Scientists on nose picking
July 20, 2022 5:38 AM Subscribe
Come on, you know you do it. Whether you’re in the trusted company of your spouse, or sneaking a quick one when you think nobody’s looking, we all pick our noses. Other primates do it too. The social stigma around nose picking is widespread. But should we really be doing it – and what should we do with our boogers? Three scientists offer their take via The Conversation.
Previously in AskMetaFilter
Help me get over my secret shame (2020)
What's the deal with nose picking in Japan? (2019)
What are some expressions in French for nose picking? (2015)
End nose picking now (2011)
Boogey Nights (2009)
Previously in AskMetaFilter
Help me get over my secret shame (2020)
What's the deal with nose picking in Japan? (2019)
What are some expressions in French for nose picking? (2015)
End nose picking now (2011)
Boogey Nights (2009)
everybody's doin' it
pickin' their nose and chewin' it
you might think it's gross
but it's snot
posted by Faint of Butt at 5:55 AM on July 20, 2022 [9 favorites]
pickin' their nose and chewin' it
you might think it's gross
but it's snot
posted by Faint of Butt at 5:55 AM on July 20, 2022 [9 favorites]
The unanswered question is what to do about the boogers in your nose if you are not supposed to pick them. I'm thinking neti pot, but you probably won't use a neti pot everytime you have boogers.
posted by GernBlandston at 6:03 AM on July 20, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by GernBlandston at 6:03 AM on July 20, 2022 [2 favorites]
On the contrary, The Fucking Article answered that question but perhaps the answer is not satisfying:
Some more hygienic people use a tissue for retrieval, and dispose of it in a bin or toilet afterwards. That’s probably among the least worst options, if you really must pick your nose. Just make sure you wash your hands extra carefully after blowing or digging in your nose, given that until mucus has completely dried, infectious viruses can remain on the hands and fingers.
posted by Bella Donna at 6:08 AM on July 20, 2022 [2 favorites]
Some more hygienic people use a tissue for retrieval, and dispose of it in a bin or toilet afterwards. That’s probably among the least worst options, if you really must pick your nose. Just make sure you wash your hands extra carefully after blowing or digging in your nose, given that until mucus has completely dried, infectious viruses can remain on the hands and fingers.
posted by Bella Donna at 6:08 AM on July 20, 2022 [2 favorites]
I read an article a long time ago in a medical journal on the BENEFITS of eating boogers. The introduction of contaminants in the mouth will (apparently) have the bodies immune system create anti-bodies against certain germs/viruses etc. Not really sure I want to be a guinea pig for that trial though...
posted by IndelibleUnderpants at 6:14 AM on July 20, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by IndelibleUnderpants at 6:14 AM on July 20, 2022 [3 favorites]
I read an article a long time ago in a medical journal on the BENEFITS of eating boogers ... Not really sure I want to be a guinea pig for that trial though.
Bit confused. Was that a randomised trial i.e. did people eat their own, or someone elses?
posted by Wordshore at 6:18 AM on July 20, 2022 [4 favorites]
Bit confused. Was that a randomised trial i.e. did people eat their own, or someone elses?
posted by Wordshore at 6:18 AM on July 20, 2022 [4 favorites]
Bit confused. Was that a randomised trial i.e. did people eat their own, or someone elses?
Like my mother always said, "You can pick your friends, and you can pick your nose, but you can't pick your friend's nose."
posted by briank at 6:21 AM on July 20, 2022 [17 favorites]
Like my mother always said, "You can pick your friends, and you can pick your nose, but you can't pick your friend's nose."
posted by briank at 6:21 AM on July 20, 2022 [17 favorites]
What was the control experiment?
Did someone do dose response studies?
posted by lalochezia at 6:32 AM on July 20, 2022
Did someone do dose response studies?
posted by lalochezia at 6:32 AM on July 20, 2022
Another version….
