# Nose-picking etiquette **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 29, 2000, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nose-picking-etiquette/35031 "2000-09-29T17:39:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Zenster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/cdc98d/32.png) [@Zenster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zenster)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2000, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nose-picking-etiquette/35031/21 "2000-09-29T22:48:17Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by headshok \* > \*\*\ And Geobabe, please try to refrain from mentioning the words “boogers” and “Domino’s” in the same sentence. 🙂 > \*\* Sorry **headshok** , but I gotta back **Geobabe** on this one. Like my nose, Domino’s isn’t something that I would publicly admit to picking. Furthermore, they are both about equally as edible. Case closed… ---
**Author:** ![Silver\_Fire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e4f/32.png) [@Silver\_Fire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silver_Fire)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2000, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nose-picking-etiquette/35031/22 "2000-09-29T23:04:16Z")
::picks her nose:: ::looks at it:: ::sticks it right to the wall of this thread:: :🍃: 😃 ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2000, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nose-picking-etiquette/35031/23 "2000-09-29T23:28:33Z")
What kind of person watches people pick their nose & wipe it on zee wall??? Hmmmm. A snotologist? Better check the roof too. ---
**Author:** ![Sterra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8c91f0/32.png) [@Sterra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sterra)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2000, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nose-picking-etiquette/35031/24 "2000-09-30T02:45:33Z")
A Rhinologist:) ---
**Author:** ![Dark\_Lord\_Davidson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bc8723/32.png) [@Dark\_Lord\_Davidson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dark_Lord_Davidson)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2000, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nose-picking-etiquette/35031/25 "2000-09-30T02:57:04Z")
What the hell’s so hard about blowing your nose?! Why do people insist on sticking their finger up there?! ---
**Author:** ![Welfy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e56c9b/32.png) [@Welfy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Welfy)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2000, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nose-picking-etiquette/35031/26 "2000-09-30T03:28:49Z")
> [@](#): > > One thing that always cracked me up is people that feel that it is perfectly OK to excavate in full view of others, as long as they drape a tissue over their finger. Does this make it any more appealing? I mean, you’re still picking your nose, damnit! Except now, it looks like some kind of twisted sock puppet show. Yeesh! Okay, I admit to doing this, but I think that’s much cleaner than using your bare finger. The tissue can be disposed of properly. But then again, I avoid this in public unless it’s a dire emergency. I’m always polite and look away when people blow their noses, and I expect people to be the same with me. ---
**Author:** ![Geobabe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/geobabe/32/3908_2.png) [@Geobabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Geobabe)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2000, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nose-picking-etiquette/35031/27 "2000-09-30T04:09:41Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by headshok \* > \*\*And Geobabe, please try to refrain from mentioning the words “boogers” and “Domino’s” in the same sentence. 🙂 > \*\* Sorry, I guess I should have said “Pizza joint that shall remain nameless.” Then again, after reading the opinions of many SDMBers of the pizza produced by Domino’s, I didn’t worry about putting too many people off of it. 😛 If it’s any help, the guy in question was another driver and didn’t make the pizzas. ---
**Author:** ![Skelji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b38774/32.png) [@Skelji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skelji)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2000, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nose-picking-etiquette/35031/28 "2000-10-01T00:33:12Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Welfy \* > Okay, I admit to doing this, but I think that’s much cleaner than using your bare finger. The tissue can be disposed of properly. But then again, I avoid this in public unless it’s a dire emergency. I’m always polite and look away when people blow their noses, and I expect people to be the same with me. I have a cousin named Dire Emergency! OK, Welfy, I guess we can excuse you IF you at least cloak your digging finger out of anyone’s eyesight… I also try not to look at people when they blow their nose, but sometimes you can’t help but notice. It’s funny how after blowing their nose, almost everyone will look in the tissue. Are you making sure you’re not throwing out anything you might want to keep? Checking to see “if you got it?” Admiring to pattern you’ve created? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Wonko\_The\_Sane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/258eb7/32.png) [@Wonko\_The\_Sane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wonko_The_Sane)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2000, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nose-picking-etiquette/35031/29 "2000-10-01T02:23:41Z")
Do you work at, or work with someone who previously worked at MicroWarehouse? I used to work there. The bloody boogers were the worst. ---
