How common is it to be irritated by some gum chewers?

[Guest]

There are two things gum chewers do that drive me up the wall. One is cracking the gum. The other is when they chew with their mouths open so that I can see the gum hanging from their top to their bottom row of teeth. I was sitting on a bus trip from Kotor, Montenegro to Dubrovnik, Croatia, and the woman sitting next to me kept cracking her gum. I tried to get her engaged in prolonged conversations to get her to stop cracking the gum, though that proved difficult. I wish I had the courage to ask her to stop. When I'm at work, the nurse I work with the most also goes nuts when people crack gum next to her, so she tells them to stop before she goes nuts, so luckily I don't have to most of the time. How about you guys? Do gum crackers or open mouth chewers drive you a bit nuts, too? What do you do if you have to be next to someone who does this next to you for more than short periods of time?

[marylander1940]

I don't care much about that but I find it annoying when folks chew and talk at the same time. Some folks must put a piece of food in their mouth before answering a question during a dinner. Nasty!

[JayCeeKy]

Next time, ask the person if he/she graduated from high school. When they ask why, just say (with a straight face) that you recently read an article that 95% of people who crack their gum, pop their knuckles, or fart out loud never graduated from high school.

[MrMattBig]

When it is the cracking/smacking sound specifially that irritating, it could be a form of misophonia.

https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/320682.php

[Chad Constantine]

Cracking? Do you mean blowing it up and popping it?

 

I don't care much about that but I find it annoying when folks chew and talk at the same time. Some folks must put a piece of food in their mouth before answering a question during a dinner. Nasty!

 

What if they cover their mouth while they talk?

 

Next time, ask the person if he/she graduated from high school. When they ask why, just say (with a straight face) that you recently read an article that 95% of people who crack their gum, pop their knuckles, or fart out loud never graduated from high school.

 

Wow that is a pretentious thing to say.

[marylander1940]

 

 

 

What if they cover their mouth while they talk?

 

.

 

That would work!

[Rudynate]

I think gum-chewing is generally an obnoxious habit. I can understand children doing it, but why adults want people to see them going around working their jaws is very puzzling.

[Guest]

Cracking? Do you mean blowing it up and popping it?

 

What if they cover their mouth while they talk?

This is what I mean by cracking:

 

And if they cover their mouths while talking I'm fine with it. Some people chew with their mouths open even when they're not talking!

Edited October 8, 2019 by Unicorn

[+ Topseed]

Even worse is chewing tobacco. I have a fb who uses that junk; the spitting is disgusting, as is the taste of his mouth. I always have mouthwash on hand for him.

[+ Gar1eth]

What about those people in class, at a theatre, or on the plane who keep kicking the back of your seat?

 

Gman

[craigville beach]

i don't chew gum, I have never understood how some put gum in their mouth at the start of the day and keep it going (maybe adding more or fresh) all day. Never understood it, don't like people around me who do.

[+ Gar1eth]

i don't chew gum, I have never understood how some put gum in their mouth at the start of the day and keep it going (maybe adding more or fresh) all day. Never understood it, don't like people around me who do.

 

I bought some chewing gum the other day for the first time in forever. It was Doublemint. My maternal grandmother used to keep Doublemint in her purse, and the aroma reminds me of her. But the gum has changed. I don't think it's as strong a flavor (I looked it up. It's made with sorbitol now) as it used to be. And where the gum used to be grey, it's now white because they are using artificial rubber rather than real chicle.

 

Gman

[LaffingBear]

I admit it. I know it's baseless

 

I'm not sure where I picked up the impression... perhaps dumb blonde dames in old movies....

 

I believe active gum-chewing conveys less-intelligence.

[Guest]

When it is the cracking/smacking sound specifially that irritating, it could be a form of misophonia.

https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/320682.php

According to your link, "Misophonia is a disorder where people have abnormally strong and negative reactions to the ordinary sounds humans make, such as chewing or breathing."

