Peanuts by Charles Schulz for February 05, 1981
Transcript:
Linus sits on the floor and eats. Lucy shouts, "Well, why don't you answer me?"<BR><BR> Linus replies, "Oh, I didn't hear you . . . I can't hear a thing when I'm eating toast because it echoes inside my head . . ."<BR><BR> Lucy walks away. Linus adds, "Actually, it's very peaceful."<BR><BR> Linus says, "Eating toast is like getting away for the weekend."<BR><BR>
My take is that Linus’ eating of toast really is supposed to be so loud that he really can’t hear her, especially since the last two panels seem to point to this actually occurring rather than him making it up. Perhaps inspired by a similar incidence in Schulz’ life? Or else by just noticing how noisy toast can be (when being eaten that is), thus making this situation at least somewhat plausible.