“You can pick your friends and you can pick your nose but you can’t wipe your friends on the couch….”
posted by pearlybob at 7:04 AM on July 20, 2022 [6 favorites]
“You can pick your friends and you can pick your nose but you can’t wipe your friends on the couch….”
posted by pearlybob at 7:04 AM on July 20, 2022 [6 favorites]
My grandfather, who spent a lot of time and money at the track used to say, "Pick me a winner." One day I handed him my picked booger. That ended that weak sauce joke. Oh to be 10 again.
posted by JohnnyGunn at 7:07 AM on July 20, 2022 [6 favorites]
posted by JohnnyGunn at 7:07 AM on July 20, 2022 [6 favorites]
Since no one else has yet, I feel the need to throw in the phrase "Pick it, lick it, roll it, flick it."
posted by biffa at 7:08 AM on July 20, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by biffa at 7:08 AM on July 20, 2022 [1 favorite]
On the contrary, The Fucking Article answered that question but perhaps the answer is not satisfying
Seems an oddly hostile response.
I don't really understand what "use a tissue for retrieval" is supposed to mean. Is this just nose-picking with a tissue instead of a finger?
Sounds...ineffective. If a "blockage" is lodged securely enough to need picking, then it probably isn't going to yield to a tissue.
I personally don't see the problem with nose-picking, as long as you wash your hands, and are decent enough to put it in the trash.
posted by escape from the potato planet at 7:23 AM on July 20, 2022 [6 favorites]
Seems an oddly hostile response.
I don't really understand what "use a tissue for retrieval" is supposed to mean. Is this just nose-picking with a tissue instead of a finger?
Sounds...ineffective. If a "blockage" is lodged securely enough to need picking, then it probably isn't going to yield to a tissue.
I personally don't see the problem with nose-picking, as long as you wash your hands, and are decent enough to put it in the trash.
posted by escape from the potato planet at 7:23 AM on July 20, 2022 [6 favorites]
Obviously, you gather them beneath your desk until you have enough to form a gooey homunculus. Then you carve the secret runes into this snot golem and breathe life into it. Now it is ready to launch at your 3rd grade teacher, where they will burrow deep into her brain, giving you complete control. Finally, you force her to return your GI Joe and let you go for big lunch early.
posted by adept256 at 7:25 AM on July 20, 2022 [18 favorites]
posted by adept256 at 7:25 AM on July 20, 2022 [18 favorites]
Har! The article features a charming photo illustration of a woman crossing her eyes to observe her own pickin' progress. She's wearing a pink t-shirt and the background is eggyolk yellow. When I scrolled down and first encountered this treat, it happened that a purple advertisement with white text was superimposed over the empty yolk part on the right side, all perfectly centered. The ad read, "Too busy to read all the news? Our newsletter can help!" or something like that, and I initially read the photo as part of the ad, and thought they'd made a clever a targeted ad for the article implying there are people whose nosepicking is a Serious Project and they really can't take the time to read the NYT or whatever because their eyes are trained on their nosepicking efforts for so much of the day.
posted by Don Pepino at 7:35 AM on July 20, 2022 [4 favorites]
posted by Don Pepino at 7:35 AM on July 20, 2022 [4 favorites]
Metafilter: Then you carve the secret runes into this snot golem and breathe life into it
posted by lalochezia at 7:38 AM on July 20, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by lalochezia at 7:38 AM on July 20, 2022 [3 favorites]
When I was a little kid I shared a bedroom and slept in the bottom bunk. One day my parents found that a patch of the wall next to my bed was encrusted with a mystery.
My enthusiastic response when they asked me wtf was on my bedroom wall:
"That's my booger collection!!"
Who needs croutons, just pet your cute crusty nose nuggets.
posted by RobinofFrocksley at 7:44 AM on July 20, 2022 [5 favorites]
My enthusiastic response when they asked me wtf was on my bedroom wall:
"That's my booger collection!!"
Who needs croutons, just pet your cute crusty nose nuggets.
posted by RobinofFrocksley at 7:44 AM on July 20, 2022 [5 favorites]
Now I've learned that Shutterstock has a whole collection of nose picking stock photography. 2,870 images, to be precise.
