PICKING YOUR NOSE . ARE ONE OF THEM?

Nose picking is the act of digging boogers from your nose. Sesquipedalians (persons given to using long words) call people who pick their noses rhinotillexomaniacs: from the Greek rhinos,“the nose” tillexis, “the habit of picking” + mania, “obsession with something.”
No one knows who the first person to pick his nose was. That’s because it happened before people could write. Popular accounts say that the first record of nose picking appeared about 1330 B.C. in ancient Egypt. Apparently, an archaeologist by the name of Dr. Wilbur Leakey found a papyrus scroll that detailed the financial payment of three heads of cattle and food and lodging to Tutankhamun's personal nose picker.1
Here’s how it worked. The membranes in the good Pharaoh’s nose produced wet mucus. As he breathed in–and–out through his nose, the mucus dried and became crusty. That crusty mucus irritated Tutankhamun’s nose, and the rest is history. Except for the fact that most people pick their own noses these days, not much has changed in the last 3,000 or so years.
Just to prove it, in 1995, The Journal of Psychiatry published the results of a nose picking study in which the 1,000 residents of Dane County, Wisconsin were surveyed.2 Here’s what the 254 people who responded had to say:
More than 90% confessed they picked their nose.
Almost 10% claimed they have never picked their nose. (We suspect these people are liars or suffer from memory loss.)
About 25% admitted they pick their noses every day.
Three people said they pick every hour of every day.
One person claimed to pick more than 2 hours each day.
About 10% ate their boogers.
Let’s face it. We all pick our noses, whether it’s to get rid of a hanging booger, scratch an itch, or relieve irritation caused by that crusty mucus. Some of us even do it just because it’s fun and boogers taste good.
No matter how necessary or satisfying it is, though, nose picking is considered rude and repugnant. Here are some ideas on how to pick, flick, and stick boogers without grossing out absolutely everyone.
Picking Dos and Don’ts
• Try to pick your nose only when you’re alone.
• Remember that wet boogers stick and
dry boogers bounce.
• Use a handkerchief or tissue paper if you must pick in public. Make it quick and discreet.
• Don’t pick while seated at the table
eating with other people.
• Don’t pick if you are handling food and drinks for others.
• Remember that picking does not
impress girls—or boys for that matter.