Eating Takeaway In A Hospital Waiting Room Do You See It As Unreasonable

[Warrior96]

So long story short I ended up with an infected ear piercing and had to see an out of hours doctor at the hospital. My life medical problems always seem to happen on a Saturday or Sunday! Due to it is known to be a nasty infection I was admitted onto the ears nose and throat ward, it was average time 5-6 hours to see a doctor it took me 5 hours. In the meantime in the waiting room a couple sat next to me bought a KFC into the waiting room. I can understand people can get hungry with the long wait but there were a number of nauseous people in that waiting room. I feel they were being a bit selfish and could have bought something more appropriate.

AIBU?

Having stinky food is very inconsiderate but people don’t always think (or care) about other people. The last time I was in a treatment area waiting to be admitted there was a girl in a chair who was vomiting into a cardboard bowl every so often - a reaction to some medication she’d been given. She was in a lot of pain. She was so pale she looked almost translucent. If someone had brought hot food in I think she’d have spent the whole time retching.

Both the hospitals I’ve visited recently had a cafe serving hot food right next to the A&E department, which makes it difficult to complain about people eating their own hot food whilst waiting.

My local A&E has a sign asking people to respect others and refrain from eating hot food in waiting areas. In that case, they need to have cold food available. You can’t guarantee to have just eaten before going to A&E, and trying to survive 8 or 12 hours on chocolate and crisps is grim for anyone.

I think they could have been more considerate and chosen something less offensive

Places like Pret or even the Co Op are also on Uber eats/deliveroo. All will deliver somewhere central like a hospital. No reason they couldn't have ordered sandwiches and snacks instead of KFC or pizza.

I think in hospital people should be mindful that people are there because they are ill. It's not just nausea - when I was in with a gallbladder infection I was sitting on a chair in unbelievable pain (despite morphine) and the smell of KFC would have sent me over the edge.

I had to wait 18 hours with my dd for a bed, so ward waiting room. Only available option was KFC unfortunately I couldn't leave my dd to get any so starved instead. I can see why people would if they can if that's the only option.

Quite reasonable for someone to eat a sandwich but not stinky deep fried hot food.

Very unreasonable and unpleasant. Hot and smelly food should be banned from all places like this. People can get a sandwich, if they're hungry.
Anyone who can wolf down a takeaway is obviously not that unwell, either!

I know this isn't the point but I just couldn't enjoy a takeaway if I was sat in a hospital waiting room surrounded by people I didn't know, so I'd find it weird for that reason.

I was referred to a&e last Sunday. I was there for a head scan but some of my symptoms were nausea, sensitivity to light/noise. Some of the people there were so selfish. Two parents with a toddler and it was the mum was being seen. Kid was blasting Peppa pig on the ipad, having tantrums every two minutes. They all sat behind me munching and rustling chicken Crisps in my ear and the smell of them alone was bad enough, never mind KFC.

Then there was a family of SIX came in, for one girl. Blasting tiktoks on their phone and all showing each other and laughing so loudly like they were on a day out. Pissed me off so much.

Peoples awful behaviour in A&E never surprises me.
If The Aliens happen to make it their first call when they arrive they will either scarper quick or just kill us all immediately.

Try being on a labour ward and some fuckers get a CURRY ordered in! They were swiftly told to leave and come back when they'd eaten, including the pregnant woman who didn't need to be there at this stage anyway. They were only told to leave because I staggered out mid contraction to say how unfair it is on the rest of us. There was even lady being sick on the ward due to her contractions so imagine then having to smell a curry of all things. I think hot food should be banned from these types of settings.

Honestly this is one of those situations where you have no idea what has been going on and what those people have been through. You may have called and been sent there, they may have spent 5 hours in A&E before being moved there. People do need to eat and hospitals don't feed people unless they have been admitted.

. I feel they were being a bit selfish and could have bought something more appropriate.

What do you deem appropriate?

Non hot stinky food.

Have you ever been on public transport or in waiting areas which ask you not to eat takeaway/hot food?

I'm surprised that you're even asking that question.

I was waiting in an Endoscopy unit for a friend who had to be accompanied home as she was having IV sedation.

It was quite a large room that held a few dozen people and about 3/4 full - the people were a mixture of accompanying relatives and patients waiting to be called in. Bear in mind this is Endoscopy so patients having invasive scopes for various gastro-intestinal conditions so would have been fasting; had conditions that made them nauseous, bloated, in pain, uncomfortable etc.

A couple who had been sitting there left and came back with take-away, not a sausage roll, wrap, sandwich etc but a full on meal in various foil trays and proceeded to spread it out on the chair in between them and got stuck in.

The food didn't smell bad, not to me anyway, but it was a very selfish and totally inappropriate thing to do in a hospital waiting room. Very ill-mannered, IMO.

But the smell may have bothered others who were already feeling ill, not just because they can't stand the smell of greasy food either. Were I to be in a waiting room and someone brought in popcorn I would either have to go outside or just throw up, I tend to avoid cinemas for this very reason.
Maybe the staff should be asking people with hot smelly food to sit by the door or stand outside even. Some modes of transport ban certain foods, I recall as a child being told off for eating an orange on the bus!

So somebody with a severe leg injury isn't allowed to get hungry? Right.

People need to eat and options are limited. There is a fast food place opposite my local hospital and I know that that is most people's go to when they are stuck there because it is the easiest quickest option. Waiting rooms can be smelly for all types of reasons, bad hygiene, too much perfume, food etc that's just the general public for you.

It can be really tough with allergies though. Doubt this was the case here because KFC isn't known to be super allergy friendly but the problem with vending machines is you can't see the allergy information on the back of the packet until you've bought it. The last hospital shop I was in didn't have any gluten free pre-prepared food except for chocolate bars. Even the crisps were all may contains. Not sure what I'd have done if I'd been there for hours.

Still seems like maybe they could have popped outside to eat it though I don't know the set up.

Smelly fast food isn’t pleasant for others at any time (I wish they’d ban it on buses!*) but in A&E, when people are feeling unwell anyway…
Why not just have a sandwich?

*especially when some such people leave their smelly, greasy wrappings behind!

Would it if you were nauseous? Most people are affected by food smells when they feel sick.

Hot food IS banned on our local buses I didn't realise that wasn't universal.

But they had a choice of what to eat. In those surroundings, hot fried food that is bound to smell doesn't seem like the best choice.

There is a reason why some places don't allow hot foods! And sadly, it appears only a (smaller) % of the population understand this silent rule..
Entitled people who think they can KFC anywhere are probably the same people who plays loud music/videos or have a phone call on loudspeaker😆