Filing this away for future use. Thank you.
posted by JoeZydeco at 7:48 AM on July 20, 2022 [1 favorite]
Filing this away for future use. Thank you.
posted by JoeZydeco at 7:48 AM on July 20, 2022 [1 favorite]
I have inserted
the finger
into the holes
where it fits
and recovered matter
that scientists
would not
approve of
Forgive me
it was delicious
so very satisfying
and so forbidden
posted by terretu at 8:00 AM on July 20, 2022 [13 favorites]
the finger
into the holes
where it fits
and recovered matter
that scientists
would not
approve of
Forgive me
it was delicious
so very satisfying
and so forbidden
posted by terretu at 8:00 AM on July 20, 2022 [13 favorites]
I recall feeling very justified reading some younger-audience Asimov stuff as a kid and it specifically calling out something to the effect of how someone on a video phone would be unable to even pick her nose comfortably. I read that as a liberating future where nose picking isn't taboo.
In short: it shouldn't be, but I don't do it in public because it clearly is.
posted by abulafa at 8:05 AM on July 20, 2022 [1 favorite]
In short: it shouldn't be, but I don't do it in public because it clearly is.
posted by abulafa at 8:05 AM on July 20, 2022 [1 favorite]
The striking thing is how disgusting it is to witness.
Does it disgust (or embarrass?) people to look in a mirror as they do it? I don’t remember trying that but I imagine it would in my case.
There’s some really interesting recent research suggesting your immune system doesn’t react to potentially inflammation inducing food because that food induces Treg cells which suppress inflammation instead:
posted by jamjam at 8:06 AM on July 20, 2022 [1 favorite]
Does it disgust (or embarrass?) people to look in a mirror as they do it? I don’t remember trying that but I imagine it would in my case.
There’s some really interesting recent research suggesting your immune system doesn’t react to potentially inflammation inducing food because that food induces Treg cells which suppress inflammation instead:
The researchers fed the different types of foods to the test mice for a week and then measured their immune response. They found that after consuming food with the gliadin peptide, the mice saw a slight increase in T cell numbers in their guts and a small number of them generated a weak antibody response—notably, many of them were regulatory T cells, known as Treg cells, which tend to be immunosuppressive, which could partially explain the lack of a general response to the food found in the gut. The researchers also found some T cells that appeared to be different than the type of T cells normally found in an immune response, though they noted, they could have been Treg cell precursors. In their experiments, they found that none of the T cells that presented themselves in the gut in response to the presence of food were of a type that could incite inflammation.Which bolsters the idea it could help with allergies.
posted by jamjam at 8:06 AM on July 20, 2022 [1 favorite]
Two very particular things my dad didn't adequately prepare me for or warn me about in life:
What to do with too much nose hair.
What to do with giant boogers.
And what to do with giant boogers trapped in too much nose hair or too much nose hair trapped in giant boogers, and how these are two distinctly different things and require different solutions.
posted by loquacious at 8:12 AM on July 20, 2022 [6 favorites]
What to do with too much nose hair.
What to do with giant boogers.
And what to do with giant boogers trapped in too much nose hair or too much nose hair trapped in giant boogers, and how these are two distinctly different things and require different solutions.
posted by loquacious at 8:12 AM on July 20, 2022 [6 favorites]
The striking thing is how disgusting it is to witness.
My youngest sister and one of my daughters would form the 'surfing shaka' hand signal to suck their thumb with their pinky in their nose. Makes me wonder if a proclivity towards nose picking is genetic.
posted by The_Vegetables at 8:37 AM on July 20, 2022 [1 favorite]
My youngest sister and one of my daughters would form the 'surfing shaka' hand signal to suck their thumb with their pinky in their nose. Makes me wonder if a proclivity towards nose picking is genetic.
posted by The_Vegetables at 8:37 AM on July 20, 2022 [1 favorite]
I just blame it on the boogey.
