The unsophisticated palate

I am an efficient eater, I don't dilly-dally during meal time or play with my food instead when a plate is put in front of me I do what comes natural and eat the food on it. I eat so quickly that most people are jaw-dropped to see my empty plate before they have picked up their fork. It's not that I don't enjoy food or that I'm constantly in a rush but somehow it upsets most of everybody I eat with. What they see as haste, I see as efficiency
What I never understand is why it bothers somebody else at what rate I chew, I understand there are many out there who can savor every bite and I don't criticize them for their slow-pace.
I don't eat fast to get the meal as I am very rarely in a rush to leave the dinner table. I eat fast to get on with the next thing, I love dinner conversation because of the intimacy of sitting face-to-face with friends without the distractions of TV's, text-messaging or computers. I eat quickly but never rush anybody else yet somehow it bothers others when the completion on a meal isn't a synchronized event.
Now I believe the criticism is warranted when sharing dishes like appetizers or tapas but when I have my own plate I cannot get the hate.

I feel like this eating efficiency stems from the fact that in order to keep my 6'1" frame well nutritioned when growing up in a family which always served small portions you had to learn to fight for what you get; you eat fast when you aren't sure if you'll get another bite..

But more than that maybe I just have an unsophisticated palate. There are many people out there who can dissect each bite and analyze it for taste, texture and type with the proficiency that I can analyze the hotness of a chick's outfit. They are able to spot a hint of basil in a sauce or a touch of honey in a pastry like I can tell a woman isn't wearing a bra from a quarter mile away. The problem I encounter though is that people mistake the sophisticated palate for sophistication which is like calling color-blindness a character flaw.

So I am cursed with the inability to be able to pair a red-curry sauce with a proper vegetable but at least I can hold a conversation and the more I think of it maybe I eat fast in order to be able to steer the dinner conversation away from things that bore me. How is that for sophistication!!
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry