To think colleague has bitched about pot noodle

[Psyberbaby]

Last week a colleague said to me "I would never have thought of a pot noodle for lunch!" which I thought was a bit random.

This morning we have all received an email from comms about keeping fridge clean and "avoiding overly smelly and slurpy foods" in lunch room.

I don't think a pot noodle is particularly smelly at all.
And most people can manage to eat food without making too much excess noise. It's no more 'slurpy' than things like soup, which is also standard lunch food.

'I would never have thought of a pot noodle for lunch!' Doesn't sound negative to me? More like someone who had not thought of bringing one but was now considering it. Unless her tone of voice was arsey I wouldn't assume this colleague was the person who bitched.

Overly smelly and slurpy, does sound like it is targeted at pot noodles though so I might assume a complaint was made about that but not necessarily from that colleague.

You mention lunch room, so you're not eating at your desk, so what's the problem. That's surely what a lunch room is for!

I had leftover biriani at my desk last week, nobody complained. Not to my face anyway.

Are they sanctioning lunch now?

It's a lunch room... you eat lunch there! In some cultures, slurping is normal and some food is practically impossible to eat without slurping!

Yes, it might be annoying, but who's to say what is acceptable and not? Unless they give you free lunch, or a subsidy, I'm pretty sure they have no say around what you can actually eat!

Your vegan sh!t offends me, I have a sandwich phobia, coffee is against my religion... you could use any of these and get everything banned!

That’s really overstepping. I’d ignore. What are they goi g to do? Drag you to HR for eating a pot noodle?

Oh fgs are people really so precious that they can’t handle someone having a pot noodle?!

I mean, I wouldn’t be a fan of hearing slurping noises, but tough luck tbh. I would fully expect to be laughed out of the room if I complained about someone eating noodles in <shock horror> the lunch room.

The message specifically mentions slurpy so I wonder if you are a noisy eater OP?

I mention this because lots of people have misophonia which is a genetic neurological condition that can make sufferers feel homicidal when they hear noisy eating like slurping sounds or lip smacking.

It really is no fun at all for sufferers to be stuck in a room with someone who is totally oblivious to how much distress they are causing.

I'd be tempted to work my way through a list of smelly foods just to make a point.

Tuna
Kimchi
Asparagus
Garlic
Popcorn
Durian

...by the end of it, they'll beg you for pot noodle! :)

Yes especially with broccoli or fish

Yep. I'd be doing this. I'd spend the next couple of weeks hunting out very stinky but non-slurpy foods and make my point without saying a word. Even just a few seconds in the microwave to warm up last night's fish curry.

Haha this makes no sense?

I'm not quite sure how you can be so confident about that, without knowing how or what I eat...

I like pot noodles but to avoid any slurping sounds (which are unnecessary for eating any food, e.g. spaghetti, oysters etc.) having cooked the pot noodle I empty it into a large-mouthed funnel, those normally used for filling the dishwasher salt are ideal, and then pop it in my mouth which I open whenever I want a portion.
It has the added benefit of preventing one talking whilst with one's mouth is full, so is really good when in polite company.

Because no one is exempt from being annoying. Everyone has annoying eating habits.

I love a chicken & mushroom pot noodel with a couple of slices of Warburton's Toastie and butter, I soak up most of the sauce with the bread and definitely don't slurp.

In a lunchroom you should be able to eat what you like

We have someone that regularly brings in fish curry from home to reheat in the microwave. And she always takes first lunch break, not so nice for the staff on later breaks 😟

Well, pot noodle isn’t really a meal but given it’s the lunch room you should be able to eat what you want.

Eat it nicely?

Pot noodles are for the lower classes.

I’m probably been defensive because I love a cheeky pot noodle but I think sending out an email about “slurpy” food is a bit of an overstep if it’s come from higher up the organisation. Does that mean no soup either. Someone’s obviously complaining about people’s eating noises. What are they going to do if someone says Jim in accounts keeps bringing McCoys beef crisps into work they stink and I have a massive oversion to the crunch? Send another email round asking people to avoid slurpy food, beef smelling food AND crunchy food. Then someone complains about Anne in marketing’s egg sandwiches… “please avoid slurpy foods, crunchy foods and egg”. Where does it stop. Sounds like a child’s sent it- could this woman be friends with someone in the comms dept.

if it’s becoming a problem the company need to provide an area where people can actually eat without someone passing comment.

Never go to Asia. They think it’s rude not to slurp.

Some people slurp water though- yeah it’s annoying but what you going to do ban water.

We get free pot noodles where I work. It's a major supermarket. Also beans, soup cereals etc. They don't want us to starve on our breaks.

PMSL that the management actually used the word “slurpy”.

To answer your question, yes, this very obviously was triggered by a complaint from your colleague. A good manager would have told your colleague to do one though.

Weather’s getting better now though, so you can heat it up and take it outside to slurp.

PS a warning against “smelly” foods risks coming across quite racist.

The smell wouldn't bother me but do people actually make a sound eating it? Yuk.
Pot noodles just make me think of poor uni students with no proper kitchen.

Mhmm..

Yes, I crunch Doritos quite loudly, which is why I only do it when alone.

When around others I take steps to minimise crunch and smell, as is the respectful thing to do.

We aren't saying no one should ever eat in public, but it is common sense to realise that some foods (like a pot noodle) are more antisocial than others.