| Coworker talks while eating-mouth full of food. It’s a trigger for me. How can I address? |
| Only thing you can do is not eat with them. It's not your business to tell an adult co-worker how to eat. Though I agree, it is disgusting to see someone eat with their mouth open. |
| Don’t eat with them or learn to manage your own reaction. You don’t get to tell someone that the way they eat bothers you. |
Meh, the coworker doesn't get to defy the rules of polite behavior either. I once had a coworker (pregnant) take her shoes off and put her feet on my desk (on top of a folder, but still, gross!). I was too dumbstruck to say anything then sanitized the hell out of my desk. OP, you need to call them out for rude behavior or get the office busybody to do it. |
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Can you explain what context they’re talking with their mouthfuls? Are they in a meeting and snacking and strategizing? Is it during a lunchtime? Are you popping by their desk while they have a snack?
If it’s while having lunch, don’t have lunch with them. If you’ve popped by their desk and they’re snacking and answering your question, how about saying something along the lines of you can see that you’ll come back later when their mouth isn’t full. You can say that very PC and nice way by the way, not as crudely as I wrote it. |
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Hey! My mother got a job!
Beware -- she also has a tendency to catch some of her hair in her mouth while she's chewing-and-talking. Really appetizing watching her pull that out while continuing to talk and chew. I do everything in my power to sit beside her rather than across from her. |
I could see saying something to your mother. But a co-worker? At lunch? That you're not forced to eat with? Then no. If it's in a meeting then you need to make it no eating during meetings. |
| Two wrongs don’t make a right. Move on. Stop wasting your energy like this. |
| You go to therapy and learn to not be triggered by things you can't control. this is a you problem. |
Who put you in charge of what's socially acceptable? For the record, I don't talk with my mouth full but I think it's equally rude and socially unacceptable to police how others act. |
What if the coworker starts burping at the table after they eat? |
The horrors!!!! |
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I don't have any advice OP, just empathy. That would make me want to puke.
But not much you can do (other than avoid having lunch with them if it's not during a meeting). Just like being stuck next to someone with BO or who reeks of perfume. |