Plastic plates. Who would have thought they could be a useful piece of equipment for anything other than camping and small children? Certainly not me. Well, not me before M.E.
… Nowadays however, I think they’re bloomin’ fantastic!
My love affair with plastic plates (that line definitely sounded better in my head) began when I had Severe M.E. I struggled with sensory overload and noise intolerance, and literally everything in life exacerbated my symptoms. Including the sound of cutlery on plates.
I couldn’t always eat with my family, but when I could, the sound of cutlery banging on plates as my loved ones stabbed and sliced their victims – oops, I mean ‘food’, caused me enormous distress. My ears and my brain reeeeeally couldn’t handle it.
It was like they were going to war with their food, not tucking into a nice roast dinner. Cutlery vs Plate. I couldn’t tell you who won – only that I was the main casualty. The excruciating decibels their cutlery made on the plates was JUST. SO. F-ING. LOUD. And it hurt. Oh god, did it hurt.
Now, obviously they weren’t eating any differently to normal – but due to my hypersensitivity to noises, it FELT like they were trying to kill me. Death by Dinner Plate. It’s got an entertaining ring to it, but sadly, the pain in my brain was a lot less fun.
Something had to change, or I would end up spending every meal alone. We needed to come up with a way for me to still be able to eat with the family, minus the auditory torture.
… Cue, plastic plates!
Honestly, making this simple change was a god send. The sound of the cutlery on the plastic is soooo much quieter. I could finally enjoy eating together as a family again – rather than enduring it.
Thankfully, my condition has improved since then, and the Cutlery vs Plate war seems to have called a cease fire. Phew!
Still, I wanted to share this simple hack in case it could help anyone else in a similar position 🙂
