# Do you pick your nose? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 6, 2012, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-your-nose/608580 "2012-01-06T02:22:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Tabby\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Tabby\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tabby_Cat)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2012, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-your-nose/608580/1 "2012-01-06T02:22:08Z")
Poll above. I just can’t help picking my nose! It’s crusty and clogged!! I need to get it clean!!! I don’t care if people can see me (or rather, I don’t even notice people around - I NEED TO GET MY SCHNOZZ CLEAN)!! I really should stop, because, damn, that’s gross son. But my lizard brain takes over and I CLEAN THAT CRAP OUT. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![rhubarbarin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eb9ed0/32.png) [@rhubarbarin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rhubarbarin)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2012, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-your-nose/608580/2 "2012-01-06T02:26:13Z")
Doesn’t everyone? I try never to do it in public, though. And I don’t have a very crusty nose, these days, so I only poke around up there if it feels all clogged up, which is rare. ---
**Author:** ![MichaelEmouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/michaelemouse/32/101_2.png) [@MichaelEmouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MichaelEmouse)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2012, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-your-nose/608580/3 "2012-01-06T02:47:58Z")
Please do so by wrapping a tissue around your finger and washing your hands afterward. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_Panic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/don_t_panic/32/398_2.png) [@Don\_t\_Panic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Panic)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2012, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-your-nose/608580/4 "2012-01-06T03:06:35Z")
The interesting question, **Tabby\_Cat,** is: Do you eat what you dig out? ---
**Author:** ![SCSimmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e495f1/32.png) [@SCSimmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCSimmons)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2012, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-your-nose/608580/5 "2012-01-06T03:12:18Z")
Oddly, that’s what I was doing when I read the thread title. ☹ ETA: Er, picking, not eating. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Tabby\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Tabby\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tabby_Cat)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2012, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-your-nose/608580/6 "2012-01-06T03:46:22Z")
Hey, where’d my poll go! I swear I had a poll there. Hrm. ---
**Author:** ![Tabby\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Tabby\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tabby_Cat)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2012, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-your-nose/608580/7 "2012-01-06T03:48:43Z")
> [@Martian Bigfoot](#): > > The interesting question, **Tabby\_Cat,** is: Do you eat what you dig out? I most certainly do NOT! Not since I was 12, at least. 😛 Always cleaned off on a tissue and properly disposed of. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_Panic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/don_t_panic/32/398_2.png) [@Don\_t\_Panic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Panic)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2012, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-your-nose/608580/8 "2012-01-06T04:20:28Z")
Come to think of it, I’m not sure if I understand why eating your own boogers should be disgusting. It doesn’t appear to be harmful. It’s not unhygienic, really, not more than other forms of booger disposal. Also, you’re recycling your bodily resources. It’s green! And as far as I can tell, boogers taste just fine. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2012, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-your-nose/608580/9 "2012-01-06T04:22:07Z")
Pick my own nose? Never. That’s disgusting. ---
**Author:** ![Dano83860](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a4c791/32.png) [@Dano83860](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dano83860)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2012, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-your-nose/608580/10 "2012-01-06T05:40:23Z")
You can pick your friends and you can pick your nose but you can’t pick your friends nose. ---
**Author:** ![brittekland](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/aeb1de/32.png) [@brittekland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brittekland)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2012, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-your-nose/608580/11 "2012-01-06T05:44:24Z")
Nose knows… ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2012, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-your-nose/608580/12 "2012-01-06T05:46:10Z")
> [@Tabby\_Cat](#): > > **Do you pick your nose?** Naturally; I wouldn’t want to get one at random. ---
**Author:** ![brittekland](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/aeb1de/32.png) [@brittekland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brittekland)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2012, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-your-nose/608580/13 "2012-01-06T05:50:45Z")
Really… do I have to answer this question? Okay, I don’t use a pick. ---
