The Unforgettable Act of Nose Picking

It is not uncommon to see people indulging in the disgusting but perhaps self-gratifying act of digging one's nose in public. I see that sometimes..usually from old uncles along the street, doing 'the act' with much oblivion as if it is as natural as blinking one's eyes. I usually look away of course...in disgust at 'the act'. But it becomes more horrifying when one sees a lady picking away at her nose and the feeling of horror cum disgust is immediately multiplied when I am unable to look away. This exact scene prompted today's entry.

I was innocently sitting across her and listening to the instructor when I suddenly noticed that she had her index finger to her nostril, with her face towards me. I took a quick glance at her and then immediatly refocused my eyes at the instructor standing diagonally behind her. But I could tell that she had quietly turned her head away from the rest of the class and was facing the instructor and digging away profusely. She would stop for a moment and rub her index and third finger to probably rid them from any debris she had excavated from her nose..then she continued the act. I tried to look away, but it was hard as she was seated right in front of me and I had to look past her in order to look at the instructor. Suddenly, I realised that I could no longer focus on the class and was just hoping and hoping that she would not stretch her hand out towards my direction. The act continued for at least a torturing 5 min and I had to muster all my acting skills to pretend that nothing was happening. I wondered whether anyone else saw that act.

Then after that, she took a small piece of yellow post-it pad and used it to mildly slide it between her teeth. And then she used her fingers (the same ones engaged in the previous act) and slide them along the paper to clear whatever was on the paper. That act was repeated a few times and I just didn't have the heart to look anymore. I just couldn't look any more and I was thrown back to yesterday when she was seated beside me.

She had this habit of scratching her scalp vigorously and then swinging her head slightly so that her hair (which is almost waist length) sweeps around like the Patene hair ad. But in contrast to the ad, the problem is that her back was usually in my face, so I get the 'brunt' of her frequent hair sweeping habit. Frankly, it disgusted me each time she scratched her scalp as she scratched with such strength that the motion is audible. And then with each swing of her head, I had to lean back a little to avoid the hair hitting me. Her hair slightly brushed my face once, but at least her hair did not stink. In fact, I could smell the remnants of the hair product whenever she swept her hair. Not a bad smell, but nonetheless a smell that I'd rather not be acquainted with.

Although the head scratching and hair sweeping actions are bordering on my tolerance limits, I think it can be forgotten with time. But today's 5 minute's live digging, topped with the creative use of paper in lieu of dental floss is in my honest opinion, totally disgusting and unforgettable. I know the next and everytime I see her, I'll recall the act she committed in class that fateful day. And I have actually decided not to touch any of the pencils in the pencil holder tomorrow as one of the pencils was held in the same pair of hands that committed the act of excavation.

I think she is probably a nice gal and intelligent as well. But I take the view that personal ettiquette plays a much larger role. I wonder if it could be a nationality issue, but I have friends from the same nation who are perfectly hygienic. And I wonder if it could be a lack of understanding social norms, but she seems to be an intelligent girl. But whatever, the sad thing is that nobody (other than her close friends and family - provided they don't share the values) will tell her that her acts are bordering on being termed disgusting.

Anyway, she has made such an impact on me that I am still blogging at this time of the night. And I actually bothered to google the following.


(Warning: Video has potential to ruin your appetite)

New Beijing Olympic Sporting Event - Nose Picking

http://blog.ratestogo.com/new-beijing-olympic-sporting-event-nose-picking/

September 19, 2007

The eyes of the world will be on Beijing for sixteen days in August of 2008, as the drama of the XXIX Summer Olympics unfolds. But there are two Asian pastimes which have not yet been declared Olympic sports, in spite of the fact that hundreds of millions of Chinese learn them at their parents’ knees and practice them daily throughout their lives. They are the sports of nose picking and “air hanky” tossing, and each is part of the Golden Quintet of Asian Xtreme Hygiene Sports: Nose Cleaning, which really encompasses the two skills of Nose Picking and Air Hanky Tossing; Ear Cleaning; Spitting, and Belching.

The Asian sport of nose picking, which some claim is actually more of an art form, is not limited to any one Asian region. With the exception of Singapore, nose picking is a common occupation in many of Asia’s great cities from Beijing to Tokyo. But it may be, thanks to the upcoming Olympics, a dying art in Beijing.

As China makes a leap forward into the 21st century’s first tier of nations, and in anticipation of the Olympiad, its authorities have taken the unusual step of distributing 4.3 million pamphlets to the citizens of Beijing, instructing them in the art of nasal etiquette and the use of tissue. But in a country where toilet paper is considered such an oddity that tourists are cautioned to carry their own, tissues are as foreign to millions of Chinese as foreigners themselves.

The citizens of Beijing, Hanoi, Bangkok, Hong Kong, and Tokyo are not at all bashful about their nasal cleaning habits. Those who do not engage in a bit of exploratory excavation while standing in line for the bus or enjoying a restaurant meal may instead hurl the infamous “air hanky.” The air hanky technique entails pinching one nostril shut so that the nostril with the most promising content is subjected to the full force of the nose-blower’s exhalation, and those promising contents are expelled into the air.

There’s also the backward snort technique, which allows the mucus-afflicted to draw the phlegm from their nasal passages down into their throats, and expectorate it onto the nearest convenient surface. It usually lands on the ground, but there is no guarantee that your shoe won’t be an obstacle to its safe landing.

Given the heavily polluted air of China, it’s understandable that someone would want to clean out his or her respiratory tract at frequent intervals. But even in Tokyo, where the citizenry otherwise are fanatical about cleanliness, the male commuters spend a good part of their daily travel mining their nasal passages.

In Bangkok, it’s the tuk tuk drivers who usually introduce tourists to the practice of nose picking. In Hanoi, it can be anyone from the restaurant waiters to the fruit vendors. On the busses of Hong Kong one can be treated to a visual smorgasbord of nose picking and ear cleaning accompanied by a cacophony of belching and yawning.
The moral of the story?

If you’re hankering for a trip to the 2008 Olympics, you may find Beijing congested with nose pickers. Plan your trip carefully during this time or you’ll be in a sticky situation.