h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Perhaps the worst badhabit, and the hardest to give up, nose picking is by ar the most famous bad habit. Nmerous jokes are made of it, yet every day it happens, and just a few centimetres below your eyes!

However, hope is not yet lost. Below are a few things you can do to help your nose picking problem, if you have one that is:

1. Put your nose pickings in the bin - The worst thing in the world is to put your hand under a table or chair, then bring it out to find it cvered in snot. Don't put other people in this situation, and put your pickings in the bin.

2. Carry a tissue or hankerchief with you always - So you start picking your nose, there ain't a bin around, and you've got more then you can handle out your nose. What Do you do? Get out your tissue and hankerchief and use it to wipe your nose and finger, removing the disgusting pickings.

3. If you have to pick your nose - Go in a corner, look down, anything, it doesn't matter. Just don't do it while everyone is looking at you cause it looks disgusting.

4. Wear gloves - You can't pick your nose while wearing gloves.

So, if after all this you still have a pretty bad nose picking problem? The the solution is simple:

Don't do it!


spook

But it's soooo tasty

I hate to admit it, but I do suffer from this one...

It seems to happen when I'm either deep in thought (such as when at work, trying to read or write a report) or absolutely bored (as in traffic jams). And I don't even notice I'm doing it until someone point it out to me!

The only cure I can recommend is to grow your fingernails, rendering unconscious nose picking painful and awkward to do.

Also, if you're a woman (like me), wear nail varnish which is prone to flaking. Nothing puts you off a rake around 'up there' more than a sharp bit of nail varnish shrapnel.

Personally I find nothing makes a traffic jam fly like catching someone out having a good delve

I think there are worse bad habits than nose picking - at least it's fairly self contaned (if the disposal method is good) I really don't see a problem with it myself (but maybe I'm just a bit scummy)

It's not just boogers ... it's the eye-watering thrill of pulling out a clump of errant nasal-hair. I especially like chewing on the little folicule that comes out with it. I don't know how to stop it though, lest I cut off my nose and spite my face.

"It's not just boogers ... it's the eye-watering thrill of pulling out a clump of errant nasal-hair. I especially like chewing on the little folicule that comes out with it."

One word for that:

Eeeeeeeeew!

That's really horrible!

oooh - I don't pull out my nose hairs (I'm not that crazy) but I am a fellow follical chewer - I pull out the curlier hairs on my head and bite off the follicles...I suppose thats a bad habit but it's actually a weird way of getting my hair to stay straight (thats my justification and I'm sticking to it )

"... I am a fellow follical chewer ..."

Perfect. They are just al dente aren't they.

I started because of the same twisted logic that made me always eat my scabs (sorry this thread is going from to ), it seemed insane to just throw away sometihng that my body had spent all that time building

But yes - the little bite it takes to remove the follical from the hair, the slight crunchiness...and the lack of any motivation to stop - ok so it looks mad from the outside but from inside my brain it makes perfect sense.

I don't think there's anything wrong with eating bits of body. It's not waste is it ... like poo or wee. It's legitimate protein (I think).

I'm not sure if ear-wax has any nutritional value and it tastes awful, but I can't quite stop myself from cleaning out beneath my finger-nails after giving myself a good ear-w*nk.

And toe-jam. Is that me or sock?

legitimate protein - thats always been my excuse too (and might well be a valid one)

Ear wax I don't produce an awful lot of - although I used to lick the arms of my glasses clean after using them to clean out my ears (I can just picture the lurkers cringing)...I don't seem to have the time/inclination to do this any more though

I bite the skin from the sides of my finger nails (but I don't bite my nails)...I used to eat foot scrapings (mmmm salty) until I got a particularly soapy mouthful put me right off.

I still eat scabs but I don't get so many as I used to at school

It's kind of reassuring to mind someone from the same egg.

I also only nibble the skin around the sides of my nails - I hate doing it because every now and again I 'bit off more than I can chew' and get rip off around the cuticle, which is sore, and unsightly (embarrassing).

But then, a few days later, I get a nice bit of black scab tissue which I can tease off with the point of a compass ...

I don't know what I can do to stop, but do spend a lot of time massaging my finger tips, cuticles etc, to encourage blood-flow and hence growth.

As for feet, mine are like snakes. A few rough bits but generally OK, Then once a year they shed. It's like peeling sunburn ... very satisfying, very nourishing.

ooooooooooh sunburn

Especially the big sheets you can get by massaging on the shoulder and upper arm.

and then roll up into a little ball...

Ew ew ew ew ew!

I'm unsubscribing from this topic now!

Toe-nail clippings are OK after a bath/shower, when they are al dente, but play havoc with my teeth if I eat them 'dry'. I have to floss to get them out.

Still, whilst this may be perceived to be a bad habit, it does preserve me from the dreaded "have you been clipping your toe-nails whilst sitting on the dunny?" routine.

How do you manage to get your foot into your mouth to bite your toenails? I've tried but I'm not that flexible. Yoga maybe?

I prefer to pick my toenails then give the clippings a good suck.

Traffice jams are a favourite spot for me. I also particularly enjoy the expression on the faces of my fellow jamees as they watch me rooting around.

Having long nails doesn't discourage me. I just find it easier to reach the juicy ones at the back.

Remember, pick, flick, stick, quick. The last thing you want is to have to shake someones had with a booger stuck on the ed of your finger.

Sticking my boogers under the desks of executives is especially good fun.

The wonderful thing about disgusting habits is that they are free, non-damaging to the environment or your body but delightfully naughty.

Fascinating subject. Raises important questions.

eg How prevalent is it?
Click here and scroll to the end : http://www.physics.odu.edu/~weinstei/102s03/homework/hw03soln.txt

Doesn't say if the stuff's fattening, though...