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 turn my microphone off when sipping water. I would never eat on a zoom call. Gross.

Come on. Okay it is diagnosed or is it just hyperbolic language to make a point?

Knowing someone with PTSD this is kind of insulting unless you were severely bullied, discriminated against etc. and actually diagnosed with it.

Why are you admonishing the poster? Plenty of people are in meetings all day. Being in meetings all day means you’re not taking a lunch hour. If her employers are ok with it why do you care?

I work in a global role with team members across 3 US timezones and 2 European ones. As our organisation is a matrix, we are hopping from one project call to the next or with external partners. Scheduling is a nightmare, frequently with double/treble bookings to try and prioritise. Calls can start at 8am and continue until 10pm some days. When you are above a certain level, it comes with an expectation that you turn up, not insist on a 30 minute lunchbreak. There is not one allotted.

I think that's incredibly rude

Of course it's incredibly rude and disgusting! Why would anyone think this is OK?

My DH had similar recently when a younger colleague was on a Zoom call and putting on her make up. Her manager asked her to stop and give the meeting her full attention. Then she ran straight to HR and made a complaint about him - leading to the full disciplinary investigation etc for him.

I've just come out of an online meeting (internal) and I was eating an ice lolly for the first few minutes of it. No one seemed particularly horrified by this, even if they had I'm not sure I could summon up even a little flying fuck to be honest.

I eat during large group meetings where my camera is off - things like town hall-type meetings for the whole division, or training sessions. Eating in a small team meeting seems off though, especially when it's food that needs cutlery etc. Maybe popping small items like nuts or Smarties in might be just about tolerable with their mikes off.

When a company pays me for doing things outside working hours, then I’d be more bothered about doing things like eating breakfast in “company time”

For various reasons I cannot eat breakfast first thing in the morning, I have mine around 9. If I have a 9am meeting, I will have breakfast during a meeting, but I will always have camera off. Mic is off anyway because if you’re not taking it always should be. If I am setting a meeting where I’m presenting or leading, I avoid 9am for that (and other) reasons

Was he sure she wasn’t giving the meeting her attention? It’s been a long time since I put makeup on but I’m pretty sure it didn’t stop my ears and brain working.

Had a meeting a couple of months ago and one guy was cooking his breakfast while we were on the call… so rude.

I CANT STAND people who eat at their desk or during meetings
Not because it's rude
But it creates a presentisism culture
People not taking proper scheduled breaks (my lunch break is unpaid away from their desk be it wfh or office
Just means working for free

Surely you can figure it out. I'm not being held hostage to pedantic nonsense.

I work internationally and even tea/coffee is a bad look IMO, sadly. In many countries your coffee comes after your meal and is part of it. For a meeting with only Brits it’s ok to have tea but only on internal, informal calls.

"adults don't even need breakfast"?

Wtf?

https://health.clevelandclinic.org/do-you-really-need-to-eat-breakfast

https://www.self.com/story/heres-why-you-dont-really-need-to-eat-breakfast-every-day

https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20181126-is-breakfast-good-for-your-health

Not my words, nor opinion, but that of these above. I appreciate there will be opinions and words to the contrary.

I happen to agree with these opinions but yours and others may vary.

Some days the only time I get to eat is during teams meetings but I usually say hello, say my apologies and then turn my camera off until I’ve finished eating.

Pmsl at the concept of a “break”!!
office jobs aren’t like customer facing roles where you get to step away from your job to take a break and get refreshments, you make a drink, grab a snack and sit back down at your laptop to eat and drink it. Whilst many people try to block out time to escape their desk at lunchtime it doesn’t always happen.

as far as I can see every one of those articles actually says that eating breakfast is sensible.

Posting 3 articles about why adults “don’t even need breakfast” in response to someone eating breakfast during a meeting is hilarious. Peak mumsnet

Depends on the time of the meeting. Some people have no concept of planning a sensible time or respect for the need for a lunch break.

And it would be less of an issue if there were better planned meetings.

You said it so onky you know what you meant. Your hyperbolic language to exaggerate your point doesnt make it ‘better’.

‘Held hostage to pedantic nonsense’ - are you always so exaggerated and hyperbolic?

You negate your point completely by your language.

I think you're either ignorant or a troll.

My father had PTSD. He had been kidnapped and shot at.

I'm not saying PTSD is only caused by such extreme situations, but saying it is caused by someone eating golden honey oats is insulting and ridiculous.

The only people who do this at my work are late 30s or older, so it's definitely not a Gen Z thing.

It's grim though. A lot of my colleagues have the decency to turn off their cameras and microphones while eating, but overall I'd prefer it if they just didn't eat during meetings.