Ugh eating during an online meeting.

[digimumworld]

Is it rude to eat during an online meeting?

I work for an organisation that’s global but remote. We meet for an hour every day at the same time. It’s the only time we are really committed to be in one virtual room. Apart from our individual meetings or client meetings or the odd in person meeting.

I got so annoyed at a colleague that decided to have their breakfast during the call. And a few seniors pointed out the chewing sarcastically.

There are less than 10 of us on the screen so you can see everyone. They are taking spoonfuls, licking teeth, chewing, and when they have to turn the mic
on to speak, you can hear them clearing their teeth, it’s all salivary etc because.

I mean is it so hard to eat before or after the meeting - with the knowledge that this is the one time we meet every single day?

You wouldn’t do this in an in person meeting.

Is this a GenZ thing?

Sorry I find it rude. And annoying.

Or maybe this is the decline in social skills we talk about.

AIBU?

I am on some medication at the moment that I have to take with food at certain times of the day. I actually ate my bran flakes on an internal call this morning, but I also mute when eating.

Its only temporary but I do give the team a quick apology heads up.

My colleague does eat and it’s vile. She’ll be slurping away when you have a 121 call with her. She has a lunch break or other times when not on a call. I have made small comments to see if she picks up on it. I once said ‘oh are you eating?’ And it was spicy noodles that she then said were too spicy so got an ice lolly to cool her mouth down and that was slurpy! I never eat in someone’s ear.

I agree. I really hate the flippant use of serious medical conditions.

Then you have breakfast earlier, just as you would if you worked in a supermarket for example and couldn't sit at the checkout munching it 😳

I'm not sure why so many office workers think like you do.

Yep this person is in my time zone. We are majority UK. I say global but those abroad drop in and out or we have specific meetings monthly to include them accounting for their time zones.

Nobody ever eats at these meetings. This person has only been at the company for about year. I’ve been there for a few years. Nobody has ever eaten during the online meeting - except the odd times when someone is having lunch because of a back to back.

I'm often asked to attend meetings before 9am which is my office hours. if I haven’t had a chance to eat before this (because I am doing various school runs/ me things 6.30am- 7.45am) then I will eat in the first meeting, or at least, have a protein shake.

if I worked in a Supermarket I’d have a set start time that I would work my routine around

I get this too.

I’ve been on antibiotics for example, if I can pick my schedule I’d make sure that I do it before or after the call (as it never changes its time) unless the prescription specifically says “you must take it at 10.30” - which isn’t usually the case.

Or you would just let the team know at the beginning “sorry I’m eating because of x”

We are such a small team and pretty understanding.

If the boss and director was also getting annoyed, then I’m sure they are not eating for medical reasons or reasons theyve disclosed to the relevant team members.

I understand some people need to eat for different reasons.

Breakfast is a 'me' thing.

You could easily time it to take the medication and eat before/after the meetings.

How do you think people manage taking medication who drive a bus for a living or work nights and have a different sleep schedule?
Have you ever been to see your GP or vet and they’re there eating a bowl of cereal whilst talking to you?

It’s very rude to eat a meal during meetings and there is no excuse for needing to do so.

If you don’t have time to do the school runs and have breakfast too, then you need to wake up earlier.

You don’t eat during the time you’re supposed to be working just because you wake up late.

If that's happening, but is it?

People have lunch meetings all the time. Would you be moaning if it was in person?

We usually turn our cameras off and mute if we have to eat over lunch. Is the person allowed to?

I don’t want to. As I say, I am attending early meetings out of my own good will. I have children to deposit and usually eat breakfast after that. If they eat into that time with meetings outside of contracted hours they can put up with it.

that’s you know, give and take.

I know this really isn’t the point but an hours meeting every single day?! What could you possibly have to talk about that often. We have a team call once every two weeks.

In terms of eating, it’s rude. The call is in the diary, eat around it.

I used to work somewhere in a very busy role and really didn’t have time to eat. I’d be on back to back online meetings all afternoon from 12-7pm. If one finished early I might have time to make a sandwich but no time to eat it off camera. Also no time to make and drink eat, or to use the bathroom.

Needless to say it became common for those in similar roles to eat on camera during internal meetings with a ‘I hope you don’t mind but this is my only chance to eat until 7pm’

Yeah its annoying. I wonder if some people just want attention or want to appear edgy.

I remember being unduly irritated one day in the office many years ago by seeing someone take a big bite of a sandwich while dialling on the telephone. When the other person answered they gave a muffled laugh down the phone (because their mouth was full of sandwich) and said something like "so sorry I've just taken a mouthful of sandwich ha ha".

I mean what are they doing ? are they so absent minded or are they trying to be funny or eccentric.

On a similar note a friend went shopping with someone once who took the basket out form M&S and carried around the shopping centre for the rest of the afternoon. I mean its so contrived - "look at me I'm eccentric and I do my own thing."

They just have a different view of what’s acceptable in the workplace. Someone needs to tell them we don’t do that here and they’ll stop

@Munchie1965 if they had phoned me with that nonsense, I'd have said, 'no worries, phone me back when you've finished' and hung up on them. Wankers.

I can’t imagine M&S were very pleased at her doing that?!

Back to the eating - it has to be muted otherwise it’s the height of bad manners

This. I have days where I am on back to back calls from 9am to 6pm with maybe half an hour to eat, go to the toilet etc. Sorry but I need to eat.

I wouldn’t eat something elaborate or messy on a call (something that involves cutlery). But I’m not going to deny myself the right to get sustenance because it offends fastidious people.

That’s ridiculous, especially if the meeting is only an hour and planned in advance.

That's just weird you eat on your break not during working hours. I'm suprised they haven't been pulled up.

It’s disgusting and I’d raise a complaint.

If you do 8 hours of phone calls a day then I assume you work in some type of call centre or something.

I think you need longer than 30mins if you work 9 hours a day but it doesn’t take 30 mins to eat and go to the toilet.

Why can’t you eat your lunch in your allotted lunch break?

Slightly different situation that also involved inappropriate eating! I used to do quite a bit of online tutoring and one pair of twins had their tutoring pretty much straight after school. They sat in the kitchen and, throughout the whole hour, mum would be clattering around in the background preparing snacks that the children then ate whilst I was trying to teach them maths and English. Seriously, they ate for the whole hour. Lots of crunching, munching and chomping. Very noisy, very irritating and inconducive to learning.