posted by Goofyy at 8:42 AM on July 20, 2022 [4 favorites]
posted by Goofyy at 8:42 AM on July 20, 2022 [4 favorites]
As a teen I offered to help paint a (male) friend's room. When we moved the bed to paint the wall, there was a lifetime collage of dried snot and green boogers. I hesitated, roller dripping, knowing that the proper thing to do would be to scrub the wall. Or burn it. Said friend proceeded to paint over it. As did I, after the first hesitation. I do not ever want to live in a place with blue paint on the walls, and don't get me started on how I feel about wall texture.
posted by BlueHorse at 9:04 AM on July 20, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by BlueHorse at 9:04 AM on July 20, 2022 [3 favorites]
I have noticed in some public men's washrooms the boogers are smeared on the walls, at the urinals. I have yet to see anyone in the act of picking and smearing, but the evidence remains. Fucking gross.
I can't manage the technique, but if you're out in the wild and you block one nostril and very forcefully blow out the other, you can pretty much clear anything.. we call it "the farmer" around here, but you see it with tradespeople too. I'll just say it: men.
posted by elkevelvet at 9:05 AM on July 20, 2022 [5 favorites]
I can't manage the technique, but if you're out in the wild and you block one nostril and very forcefully blow out the other, you can pretty much clear anything.. we call it "the farmer" around here, but you see it with tradespeople too. I'll just say it: men.
posted by elkevelvet at 9:05 AM on July 20, 2022 [5 favorites]
we call it "the farmer" around here,
I believe the technical term among cyclists is 'snot rocket.'
posted by Flight Hardware, do not touch at 9:11 AM on July 20, 2022 [4 favorites]
I believe the technical term among cyclists is 'snot rocket.'
posted by Flight Hardware, do not touch at 9:11 AM on July 20, 2022 [4 favorites]
Ooh! Ooh! Do earwax next!
posted by flabdablet at 9:42 AM on July 20, 2022 [6 favorites]
posted by flabdablet at 9:42 AM on July 20, 2022 [6 favorites]
I believe the technical term among cyclists is 'snot rocket.'
Can confirm. It's kind of a necessity if you're riding in cold weather, you either jettison the inevitable build up from time to time, or you end up with it running down your face.
Don't practice this skill if you're in a group, by the way, very poor form.
posted by tomsk at 9:43 AM on July 20, 2022 [1 favorite]
Can confirm. It's kind of a necessity if you're riding in cold weather, you either jettison the inevitable build up from time to time, or you end up with it running down your face.
Don't practice this skill if you're in a group, by the way, very poor form.
posted by tomsk at 9:43 AM on July 20, 2022 [1 favorite]
In second year of uni, I was in a shared flat with one friend from first year plus other flatmates from international exchange programmes. I came to realise that it was entirely normal and unremarked upon for our three Singaporean flatmates to forcefully blow their noses one nostril at a time during their morning showers. Once I'd got past the initial weirdness it sort of made sense. The noise carried though, believe me.
posted by paperpete at 9:47 AM on July 20, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by paperpete at 9:47 AM on July 20, 2022 [3 favorites]
my name is Kid
and wen in bed
or any plaes i hied my head
and mom and dad hav gon to doz --
i stik out fingr.
i pik the noz
posted by phooky at 10:00 AM on July 20, 2022 [9 favorites]
and wen in bed
or any plaes i hied my head
and mom and dad hav gon to doz --
i stik out fingr.
i pik the noz
posted by phooky at 10:00 AM on July 20, 2022 [9 favorites]
Wait is that really a Singaporean thing? Where else can one cleanly and easily blow your nose but in your shower??
posted by dorothyisunderwood at 11:00 AM on July 20, 2022 [4 favorites]
posted by dorothyisunderwood at 11:00 AM on July 20, 2022 [4 favorites]
I can't believe it took this long for someone to post "Here Comes Another One"
and I'm waaay down the list to quote MP at the party, like very much never
posted by elkevelvet at 11:25 AM on July 20, 2022 [1 favorite]
and I'm waaay down the list to quote MP at the party, like very much never
posted by elkevelvet at 11:25 AM on July 20, 2022 [1 favorite]
I must be a glutton for punishment because reading this thread has made my stomach roil. However:
I read an article a long time ago in a medical journal on the BENEFITS of eating boogers. The introduction of contaminants in the mouth will (apparently) have the bodies immune system create anti-bodies against certain germs/viruses etc.
