Is Chewphobia Ruining Your Life?

Here’s what happens when small, everyday noises ruin your life.

- Charles Bethea

Lunch at the Marriott hotel in Mesa, Arizona, USA, was a south-western buffet of overcooked chicken and soggy enchiladas. I'd recently met a friendly man with a shaved head and a pale oblong face named Paul Tabachneck, so we sat down together at a table to eat. Tabachneck ate carefully, eyes trained on his plate or a spot on the beige walls. But his conversation was lively—he talked about busking as a guitarist in the new York subway [metro] while trying to achieve a dream of being a professional musician. After about 10 minutes, I scraped my knife against my plate while cutting my chicken. Tabachneck whipped his head around to look at me, his eyes suddenly cold.

“Did you have to do that?” he snapped. “And did you know that your jaw pops when you eat?”