that.

I'm still pondering how it's possible of there to be only one fridge in the country (world?) that doesn't smell. Is there nothing in it?

Eat whatever you want, nobody actually cares in real life. I paint my nails on the train too. Fuck them.

Tali you talk about us that eat making others uncomfortable. Firstly, us eaters have said time and time and time again we have never come across a problem when on a train, no one has asked us to move because we are eating, no one has complained, no one has pulled a funny face.

You have a cheek saying that we are inconsiderate and selfish. I help people on and off trains, I lend someone my charger for their phone, I give my newspaper to someone when I've read it, I give up my seat if someone needs it more than me. But I eat. As do millions of others. I tidy up after myself, I don't invade personal space.

I have never heard anything so ridiculous as chilli smelling like BO. You seriously need to go to the Doctor and get something sorted out for this huge huge problem you have that skews your thinking and smell like this. Chilli smells of chilli.

As I said upthread, I am a reasonable person with a kind heart. I will however not stop eating on a train if I so fancy. The other week I did a cross country journey and needed to grab something at Paddington and run for the train. I had no other time to eat as I was due in a meeting at my destination when I arrived. I bought a tuna baguette and ate it and delicious it was too. Are you honestly suggesting that people like me should just go hungry because of your completely skewed sense of smell? Well... sod that for a game of soliders, you can take a hike! I had to eat or I would have been unable to function. Paddington is awash with food takeaways for people to eat at the station or on the train. Trains have buffet cars for travellers to eat.

You have to deal with your issues and accept this because you are being totally unreasonable.

And I took an internal flight a month ago. It lasted one hour. From take off to landing was an hour.

I would guess that over half the passengers bought food and drinks on the plane from the cabin crew. They worked hard at selling their wares!

I took my own sandwich with me. It was a BLT sandwich and it was delicious! Again, I will not deprive myself of food in case someone takes offence, particularly as at least half of the passengers bought hot toasties, wraps, muffins, tea and coffee from the crew.

tali possibly the reason you don't eat in a plane is because the food on the whole is inedible there... But I will eat it if nothing else is around.

You and a few other posters are the only ones who disagree with eating on trains (and other public transport) as we've stated we won't stop doing this simply because you or they don't like it. We may move etc.

We all sometimes have to put up with someone doing something else we don't like (nails scraping down blackboards etc) but the eating on a train is normal. Perfectly normal. The people doing it are polite, have morals and are usually clean and tidy whilst doing it.

You on the other hand are quite easily BU because you cannot cope with people having to eat. We've suggested ways and means of coping yet you turn them down at every turn.

I am sure am certain in fact that there is one or more thing you do that irritates others yet no one bothers or speaks to you about it!

'Do you really not understand that on a commuter train that has no food sold and is packed , someone munching away on a rancid burger two feet from your face if inconsiderate ?'

No, I don't. I probably wouldn't even notice. I don't care why the person is eating, for all I know he/she stepped off a long flight from somewhere, doesn't have a kitchen, who knows? It's not forever, it's only a small part of my day, if I got wound up over every niggle in life I'd be pretty miserable.

I think some people are confusing 'things other people do that I find unpleasant/ annoying' with 'things other people do that are unreasonable/ anti-social.'

I don't like using a train toilet after someone's had a bowel movement, but is it unreasonable to defecate in public toilets? Of course not. Maybe some people are able to go before their journey or ignore the feeling until they get home but not everybody is able/ willing to do so. Unfortunately it smells and other people may have to encounter the smell afterwards but it's not always avoidable. Even if most people agree something is unpleasant that doesn't automatically make it anti-social if a person has a genuine need to do it.

Eating is another basic human need and just because some don't like it being done in public doesn't make it anti-social or unreasonable. We all need to eat over the course of a day and most of the foods we eat smell to some degree, plus everyone's opinion on what smells good and what smells bad is different. It's unfortunate if the food another passenger is eating makes your journey more unpleasant but it still doesn't make them unreasonable for needing to eat.

And the difference between playing loud music through speakers, putting shoes on the seats and eating is that people rarely need to listen to loud music or put shoes on the seats and not doing so doesn't usually cause discomfort or affect health in the same way as being hungry does. It's unlikely somebody is going to faint because they couldn't play their favourite drum n bass track loudly to the rest of the carriage.

That said, If people do have a genuine need to listen to something through speakers (eg: ASD) or genuinely need to elevate a foot by resting it on another seat then that's also fine by me. Although to be honest if the train isn't busy I'm happy for anyone to put feet on seats so long as they take their shoes off first and move them if someone needs to sit down. I don't see socked feet as inherently unpleasant (unless they smell in which case getting them out probably is unreasonable!) so maybe I am just guilty of holding others to very low standards.

someone munching away on a rancid burger two feet from your face if inconsiderate?

Nope, not at all.

Grow Up.

It's unfortunate if the food another passenger is eating makes your journey more unpleasant but it still doesn't make them unreasonable for needing to eat.
This ^^ again and again and again.

And if someone eating makes you vomit, you really should get some help of some sort.

If the burger was actually 'rancid' I doubt anyone would be eating it!

It's just food that's all.

Voyage it's vile isn't it! I don't understand how people think it's okay.

People need to eat but they don't need to eat pungent food on trains. Chilli absolutely smells of BO

Something I find annoying is something I personally don't like.

Something antisocial is something that inconvieniences others.

Eating food that stinks is the latter

I come back after a day out and discover you still fighting a battle you lost long ago Tali
You seem to be entirely missed the point that most of us are not inconvenienced.
I really can't see why a 7.20 commuter train to Waterloo is any different.

tali again (ground hog day anyone) your opinion as to what smells and is offensive to you is different to a lot of others....

We are NOT I repeat NOT going to stop eating in your vicinity just because you're present... In fact someone with your attitude I probably would eat smellier and messier food just to piss you off (a bit PA yes).

voyage i personally haven't seen someone eating a burger at 7.20am on a train. If they are what's wrong with that? Let them eat it and be done with it, evening 7.20pm what's wrong with that?? Also the Waterloo trains (in various directions) have burger stalls (Waterloo, Kingston on Thames, Clapham Junction etc) you may also buy a burger eg at the shopping centre and eat it on the train if pushed for time. It's a FREE country! The train being packed or not is irrelevant.

Also Tali you seem to dislike a lot of things....

Chilli absolutely smells of BO. No, it doesn't. It smells of that to you and you only. No one has come on here and agreed so do not make it fact that chilli smells of BO! It has a delicious spicy smell that makes my tummy rumble!

As much as you don't understand how people think it's okay (I presume from that you mean anyone eating in the vicinity of you), those that need to eat cannot understand how you don't think it's OK when humans need food to function and sometimes just sometimes it has to be when on a train.

Tali do you suffer from migraines? I imagine you have Osmophobia. (see below)
Osmophobia or olfactophobia refers to a fear, aversion, or psychological hypersensitivity to odors. The phobia generally occurs in chronic migraine sufferers who may have odor triggered migraines. Such migraines are most frequently triggered by foul odors, but the hypersensitivity may extend to all odors. One study found as many as 25% of migraine sufferers had some degree of osmophobia. The condition may also be present in individuals experiencing substance withdrawal, specifically opioid withdrawal syndrome, where it is usually associated with nausea and/or vomiting.

You have a very different definition of what 'stinks', Tali, and, as so many have pointed out, you need to see a doctor about it. It's not normal to vomit so much and there are treatments out there.

Burger smells like burger to me.

Time to eat some lovely falafel with a delicious sauce, wrapped in a garlic and coriander wrap, with baba ganoush, cucumber and tomato with a lovely vinegar sauce.