I was recently treated to this theory by a complete stranger, who then proceeded to say, “And to answer your unspoken question, I am from Alberta and no I’m not vaccinated.” No dude, I was not wondering, but thank you for removing all doubt about your proclivities.
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 11:55 AM on July 20, 2022 [2 favorites]
I read an article a long time ago in a medical journal on the BENEFITS of eating boogers. The introduction of contaminants in the mouth will (apparently) have the bodies immune system create anti-bodies against certain germs/viruses etc.
I was recently treated to this theory by a complete stranger, who then proceeded to say, “And to answer your unspoken question, I am from Alberta and no I’m not vaccinated.” No dude, I was not wondering, but thank you for removing all doubt about your proclivities.
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 11:55 AM on July 20, 2022 [2 favorites]
What to do with too much nose hair.
Old-timey barber shops would have ads for nose-hair trimming gadgets not unlike this one, their analog elegant construction somewhat offset by dire warnings that pulling nose hairs out by the root could lead to a brain infection (which this site seems to back up). But I'm a modern man, and my beard trimmer has a handy attachment which also does the job, as well as getting the hairs that grow out of my ears like Yoda or Grand Nagus Zek.
posted by Halloween Jack at 11:56 AM on July 20, 2022 [3 favorites]
Old-timey barber shops would have ads for nose-hair trimming gadgets not unlike this one, their analog elegant construction somewhat offset by dire warnings that pulling nose hairs out by the root could lead to a brain infection (which this site seems to back up). But I'm a modern man, and my beard trimmer has a handy attachment which also does the job, as well as getting the hairs that grow out of my ears like Yoda or Grand Nagus Zek.
posted by Halloween Jack at 11:56 AM on July 20, 2022 [3 favorites]
Ah... 14-years old, and watching that CBC gem, "4 on the Floor" and the only segment I remember to this day, is.... "Booger Barrage" - and boom, I wanted to be a computer nerd and program things...
posted by rozcakj at 12:07 PM on July 20, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by rozcakj at 12:07 PM on July 20, 2022 [1 favorite]
On the contrary, The Fucking Article answered that question but perhaps the answer is not satisfying
Not so! TFA* answers a different question. So you're not supposed to but you picked a booger, the article lays out the least bad options for dealing with it.
What it doesn't answer is what those of you who are so evolved that you resist the urge to ever put a finger up there are supposed to about uncomfortable, accumulated mucus.
*TFA/the fucking article is long-time mefi inside short-hand and is not meant, in my experience, with any hostility. Though it's more often self-directed.
posted by VTX at 12:09 PM on July 20, 2022 [3 favorites]
Not so! TFA* answers a different question. So you're not supposed to but you picked a booger, the article lays out the least bad options for dealing with it.
What it doesn't answer is what those of you who are so evolved that you resist the urge to ever put a finger up there are supposed to about uncomfortable, accumulated mucus.
*TFA/the fucking article is long-time mefi inside short-hand and is not meant, in my experience, with any hostility. Though it's more often self-directed.
posted by VTX at 12:09 PM on July 20, 2022 [3 favorites]
thoughtburro: But I do sit to wipe.
Same degenerate choices here -- plus I'm lobbying the Transition Team for a place I can tell rambling stories about my life and people can infer what they like and offer uninvited advice: guess.metafilter.com
aside: TFA derives from Read The F_cking Manual (RTFM), an exclamation at someone asking a redundant question when there is a document at hand that could answer the question.
posted by k3ninho at 12:50 PM on July 20, 2022 [1 favorite]
Same degenerate choices here -- plus I'm lobbying the Transition Team for a place I can tell rambling stories about my life and people can infer what they like and offer uninvited advice: guess.metafilter.com
aside: TFA derives from Read The F_cking Manual (RTFM), an exclamation at someone asking a redundant question when there is a document at hand that could answer the question.
