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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to think that you shouldn't eat smelly food on a flight?!

125 replies

BabooshkaKate · 07/07/2016 08:31

I am on a plane waiting for take off. A woman next to me is eating a large pot of pasta with very smelly sauce. No idea how she got it on board but it stinks and she's eating it with her hands with full-on slurping and finger licking. I have been awake since 5amand hhonestly think I might throw up.

Since when is this kind of thing acceptable?! [Sick]

OP posts:
iseenodust · 07/07/2016 17:50

That's what I said but Soup just about quotes the security guy there.

LilacInn · 08/07/2016 01:37

Name one special need that is ameliorated only by a big smelly tub of sauced pasta on an aircraft inches from a stranger.

KickAssAngel · 08/07/2016 03:04

A PP explained why a diabetic might act like this.

But sounds like the OP's cellmate was just a greedy guzzler.

Anyway - yes, I have flown from US to UK with food, many times. DD has lots of sensory issues so I have to take food for her.

Smurfit · 08/07/2016 04:51

Actually, there are cultures who would eat noodles/rice with sauces etc with their hands. Personally I wouldn't but for some people it's completely normal - not gross.

exWifebeginsat40 · 08/07/2016 06:31

i flew out of St. Petersburg early one morning on Russia Airlines. the breakfast provided was croissants...with liver sausage in. the smell was unbelievable. delicious though.

also Russian people sniff and snort a lot. especially, it seems, when indulging in early morning liver sausage.

BumWad · 08/07/2016 07:36

I fail to see the big deal to be honest

Seems I am in the minority

anahata · 08/07/2016 07:43

if that's all you've got to worry about, life is good. At the same time you posted that, 5 men were killed in an accident at work in Birmingham.

Wishing you a safe trip.

Original poster
BabooshkaKate · 08/07/2016 09:03

Anahata

Thank you for that, I wouldn't have known otherwise Hmm it's not like I follow the news, watch TV or buy newspapers.

OP posts:
ChardonnayKnickertonSmythe · 08/07/2016 09:08

I'm seriously [shocked] at someone having a pot of pasta on a plane and eating with their fingers.

Eating smelly food in public is disgusting, I think I've seen and smelt everything on the Tube.

Hersetta427 · 08/07/2016 10:00

Agree with Chardonnay. The wasabi chicken katsu Curry or chili chicken can stink out a whole train carriage !

KoalaDownUnder · 08/07/2016 11:10

Ignore anahata.

There's always one. Hmm

jojo2916 · 08/07/2016 12:14

Totally agree this could be a cultural issue no doubt other cultures find things we do and see as normal beyond disgusting it's a public area, your perfume may be unpleasant to someone else for example, I am quite shocked that it bothers you to such an extent as it can't have gone on for that long if it was just a snack surely you can think of something more important to get annoyed over.

PsammeadPaintedTheLion · 08/07/2016 15:20

I sat next to someone once who consumed about 3 cans of red bull on a train. And then proceeded to belch red bull fumes for the remainder of the journey.

Red bull honks. Red bull burps honk.

It made me feel ill.

SuperFlyHigh · 08/07/2016 15:45

jojo - I don't know anyone from another culture who'd eat pasta with their hands.

Anyway that's beside the point - in this case OP is in the UK with the relevant cultural traditions etc that people (eg her fellow passengers) generally follow in this scenario (eg a public place) - most people would use a knife and fork or spoon. If OP were in a foreign country where eating with your hands was acceptable in a public place she would be expected to follow suit, or to use cutlery or not to take offence.

LilacInn · 08/07/2016 15:54

Just because someone has a "cultural issue" or "medical need" they are not absolved of all consideration for others in public. Being in public means the standards of decorum are higher than in one's home - not that innocent bystanders have to put up with anything and everything the lowest common denominator of behaviour standards cares to dish out.

As SuperFlyHigh indicates, people in the UK generally don't dig into a tub of food with their bare hands while in a public place, especially if the place is a mode of transportation rather than an establishment primarily devoted to eating.

Bringing along a relatively bland item such as bread and cheese, a piece of fruit etc. to eat DISCREETLY to stave off hunger till one's destination is understandable. Dragging out a full-course feast, especially of pungent items, and gobbling it down heedless of those around you, is repugnant and ill-mannered.

SuperFlyHigh · 08/07/2016 17:03

Lilac highly unlikely there was a medical need and there was no cultural issue either.

The only issue here was rudeness and disrespect for the person sat next to her. OK it's not a big thing in the bigger scheme of things but it offended the OP.

BoudiccaAD60 · 08/07/2016 17:25

I'm with you. Unacceptable. But then she probably travels on trains with her feet on the seats. Lets her kids go round the supermarket wearing those horrid heelies and talks really loudly o her mobile phone in the street...

Avasnanna · 08/07/2016 17:34

Absolutely disgusting feel for you nearly as bad as having to sit next to someone in one of those wife beater tops with smelly BO I believe they have banned the wearing of them on some internal airlines in Australia

Meinmytree · 08/07/2016 17:38

I was on an earlyish flight back from Iceland earlier this year, and had been up since 4am. The people next to me, a mum and daughter, aged about 12, insisted on buying everything on the duty free trolley, and spent rather a lot on the food trolley, including a Thai noodle pot - by this point it was about 9am. The smell was awful anyway, especially at that time. I went back to sleep with my jumper over my face.

I was already pretty annoyed as I was in the aisle seat, so every time they got something from the trolley the mum was leaning over me right in my face, even though the crew were trying to pass stuff over to her not as close to me.

S00SANN · 08/07/2016 17:43

It is a bit inconsiderate to eat smelly food during a flight but then some of the food they sell/serve on flights is a bit in your face odourwise anyway.
Food smells aside, I once had a woman next to me on a plane who was giving herself a full manicure & the smell of the polish & poloish remover quite literally brought tears to my eyes. A passing stewardess, seeing the tears, asked if I was ok & when I drew her attention to the wonan's in flight manicure all she did was smile brightly at the woman & shrug her shoulders in affected sympathy at me. Back then I wouldn't have said boo to a goose but if it occurred now I would request politly but firmly that they stop doing it.

falange · 08/07/2016 17:47

I don't think you should eat food anywhere in public. When I rule the world it will be banned. Especially on the cinema!!!!!!!!!! Just saying. Calm down.

falange · 08/07/2016 17:47

*in

theclick · 08/07/2016 17:58

She's licking her fingers?! Oh god I need to start a thread on how much that annoys me - swear I'm not the only one

Original poster
BabooshkaKate · 08/07/2016 17:59

Hmm don't tell me to calm down, falange. I am calm, and enjoying my holiday.

As it were, I just came back from dinner at a falafel tapas type place where everyone was eating with their hands or using bread to pick up food. It was nice, it was fine, it was clearly the local custom.

Yesterday I was exhausted, on a plane which was late taking off, next to a woman who looked perfectly normal who was eating something with lots of flavour in a way that was strange to my poor, sheltered London eyes.

Whilst I'm here, shall I start a bun fight by declaring that I find people who eat pizzas with a knife and fork odd?

OP posts:
Whiteplate1 · 08/07/2016 18:06

woman who looked perfectly normal

You do realise this is no indication of any disabilities she may have had or special needs?

(hmm)

No wonder people with disabilities or special needs are discriminated against so often with this attitude

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