I have been reminded on a number of occasions that I have the tendency to chew too loudly. Chew too loudly, what does that mean? Well basically the chomping sound of my upper and lower teeth meeting forcefully is loud enough that it easily irritates those poor souls sitting adjacent to me. This is especially true for family situations where children are more easily distracted and irritated by any and all eating noises, e.g. smacking, slurping, licking, gulping, etc. So what can I do about this unsavory habit of mine? I have tried to chew ever so quietly, but that is very difficult for me. By repressing natural urges from within, my eating pleasures are reduced drastically. I cannot for the life of me chew quietly, there is an instinct within me to chomp down hard, the harder the better. So why do I do this in the first place? Is it some feeling of inner frustrations, excess energy that has to be released through the actions of biting down hard and with more force than necessary? Could be, if you look at it that way. Chomp, chomp, release, then swallow hard, the next bite, chomp, chomp, and then the cycle will repeat itself. Okay, if I am sitting alone it should not matter, but if I am eating next to other people, I guess I should be more a responsible father, fellow worker, citizen of society. This is similar and can be compared to the art of coughing or sneezing. If you are alone you can just let it go and spray the mucous droplets all over the place. However, if you are in the company of important people, say your neighbors or the royal family or whatever, then you must resist the urge to sneeze or simply hold a handkerchief to you nose in order to sneeze ever so casually and politely at the same time. Sure it does not feel as good as letting it all go all over the place, but as far as retaining and not risking your formal relationships are concerned this is by far the preferred choice. The same applies to eating I guess. Rather than spray chomping and biting sound waves every which way, I must learn to chew softly and quietly for the sake of formalities. Can you teach old dogs new tricks? There I am giving into society again, what I am expected to do. That is the way life comes and goes and we must adapt in one way or the other.