To ask why people that take half put the other half back

[AlwaysPrettyOnTheInside]

Inspired by a comment on the crumpet thread.

I understand why people might take half a biscuit/doughnut/cake/pie, whatever. They are teeny tiny and can only manage a few bites. We all get that.

BUT why do they think it's acceptable to touch said item and put it back like someone else will want it?

If you do this, why do you do it?

Why don't you take the other half for yourself another time?

Why do you think someone else will want to eat half a squashed iced doughnut with your fingerprints in it?

Even more disgusting are the people that don't even pretend at hygiene and don't even get a knife, they just tear it in half with their hands and put the other half back

Yabu - it's fine for people to touch up food items with their dirty fingers and leave them for others.
Yanbu - these people are disgusting.

And I'm talking more in office spaces etc than your home, but still, homes count if you have people other than your immediate family there.

*I dont understand why there's so much judgement or over investment about how much someone else eats on this thread. Just worry about yourself and your own choices and be done with it. Why should someone eat (or pretend to eat) more of something just so that someone else feels better or doesn't judge them?

Sometimes I've just had lunch or already had a piece of cake... Sometimes I don't want to eat too much sugar but fancy a little, or I'm not hungry enough for a whole slice of something. There's nothing wrong with any of those scenarios.*

Or you tried it and didn’t like it. That also happens. Main reason why I would only take half, using a knife and fork to do so. Rather waste 1/4 than a whole donut.

@AgingDisgracefullyHere and her shock that most people can manage a whole doughnut!

@AgingDisgracefullyHereand her shock that most people can manage a whole doughnut!

So many people commenting on that post who missed her later post confirming that she was being sarcastic!

You need two hands to break a biscuit in half.

You actually don't!
You take the edge of a biscuit, and break it against a plate/surface. Mind blown.

I just use my teeth to gnaw off the part that I want and then put the remainder back in the pack

My bad for not making it more obvious. My follow up was on the next page. Yes I was just having a bit of fun

They are disgusting. I don't even like it when there is a large cake that hasn't been sliced, so everyone is cutting their own slice and touching the remaining cake in the process 😅

When my daughter was very young she would take out chocolates from a box, have a nibble and put back the ones she didn't like. So all the chocolates still in would be a little damp with teeth marks.

She would also suck the salt from pistachios and put them back in the packet, leaving them rather soggy.

I hear ya.

I bet the people telling you you’re wrong are the ones who lick their fingers while cutting and handing over slices of cake. That goes straight in the bin!

That's vile

snoreb we found it hilarious I'm afraid.

How does that happen? You cut a slice, put the cake cutter underneath the slice and lift it out. You don't touch the cake at any point.

It's always been the same on Mumsnet, some really fucked up people who need to convince themselves that those who eat less than them, are 'performance' eating or 'teeny tinies'.

They're normally the same women who convince themselves that all slim woman must be miserable, and just push lettuce leaves around their plates.

They need to get a grip on their own eating habits, then they'll find it easier to accept that some women just eat less.

You wouldn't think so, but I've seen people sort of hold the remaining cake in place with a finger. Same with slicing bread, they don't use the cloth to hold the bread. I know that this is very much a me issue and most people aren't too bothered.

I use cutlery at work that has been touched by other staff as they reach in for a fork. I drink from cups they've stacked in the cupboard after drying, I share their stationery, open their drawers, share their door handles, breathe the air around them and on and on. I reckon we share the same germs all the time. I've never witnessed a single one of them not wash their hands after the loo (we teach so all beeline for the loos at break and lunch). I'm perfectly happy with them cutting a piece of cake in half and offering it round. I'd rather that than waste food.

I loathe the criticism of the way people eat on here. Over or under. It's just about fine to amusingly note true competitive under eating. I've seen people do it. It's occasionally amusing (but usually fucking sad that society has done this to us tbh) but in Mumsnet Land of Absolutes we have to claim that nobody can possibly only want half a doughnut without labelling them a judgy twat about those who eat the whole thing.

I'd never eat a whole doughnut because I don't really like them that much and a whole one is too much. I also can't eat more than a couple of biscuits, similarly all you can eat is a waste on me. To my knowledge, I've never performatively demonstrated this or spoken about it without being asked. The "oh go on, have more, eat more, ooh hark at her on a diet" brigade seem to want to goad me into a box where I'm the problem. The problem is a generalised and internalised narrative around women's bodies.

How about we all just eat to satiety and stop with the bloody policing and anxiety around food.

YABU. I don't see a problem with that at all. But I'm not a neurotic germophobe though.

I don't work at the office and probably wouldn't start breaking biscuits in half if I did. But I constantly share food with my family and friends, breaking stuff in half WITH MY HANDS (gasp!), stuff gets squashed a bit sometimes, friends also handle food items with their hands and I eat it (and they do too), I even pick up something if it fell down to the floor at home and I'll eat it. Yea, the horrible slattern that I am.

I also don't have any problems eating the food other people cooked for me.

The thought that someone had a shit, then had a wank, didn't wash their hands never entered my headspace (and won't). I'm alive, healthy and have no stomach problems even after eating shitty wanky doughnuts. So..

Just eating less isn’t the problem thoygh @YabbaDabbaDooooo . The problem is the comments or the fuss around getting a knife, slicing it, asking who wants the other half etc etc. nobody would care if someone just said no thanks when offered, or took whatever is offered and left half. It’s the need to let everyone know they are only taking half.

Relative "Sophie" I have thru marriage.... someone in household buys a big box of donuts. Sophie picks random small pieces off random donuts at random moments of day for a week or so. Eventually when you open up the box, there are just lots of broken partial donut bits left. They get tossed because no one likes look of them (and like all American houses they have too much food in all the time, anyway).

Yeah I don't really believe it happens half as much as people make out.

I think they need to claim the person was 'performing' to excuse the bitchy rant that follows.

I’m not the only one who regularly sees this behaviour in relatives and co-workers.

I think it’s fine. Better than wasting it. I can’t get the resentment on this thread.

I’m not sure there’s a performance. If I don’t want the whole thing, I’ll have half. It’s slightly embarrassing if anything, but not a performance.

I actually find other people are overly invested in what others are eating. Who cares?

Perhaps it happens in concentrated areas. I'm related to three of these fuckers. They're all disordered. I know it's not their fault but I'm not going to be dragged into it. I assure you it's a thing. A very, very, very wearisome thing.

Looks like I also need to add proof you are a psychopath. Ffs.

@RaspberrSeed I've read this several time and still don't understand what you mean. You seem quite upset though about a lighthearted comment, are you ok?

At work often gets cakes left etc - but if people take half a cake/slice etc there's usually a knife by the plate, so I assume they've used it.

When my daughter was very young she would take out chocolates from a box, have a nibble and put back the ones she didn't like. So all the chocolates still in would be a little damp with teeth marks.

She would also suck the salt from pistachios and put them back in the packet, leaving them rather soggy.

That's vile

Did you miss the 'very young' bit? Most people know to be cautious after a little one has had free access to a box of chocolates.

I'm sure she doesn't still do it now in the office!