Is Messy Eating a Common Issue at Your House?

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Discussion Overview

The thread discusses the commonality of messy eating habits in various households, exploring personal experiences and anecdotes related to dining practices. Participants share their own messy eating tendencies, the influence of upbringing, and the social dynamics surrounding meal times.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Debate/contested
  • Conceptual clarification

Main Points Raised

  • One participant describes their family's casual dining style, where meals are eaten in front of the TV, leading to occasional messiness.
  • Another shares a humorous anecdote about their brother's messy eating habits developed during Navy service.
  • Several participants express their own struggles with being messy eaters, often dropping food or struggling to eat slowly.
  • Some participants note their reluctance to share food, with one reflecting on a past experience that highlighted this behavior.
  • A participant mentions their preference for eating with a napkin, while another humorously suggests wearing a bib instead.
  • One individual claims to be a careful eater, taking longer to finish meals compared to others.
  • Another participant humorously describes their eating style as "decorative," likening it to an art form.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants generally share personal anecdotes about messy eating, but there is no consensus on whether this is a common issue or a matter of personal habits. Multiple competing views on dining etiquette and personal eating styles are present.

Contextual Notes

Some participants express uncertainty about their eating habits and how they relate to social norms, while others reflect on their upbringing and its influence on their current behavior.

Who May Find This Useful

Individuals interested in social dynamics of dining, personal habits related to eating, or those looking for relatable experiences regarding meal times.

Dadface
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In our house each of us usually has our dinner on a plate which is on a tray,whilst sitting in a comfy chair and usually with the telly on.None of that sitting round the table having a a family discussion goes on here.Dinner time is for eating and any chatting can wait till later.
My Mrs usually wears a napkin,nothing special just a tea towel wrapped round her neck.As for me I never needed such protection,until just recently that is.Now I find I'm getting a bit messy and I tend to drop stuff,a drop of HP sauce on my shirt a bit of bacon rind falling and landing on my fly front.I suppose I should start wearing a napkin and looking like a total lemon.
Does anyone here have similar problems?
 
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My brother is a messy eater. He got that way in the Navy. When he came out he had fruit salad on his chest, hashmarks on his sleeve, and scrambled eggs on his visor.
 
I'm a an animal at the dinner plate. It's generally advisable to keep your hands a couple feet from my face when we're at the dinner table. And you'll still be getting hit with debris.
 
This reminds me of getting mashed potatoes in my hair as a little kid. I assume it was because I liked to lean my head on my hand a lot at the dinner table. (To the endless frustration of my Dad of course)
 
If it's something with a sauce that drips, I'm almost guaranteed to get some on me.
 
A hot dog should be eaten along its length, not across it.
 
My wife and I often eat in the living room. Duke tends to gravitate toward her during meal-time. He is voting with his feet.
 
I'm a messy cook, but not a messy eater. In fact I'm a bit grossed out by people who have poor manners at the dinner table.
 
A mango fruit is the ultimate.
 
  • #10
256bits said:
A mango fruit is the ultimate.

Yeah OK, mangoes are exempt :biggrin:
 
  • #11
I have excellent table manners. But if something is drippy, and with my chest sticking out, if anything drips, it's on me.

In a social setting, I will try to let things drip off and lean forward first.
 
  • #12
I am a messy eater,I like chocolate+soup
 
  • #13
Another messy eater here. For some reason I find extremely difficult to eat "slowly" or at a "normal speed" like my girlfriend do. It's scarce that I don't drop some food either over me or the table.
Some shameful facts I suffer from about eating:
1)I find very hard to "share" the food. I always want more than the other eaters and the biggest parts. A few months ago I made a salade with potatoes and such and the aunt of my girlfriend asked me if she could get a small part, I said "no". Sigh, after this my girlfriend made me realize how selfish I was and I gave her aunt a small part.
2)I don't hold the fork like most people do. The best way I find to explain how I hold it is "like a baby does" or a very young kid. Many times I had been told to change this when I was from 7 to about 11 or 12 years old. I could simply not and I still haven't.
There's more than this of course but that's the major stuff.
 
  • #14
Yeah I don't like to share either. I've gotten soft though, my nearly-3-year-old has worn me down
 
  • #15
Pythagorean said:
Yeah I don't like to share either. I've gotten soft though, my nearly-3-year-old has worn me down
Duke can wear me down with those big brown eyes. Last night, he got a piece of grilled yellowfin tuna. Usually, he bugs my wife, but she didn't drop anything on the floor, so he turned to me. When she is cooking, chopping food, etc, if she says "whoops" he dashes to the kitchen expecting that there is a bit of food on the floor.

I will occasionally drop a piece of pepper, ripe olive or some other topping when I'm eating one of my wife's home-made overloaded roast beef subs. That's usually the only time that Duke gets accidental treats. Not too messy, here. None of my T-shirts are stained, if you don't count motor oil.
 
  • #16
Dadface said:
In our house each of us usually has our dinner on a plate which is on a tray,whilst sitting in a comfy chair and usually with the telly on.
...
I suppose I should start wearing a napkin and looking like a total lemon.

Forgive my cynicism but...

Dinner for you is sitting in a comfy chair. Eating off a tray in your lap. In the front of the TV.

But wearing a napkin, that's where you draw the line?

:wink:
 
  • #17
DaveC426913 said:
Forgive my cynicism but...

Dinner for you is sitting in a comfy chair. Eating off a tray in your lap. In the front of the TV.

But wearing a napkin, that's where you draw the line?

:wink:
How about a bib?
 
  • #18
I'm not a messy eater. I don't mind people who're accident prone; I just don't like loud eaters.
 
  • #19
DaveC426913 said:
Forgive my cynicism but...

Dinner for you is sitting in a comfy chair. Eating off a tray in your lap. In the front of the TV.

But wearing a napkin, that's where you draw the line?

:wink:

The wearing of a napkin would be alien to my eating image of being "Mr Cool,devil may care, get your gob round that and start munching".I'm a rebel when it comes to the rules of dining etiquette.:smile:
 
  • #20
My favorite restaurant has giant bibs as napkins :biggrin: I'm a careful eater, I take 5 times longer to clear my plate compared to the average eater (well, that's just a guess, but it's much longer).
 
  • #21
Never a messy eater. I'm a decorative eater.

My cherry tomato style mimics Jackson Pollock.