posted by k3ninho at 12:50 PM on July 20, 2022 [1 favorite]
If you are / are not one of those sickos who became temporarily obsessed with the 'Dr. Pimple Popper' videos a while back; I do / do not recommend doing a video search for the terms 'sinus debridement', 'Dr. Booger Picker', or simply 'giant booger removal'. No links.
posted by bartleby at 1:55 PM on July 20, 2022
posted by bartleby at 1:55 PM on July 20, 2022
I prefer to let them harden a bit, which gives me more range and better accuracy when I flick them.
posted by mule98J at 2:30 PM on July 20, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by mule98J at 2:30 PM on July 20, 2022 [1 favorite]
Ooh! Ooh! Do earwax next!
If you go to Amazon you can get a little rechargeable endoscope with an earwax scoop. Transmits the video to your phone. You could totally use this for boogers too, although somehow I think that’s grosser than picking your nose.
posted by condour75 at 2:36 PM on July 20, 2022
If you go to Amazon you can get a little rechargeable endoscope with an earwax scoop. Transmits the video to your phone. You could totally use this for boogers too, although somehow I think that’s grosser than picking your nose.
posted by condour75 at 2:36 PM on July 20, 2022
https://www.goodbadjokes.com/jokes/why-do-gorillas-have-big-nostrils
In case you or some children don't know.
posted by mdoar at 2:51 PM on July 20, 2022 [1 favorite]
In case you or some children don't know.
posted by mdoar at 2:51 PM on July 20, 2022 [1 favorite]
Old-timey barber shops would have ads for nose-hair trimming gadgets not unlike this one, their analog elegant construction somewhat offset by dire warnings that pulling nose hairs out by the root could lead to a brain infection (which this site seems to back up).
Yeah, I have a nose hair trimmer thingy but it mostly just, uh, stops and complains when I try to use it, so I'm on team tweezer and yanking them out. Or just carefully using scissors for the bulk of it.
I'm sure this is common because most people have noses but I have this stubborn thicket that grows from up inside the tip of my nose, forwards from the nostrils, and they kind of grow up and back and are a right pain to manage. I tend to have to reach up into that space with tweezers and just yank them out, because if I don't they just get way too long and hide until I sneeze or blow my nose or something and then I'll have tufts half an inch long or more suddenly exposed and to be honest I just hate it.
I am definitely not on team booger eater because urrrrgh no. Once they're out they stay out.
posted by loquacious at 5:00 PM on July 20, 2022
Yeah, I have a nose hair trimmer thingy but it mostly just, uh, stops and complains when I try to use it, so I'm on team tweezer and yanking them out. Or just carefully using scissors for the bulk of it.
I'm sure this is common because most people have noses but I have this stubborn thicket that grows from up inside the tip of my nose, forwards from the nostrils, and they kind of grow up and back and are a right pain to manage. I tend to have to reach up into that space with tweezers and just yank them out, because if I don't they just get way too long and hide until I sneeze or blow my nose or something and then I'll have tufts half an inch long or more suddenly exposed and to be honest I just hate it.
I am definitely not on team booger eater because urrrrgh no. Once they're out they stay out.
posted by loquacious at 5:00 PM on July 20, 2022
And who can forget that early Weird Al tune: Gotta Boogie
posted by cheshyre at 5:35 PM on July 20, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by cheshyre at 5:35 PM on July 20, 2022 [2 favorites]
I have a nose hair trimmer thingy but it mostly just, uh, stops and complains when I try to use it
Honestly this manual model works great and easily gets into all the nooks and crannies where hair tries to hide. To use it you hold the top part and casually twist the bottom part back and forth, and the business end has an inner bit that rotates against the stationary outer bit to do the cutting. No mess no fuss, effective and easy to clean. There are models with two levers you squeeze to make the parts rotate, but to me that seems extra fiddly and I can't imagine they make it any easier to use.
