20. Is Going to the Toilet in Public Acceptable?

I’ve got quite the puzzle to contemplate this morning.

The other day, albeit while she herself was in the middle of a major snit, my partner accused me of always complaining about everything.

What would perhaps be a one-off event was now something that I did all the time.
What was perhaps a very small occurrence now was so huge that it made Mount Everest pale into insignificance.

Nonetheless, I am a great believer in the fact that there is seldom smoke without fire so I have been watching very carefully all that that I speak of with her.

Indeed, my contemplation is what is the difference between complaining and a statement that explains a series, or even a singular, negative occurrence?

This, I suspect, is going to keep me occupied for quite some time.

Talking which, let me give you an example.

I have an absolute horror, a visceral, physical, negative reaction to people who talk with their mouth full of food, to people that chew their food with their mouth wide open.

I cannot look at these people and depending on the accompanying sound effects if possible I will look to leave the vicinity before I am inclined to vomit.

Regrettably, this occurrence — both people talking or chewing with mouths full of food, and mouths open — happens too frequently in my life.

The night before — the dinner party — I faced somebody who decided to talk with their mouth full of food.
Yesterday at work, my colleague sat down opposite me, a passionate colleague, an energised and enthusiastic colleague sat down, and as she shovelled food into her mouth, she explosively shared a story with me…
All I could see was the pasta and the chicken being chewed, mauled by her teeth and tongue, until I had to drop my eyes and wish for some escape to another room, another dimension, anywhere to get me away from what I was looking at, to what I was hearing.

I tried to think recently how to explain the enormity of this horror that I encounter, how it impacts on me.

To me, it is akin to taking a shit in public.
It is truly that revolting, that nauseating.

Does that make me a complainer?

If it does, in this instance, then so be it; I shall wear the label of a complainer.

But please people, hear my complaint and be kinder, more generous than I am and just eat with your mouth closed, chew properly and mindfully and speak only after you have swallowed and before you shovel the next fork-load in.

Thank you.