The chewing doesn't bother me, just the cracking and the visual of the gum when they chew with their mouths open. I don't consider cracking the gum an "ordinary sound humans make," so I don't think that definition would apply to this problem. I would be extremely curious to know how common this problem is. I do know a number of people who feel the way I do, but I don't know if this represents 10% or 80% of the population. I also wonder whether people who do this realize that this habit is annoying to a fair number of people. There were two women in our travel group who did this, one of whom was very nice, and the other who seemed to have a somewhat an elevated sense of self-importance. Thinking back, I can't recall a man who ever did either of those two things (cracking or chewing with mouth open). I wonder if this is just a passive-aggressive way of annoying people. Our tour just ended, and I'm now on my slow way back home (overnighting in Madrid before my 2 flights back to the US).

[MassageDrew]

I'm cool with it as long as they keep their mouth closed when they chew.

[rvwnsd]

I'm not irritated by people who quietly chew gum. I often chew gum after a meal or when my mouth feels un-fresh but there is no toothbrush/toothpaste or mouthwash available. However, cracking gum, chewing with one's mouth open, and/or chewing loudly is simply annoying. The offending party should be forced to listen to Lawrence Welk Meets The Clash over and over again.

[ericwinters]

My mother can't stand to hear it. My sister and I would be mortified, but she tell complete strangers how they look and sound....

[RM]

I don't like to see people on television shows chewing gum, no matter how they do it.

[EZEtoGRU]

Some people chew with their mouths open even when they're not talking!

 

My brother always chewed his food with his mouth open. I found it discusting. He's gone now but I don't miss his obnoxious chewing behavior.

[blightuponyou]

I am very irritated by gum chewing, but I am irritated by the sounds of other people eating in general.

[Walker1]

I usually chew gum when I fly -especially landing. Takeoffs I am ok, but landings sometimes causes my ears to pop . Chewing gum seems to be a great preventative measure.

 

People blowing bubbles and popping does irritate me though. But tolerable-what is not tolerable is people sticking chewed gum in public places.

[+ WilliamM]

I am very surprised it bothers people that much.

[Philly50]

Do gum crackers or open mouth chewers drive you a bit nuts, too? What do you do if you have to be next to someone who does this next to you for more than short periods of time?

 

Yeah, I hate open mouth chewers and the cracking sound drives me nuts. When I was still working, if someone came into my office to ask me for help and they were chewing, I'd politely explain that I found the chewing gum annoying, and they'd always remove it. But that's the only situation where I'd express my annoyance.

[SirBillybob]

This is what I mean by cracking:

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LOL, this lady is Monica and her Youtube channel is FriendsWithMonica. I am prone to ASMR ... yes, it is a thing: Autonomous Sensory Meridean Response. You can buy ASMR-themed tracks on iTunes.

 

A Brit, "Dr Dimitri" also produces tracks that soothe me.

 

I listen to Monica's track "snapping cracking working" all the time. She combines two strong relaxation triggers for me: keyboarding and gum-cracking. The sounds almost make me pass out and it makes me light-headed and my eyelids heavy. Some people call it "tingling". It is generally a relaxed altered state.

 

I have almost tranced out on the subway if someone is snapping gum. Mind you, loud chomp-chomping and smacking without the popping is of no interest to me. Monica has it down to an art.

 

Other triggers are cat purring, sound of tapping wooden blocks together, pen or pencil writing on paper, Bob Ross' brush strokes on acrylic (Joy of Painting), and often his mellifluous voice accompanying it. Also, the barber working the scissors rapidly when I get a haircut.

 

If there is keyboarding for a few seconds on a film at home I often rewind and replay several times.

 

Human whispering is hit and miss. Some whispers are irritating, others are soothing. And if the gum-chewer combines whispering with the cracking I want to murder them. Just shut the fuck up, chew and pop those trapped air bubbles. Monica basically knows to keep her mouth restricted to working over those Chiclets. Other wannabe posers have the bad habit of whispering about the gum-chewing they are undertaking!

[Guest]

Yeah, I hate open mouth chewers and the cracking sound drives me nuts. When I was still working, if someone came into my office to ask me for help and they were chewing, I'd politely explain that I found the chewing gum annoying, and they'd always remove it. But that's the only situation where I'd express my annoyance.

What if you were sitting next to someone on an airplane flight? Do you think you could go through the whole flight with someone cracking his gum next to you? I think I'd go raving mad.