**Author:** ![Tabby\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Tabby\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tabby_Cat)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2012, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-your-nose/608580/14 "2012-01-06T06:14:21Z")
[quote=“Martian Bigfoot, post:8, topic:608580”] Come to think of it, I’m not sure if I understand why eating your own boogers should be disgusting. It doesn’t appear to be harmful. It’s not unhygienic, really, not more than other forms of booger disposal. Also, you’re recycling your bodily resources. It’s green!/QUOTE] It is most definitely green. I think that’s why most people object to it. ---
**Author:** ![brittekland](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/aeb1de/32.png) [@brittekland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brittekland)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2012, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-your-nose/608580/15 "2012-01-06T06:23:58Z")
[quote=“Tabby\_Cat, post:14, topic:608580”] > [@Martian Bigfoot](#): > > Come to think of it, I’m not sure if I understand why eating your own boogers should be disgusting. It doesn’t appear to be harmful. It’s not unhygienic, really, not more than other forms of booger disposal. Also, you’re recycling your bodily resources. It’s green!/QUOTE] > > It is most definitely green. I think that’s why most people object to it. Fantastic subject after the zit/pus thread. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2012, 6:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-your-nose/608580/16 "2012-01-06T06:38:58Z")
Sinus problems while sleeping. It’s a good morning when I don’t wake up with nasal passages rattling with crispy crud that if left unmolested will surely drive me to homicidal insanity. Said crispy crud won’t blow out, it won’t fall out, so what would you suggest I do? ---
**Author:** ![Lacunae\_Matata](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8491ac/32.png) [@Lacunae\_Matata](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lacunae_Matata)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2012, 6:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-your-nose/608580/17 "2012-01-06T06:50:14Z")
I don’t just pick my own… Okay, when the toddler has a cold (like now) and is crusty, I have to pick hers too. It’s one of the less disgusting things one does for one’s child. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![manila](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e5b9ba/32.png) [@manila](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/manila)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2012, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-your-nose/608580/18 "2012-01-06T06:51:06Z")
As an aside I have often seen in certain cultures ( including western “icons”) people cultivating an extended pinkie fingernail. Its long since I found out that this wasn’t some sort of obscure fashion statement but rather a tool for fishing bits of detritus like eye, ear and nose boogers! eek! ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2012, 7:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-your-nose/608580/19 "2012-01-06T07:05:56Z")
In general I prefer to blow it out, but sometimes those things are too small to respond to that. I just need my nasal passages to be clear. And, no, I wouldn’t do it in public, though I’ll admit I don’t run to the bathroom to do it at my own house when only my family is home. I think it’s one of those things where, if you do it in front of someone, you must be close to them. And for Og’s sake I don’t do it in the car–you are not invisible with a clear windshield in front of you, people! ---
**Author:** ![Quasimodem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Quasimodem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quasimodem)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2012, 7:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-your-nose/608580/20 "2012-01-06T07:37:06Z")
When I was single and to get ready for a date, I used to use a small [mosquito clamp](http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff71/Drummerboy49/clamp.jpg) (think “hemostats” which a surgeon uses,) to stick up my nostrils and jerk out any protuberant nasal hair so it wouldn’t whistle or wave in the wind when I spoke, and sometimes the occasional booger would get clamped in between. Those things are also sometimes used by dopers (the real ones) to hold a “roach” (\*not \* a real one). The pain, to quote Stephen King, was exquisite, and I’d tear up and sneeze for about ten minutes. However, back in those days, I wasn’t making a lot money working at my hospital only as needed, and I wasn’t gonna fork out money for one of those battery-operated thingies, when I could just borrow a set of 'stats. Ultimately, after **D** and re-married, I did buy one of those and started using it, once at the family dinner table (with a napkin spread out on it of course), which the kids and Dads thought was hilarious, and the wives… well, _they_ liked to have puked, so I only got to do it that one Easter.🙂 Other times, in private, I’d just close one nostril and forcefully blow through the other, and then vise versa. Trying not to hit somebody standing nearby, of course. One day, while riding my bicycle on the Silver Comet Trail, I had a small bug fly up in there, so I did that maneuver I just described? Suddenly, I heard a harmonious girlish “ewwwww!” from behind me. “It was a Bug!!!”, I ejaculated, but I don’t think they believed me, as they hurried around. Bet y’all didn’t think I’d go into that much detail, did ya?🙂 Thanks for reading this. Quasi [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-your-nose/608580.md?page=2)