Nose-picking

This is a universal act, driven by the urge to breathe freely through one's nose, and limited by society and it's norms. Nose picking as defined by Wikipedia is the act of of extracting dried nasal mucus or foreign bodies from the nose with a digit. It is so weirdly interesting that this habit, despite its defiance of social norms, is universal. It is estimated (again, info from wikipedia) that the average adult human does this act 4 times a day. I believe that people with the flu (and who have just recovered from it) would do this more than ten times a day, or for one very long period of time at a stretch. I believe that this act of nose picking is already inherent in our cultures as a hole, if not inherent in one of our conscious habits, next to scratching and swallowing.

Alright, I admit the last sentence was pretty far-fetched, but that doesn't make it any less of a habit / daily ritual. The thing is that this habit is overlooked, and people go to great extents to hide their nose-picking behaviours. Take for example this morning. I was at the lift door waiting for my lift, and when it came, I saw a young lady in her 20s picking her nose with a tissue and her little finger. I could see that she was visibly embarrassed as she did not expect the lift to stop before she finished her nose-digging. Immediately, she stopped the act and pretended that she was blowing her nose.

As you can infer from the example, people may be afraid that others may think differently (in a negative way) of them if they see that person picking his / her nose. And in a way it is true. Society dictates that the digging and scratching of any body part prone to odours or dirt is forbidden, and probably will be looked down upon. A list of body parts that produce odours or have been in contact with a substance looked upon as dirty would include the armpits, the foot, the ears, the butt, the butt-crack, the belly-button and the nose. What this means is that anything which is a hole or is prone to odour is off-limits for scratching.

Aside from what society may believe, nose-mining is a good habit. It allows one to keep the insides of the primary breathing apparatus clean, and may also make you some friends.

Looks like nose-picking may not be such a bad thing after all, huh?