# 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:** 2
**Author:** ![Jinx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Jinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jinx)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2012, 9:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-your-nose/608580/21 "2012-01-06T09:21:41Z")
People who say they never pick their noses may be surprisingly mistaken. An otorhinologist once told me everyone picks their nose in their sleep. While I can’t say if this is every night, or what, it just shows you can get a grant to study anything! 😃 Maybe someone in this field can comment on this. ---
**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, 9:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-your-nose/608580/22 "2012-01-06T09:28:09Z")
> [@Jinx](#): > > People who say they never pick their noses may be surprisingly mistaken. An otorhinologist once told me everyone picks their nose in their sleep. While I can’t say if this is every night, or what, it just shows you can get a grant to study anything! 😃 Maybe someone in this field can comment on this. Another words, you pick. Ick! 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Accident](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Mr.Accident](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Accident)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2012, 11:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-your-nose/608580/23 "2012-01-06T11:27:21Z")
Yup, I pick my nose. Never in public, nor around family/friends. Blowing doesn’t do anything for clearing out boogers, and for some reason they get large enough to actually clog my nose. So yea, they’re gonna get picked. Definitely don’t eat them though. My 21 year old brother does that, and it’s one of the few things a person can do that makes my skin crawl and my stomach churn. ---
**Author:** ![dogbutler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dogbutler/32/428_2.png) [@dogbutler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dogbutler)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2012, 11:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-your-nose/608580/24 "2012-01-06T11:30:14Z")
I do it in the bathroom. I’ve also had the dog pick my nose once. ---
**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, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-your-nose/608580/25 "2012-01-06T12:52:07Z")
George Carlin did a nice little sketch about this subject years ago. Apparently one man was standing at a corner, and had only just finished excavating, and was in the process of removing his uh, _“pick”_, when _right then_, around that corner, came the guy he was supposed to meet, with his hand extended for a handshake. I imagine flamingo guitarists would have to be very careful? Q ---
**Author:** ![GreenElf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@GreenElf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenElf)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2012, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-your-nose/608580/26 "2012-01-06T13:12:20Z")
Then there’s the restaurant cooks who pick their noses and don’t bother to wash their hands afterwards because they’re busy cooking and it won’t hurt anyone if they don’t know about 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, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-your-nose/608580/27 "2012-01-06T13:22:32Z")
Sweat drops and sneezes too among others. ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2012, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-your-nose/608580/28 "2012-01-06T14:34:11Z")
> [@Beware\_of\_Doug](#): > > … so what would you suggest I do? 1. [Vamp it up](http://www.myspace.com/video/aaron/power-drill-up-the-nose-sam-wills-the-classic-15-12-06/4503589) 2. Sell tickets 3. Profit…! ---
**Author:** ![orderfire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/orderfire/32/10908_2.png) [@orderfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/orderfire)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2012, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-your-nose/608580/29 "2012-01-07T23:26:30Z")
Both of my cats harbor amazing black boogers in the outer corners of their noses, which I gently pick so they will look pretty and be less self-conscious. Then I wash my hands with lots of soap. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2012, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-your-nose/608580/30 "2012-01-08T01:40:23Z")
Pick it, lick it, roll it, flick it. ---
**Author:** ![chacoguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/50afbb/32.png) [@chacoguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chacoguy)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2012, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-your-nose/608580/31 "2012-01-08T03:29:47Z")
God has designed us so that one can stick fingers into Mouths, Noses, Assholes and Vaginas, not so, Ears and Penises. Intelligent Design. :o ---
**Author:** ![Amblydoper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/fbc32d/32.png) [@Amblydoper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amblydoper)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2012, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-your-nose/608580/32 "2012-01-08T03:37:40Z")
I Have to pick my nose. My boogers can get to be 6 inches long. If I blow them out, it just makes a big, embarrassing mess! ---
**Author:** ![brittekland](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/aeb1de/32.png) [@brittekland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brittekland)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2012, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-your-nose/608580/33 "2012-01-08T03:46:16Z")
> [@chacoguy](#): > > God has designed us so that one can stick fingers into Mouths, Noses, Assholes and Vaginas, not so, Ears and Penises. None that Mrs. Post approve… ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2012, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-your-nose/608580/34 "2012-01-08T03:52:46Z")
I pick in the middle of the night, when the crusts start to block airflow and I wake up due to oxygen deprivation. I have a ficus tree next to my bed, and I put the boogers into its pot. I like to think I’m fertilizing it. The leaves are nice and green. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![slowlearner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@slowlearner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slowlearner)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2012, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-your-nose/608580/35 "2012-01-08T04:07:39Z")
In John Barth’s novel The End of The Road one of the main characters is inadvertantly seen picking his nose and masturbating at the same time. Does this elevate the book to the status of high art? And has anybody else tried it? ---
**Author:** ![carnut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnut/32/3531_2.png) [@carnut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnut)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2012, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-your-nose/608580/36 "2012-01-08T04:18:11Z")
I wanna get rid of those nose crusties when they happen and just blowing my nose doesn’t do that. I try to not do it in public. And I do wash my hands. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2012, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-your-nose/608580/37 "2012-01-08T21:20:17Z")
Yeah, I try to use a kleenex but sometimes it works better to go commando, blowing my nose doesn’t get the crusted up boogers out. I wash my hands afterwards though and try to avoid doing it in public. God forbid the web of lies and propriety we’ve collectively deemed society fall asunder. On an unrelated note, I clip my fingernails but biting them gets a closer cut. The human body is meant to self groom (that is my philosophy). ---
**Author:** ![brittekland](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/aeb1de/32.png) [@brittekland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brittekland)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2012, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-your-nose/608580/38 "2012-01-08T21:35:56Z")
I categorically believe that everyone who so far said they wash their hands after picking their nose… it’s just that… I think fist-bump might be better than hand-shake. Well, that is all. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2012, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-your-nose/608580/39 "2012-01-08T21:55:53Z")
> [@brittekland](#): > > I categorically believe that everyone who so far said they wash their hands after picking their nose… it’s just that… I think fist-bump might be better than hand-shake. Well, that is all. I’m sure that a lot of blind people pick their noses, then feel people’s faces so they know to know who they are talking to. “Ah, you’re Karen. I recognize that mouth”, etc ---
**Author:** ![brittekland](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/aeb1de/32.png) [@brittekland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brittekland)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2012, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-your-nose/608580/40 "2012-01-08T22:17:22Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > I’m sure that a lot of blind people pick their noses, then feel people’s faces so they know to know who they are talking to. > > “Ah, you’re Karen. I recognize that mouth”, etc What does Karen say when the person’s pinky accidentally enters her mouth or even her nostril? I can see why having a distinctive voice could be an advantage. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-your-nose/608580.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-your-nose/608580.md?page=3)