"Back in the day," Byron told me, "staff and patients would sit together in the common room playing cards and chewing the fat.
Tuesday morning once again found Cameron as the unfortunately eclipsed lead actor, forced to watch his possible successor chewing up the scenery.
As both supply supermarkets with own-label snacks, the Competition and Markets Authority CMAA) has been chewing over the meaty merger since the start of the year for fear it could push up the prices of pies, pasties and slices.
And the press came in like birds chewing up what was left of the carcass.
Simon Danczuk, the outspoken Labour MP, has condemned record labels for "chewing up and spitting out" musicians ahead of the broadcast of an interview he did with the singer.
As our story begins, Sparky, experiencing an episode of low selfesteem, is self-defeatingly chewing on the leg of an expensive sofa.
Science denial, so-called "free market" ideology and the interests of the fossil fuel energy industry are the termites chewing away at the base of all efforts to cut greenhouse gas emissions.
In 2014, it swelled to 154 with the introduction of such things as vegetarian burgers, pre-packed salads, fresh fruit snacking pots, chewing gum, energy drinks, smoothies, chicken nuggets and doughnuts.
Stretching, some get out their chewing tobacco.
These days, not chewing is tantamount to admitting abject poverty.
Furthermore, most Yemenis knock off work at 2pm, abandoning their afternoons to chewing.
