On my way back on the plane I found myself sitting next to a 40'ish year old man with SMS (that's single man syndrome - as I refer to it in my book the Girlfriend Experience). I bit my lip for so long but like torrettes I ended up uncontrolably having to say something to him. He was extremely overweight (not a problem in itself) however when breakfast was put in front of him he greedily scoffed the lot like someone who hadn't eaten for weeks, in barely 5 minutes without so much as looking up from his tray. This was repulsive and vulgar anyway, however after, he held each carton close to his mouth and started noisily and furiously using his finger and licking and scooping up all of the residue in each individual carton - the fruit?!, the yoghurt and the cooked breakfast. I looked at him a couple of times with distaste but he was so oblivious and engrossed in his vulgar eating that he didn't even notice. I started to physically feel sick, and decided to tell him so. He apologised but by then it was too late he was left with gleaming cartons that looked like they'd never contained any food or anything at all for that matter.
Using my vast experience of the habits of some single men, I deduced that he was definitely single, and possibly lived with his mum.
Some of you may think it was rude for me to say something but trust me these sort of people are very thick skinned. He won't have even thought twice about what I said and it will not affect his eating habits in future unfortunately.
I really feel like I could do some good by teaching basic table manners to some of these guys. I feel another business idea coming on haha :) The problem is that the people with these problems don't actually realise that they have a problem - like this particular guy. They are that self obsessed that they are just in their own little world. They probably have no idea why they never get asked out for dinner!
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Sometimes people who are greatly overweight have other personal issues other than just social. Since their personal life seems out-of-control, they've learned that they can control one aspect of their lives...what and how much they eat. Whether this was encouraged when they were young by their parents/peers or if they've discovered it on their own, it is very self-destructive and selfish. I've met people who showed the same rudeness but were highly successful in business and had families. These persons' parents taught them to behave this way by example.
ReplyDeleteWe all have our peccadillos. Sorry to hear you had to endure his.