**Author:** ![Eyke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Eyke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyke)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2000, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nose-picking-etiquette/35031/30 "2000-10-01T02:43:42Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by neuroman \* > \*\*In this _computer science_ class I’m in right now, I have observed two individuals repeatedly picking their noses. One is this scruffy chinese grad student who wipes it on his shirt after his brazen guileless picks. The other guy is this balding pudgy guy who stealthily keeps his right hand near his mouth the whole class. Then, when he senses the right opportunity, the right pinky is slyly inserted into nostril for a good deep pick. Then, said pinky is slyly inserted into mouth. > \*\* Put this in the syllibus (sp?) for “How Stereotypes are Started 101” 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Wonko\_The\_Sane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/258eb7/32.png) [@Wonko\_The\_Sane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wonko_The_Sane)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2000, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nose-picking-etiquette/35031/31 "2000-10-03T01:27:52Z")
I used to work at a very nice software company as an assistant admin. There was this -very- cute programmer there, and one day, I was installing service NT SP3. I was across from her desk, and watching the files copy, and I looked over my right shoulder at her. **Diggin’ for Diamonds** I was in shock! Hotties don’t pick their noses! It must have been a freak occurrance… I looked again a few minutes later… **Mining for Gold!** It seemed, that whenever I would walk by, she would always be emptying her nose of fingers. This went on for months, until she quit. It was very odd. Very odd. A very attractive, smart, chinese woman; who nose mines. It seems more natural for the person to be fat, ugly and stupid; when they are a nasal geologist. I dunno. ---
**Author:** ![Persephone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecc23a/32.png) [@Persephone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Persephone)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2000, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nose-picking-etiquette/35031/32 "2000-10-03T03:17:39Z")
Every once in a great while, we all get those stubborn little snot balls that just won’t come out by blowing your nose. They need a little help, you know? But fer cryin’ out loud, don’t do it public! It’s sort of like masturbation, you know? Everyone does it, and everyone knows that everyone else does it, but watching other people do it isn’t exactly everyone’s cup of tea. And for people who do it while driving, stop it. Just stop it, okay? And don’t you dare look at me like _I’m_ the freak because I busted you with your fingers jammed so far up your nostrils that your watchband is hanging down like a ring on a bull’s nose. _You’re_ the one that was pickin’ in public, not me. Oh, and by the way, children _do_ learn by example, so if you’ve got a minute after you get done raking your own nose hairs, could you give your children some Kleenex? I’m just as tired of seeing their little faces in your back window, with their own little fingers stuck up their own little noses. Sheesh. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2000, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nose-picking-etiquette/35031/33 "2000-10-03T12:27:59Z")
/B] [/QUOTE] What does Miss Manners have to say on the subject? \*\* [/QUOTE] According to Miss Manners, etiquette is what people do in public, and it does not include nose picking, which should always be done in private and no evidence should be left behind. The only time I nose pick in public is when men I don’t know start hitting on me. Picking-and-eating gets rid of them. ---
**Author:** ![BoBettie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4af34b/32.png) [@BoBettie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BoBettie)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2000, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nose-picking-etiquette/35031/34 "2000-10-03T12:44:04Z")
> [@](#): > > I’m just as tired of seeing their little faces in your back window, with their own little fingers stuck up their own little noses. I don’t have kids, but whenever I see a really little kid doing this- just unashamed and picking away, I crack up immediately. I don’t know why- I guess it’s because they don’t know any better and just go right at it. Always strikes me very funny, especially when Mom or Dad catch them. Whenever I scratch my face or nose, my husband chides me with “Don’t pick your nose!” Maddening! Zette ---
**Author:** ![Aglarond](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c77e96/32.png) [@Aglarond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aglarond)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2000, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nose-picking-etiquette/35031/35 "2000-10-03T14:11:01Z")
[QUOTE] \*Originally posted by Zette \* \*\* > [@](#): > > Whenever I scratch my face or nose, my husband chides me with “Don’t pick your nose!” \*\* -I wasn’t picking my nose. I was scratching. -You was picking it, while you was talking to that lady. -I wasn’t! ---
**Author:** ![Simetra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/278dde/32.png) [@Simetra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simetra)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2000, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nose-picking-etiquette/35031/36 "2000-10-03T14:29:25Z")
To the tune of “Row Your Boat” Roll roll roll your boogie, flick it on the floor. Stick your finger up your nose, and try to find some more. My boogie pickin’ song! I always just use a kleenex or my hanky. Here’s another for you. A poem my mother used to recite to me cause I was a nose-pickin’ fool as a little kid: Inside everyone’s nose lives a sharp toothed snail. Stick in your finger, and he’ll bite off your nail. Stick it a bit farther, and he’ll bite your ring off. Stick it all the way in, and he’ll bite the whole damn thing off. 😃 Yeah… My mom said damn… I thought it was hilarious. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nose-picking-etiquette/35031.md?page=1)