posted by Greg_Ace at 6:17 PM on July 20, 2022 [1 favorite]
Honestly this manual model works great and easily gets into all the nooks and crannies where hair tries to hide. To use it you hold the top part and casually twist the bottom part back and forth, and the business end has an inner bit that rotates against the stationary outer bit to do the cutting. No mess no fuss, effective and easy to clean. There are models with two levers you squeeze to make the parts rotate, but to me that seems extra fiddly and I can't imagine they make it any easier to use.
posted by Greg_Ace at 6:17 PM on July 20, 2022 [1 favorite]
I mean, I love technology and all the gadgets, but as I've gotten older and marginally wiser I've learned that sometimes simpler really was better to begin with.
posted by Greg_Ace at 6:21 PM on July 20, 2022
posted by Greg_Ace at 6:21 PM on July 20, 2022
"You could totally use this for boogers too, although somehow I think that’s grosser than picking your nose."
They sell these (and other booger-removal gadgets) for use with your babies and toddlers. I am partial to the oogiebear, although many people prefer the nosefrida. Either is preferable to the nasal bulb aspirator they send you home from the hospital with, which is wicked difficult to clean. And don't be fooled by these lying come-apart bulb aspirators -- they're easier to clean, but they suck because they fail to suck the third time you use them.
Basically what I'm saying is, have children, and you too can spend the next several years of your life picking someone else's boogers because they are too uncoordinated to pick their own. And, bonus benefit, the small child will scream and writhe the entire time that you are attempting to steal their precious, precious boogers.
You spend the first three years of their life going, "WHY CAN YOU NOT PICK YOUR OWN NOSE?" and then next ten going, "WILL YOU STOP PICKING YOUR NOSE IN PUBLIC?"
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 6:54 PM on July 20, 2022 [5 favorites]
They sell these (and other booger-removal gadgets) for use with your babies and toddlers. I am partial to the oogiebear, although many people prefer the nosefrida. Either is preferable to the nasal bulb aspirator they send you home from the hospital with, which is wicked difficult to clean. And don't be fooled by these lying come-apart bulb aspirators -- they're easier to clean, but they suck because they fail to suck the third time you use them.
Basically what I'm saying is, have children, and you too can spend the next several years of your life picking someone else's boogers because they are too uncoordinated to pick their own. And, bonus benefit, the small child will scream and writhe the entire time that you are attempting to steal their precious, precious boogers.
You spend the first three years of their life going, "WHY CAN YOU NOT PICK YOUR OWN NOSE?" and then next ten going, "WILL YOU STOP PICKING YOUR NOSE IN PUBLIC?"
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 6:54 PM on July 20, 2022 [5 favorites]
we call it "the farmer" around here,
I believe the technical term among cyclists is 'snot rocket.'
In my house, this has always been the "gym teacher's hankie," but I have no idea why.
posted by adekllny at 6:07 AM on July 21, 2022 [1 favorite]
I believe the technical term among cyclists is 'snot rocket.'
In my house, this has always been the "gym teacher's hankie," but I have no idea why.
posted by adekllny at 6:07 AM on July 21, 2022 [1 favorite]
Like my mother always said, "You can pick your friends, and you can pick your nose, but you can't pick your friend's nose."
I had a couple of friends in high school who decided to prove this wrong. Thankfully they only told me about it, rather than demonstrating.
posted by bile and syntax at 7:00 AM on July 21, 2022 [2 favorites]
I had a couple of friends in high school who decided to prove this wrong. Thankfully they only told me about it, rather than demonstrating.
posted by bile and syntax at 7:00 AM on July 21, 2022 [2 favorites]
Like my mother always said, "You can pick your friends, and you can pick your nose, but you can't pick your friend's nose."
That's a classic mom-double-dog-dare. Don't fall for it. And stay away from cliffs. Or go near them, who nose. Good thing I'm not a parent.
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 10:29 AM on July 21, 2022 [1 favorite]
That's a classic mom-double-dog-dare. Don't fall for it. And stay away from cliffs. Or go near them, who nose. Good thing I'm not a parent.
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 10:29 AM on July 21, 2022 [1 favorite]
Good thing I'm not a parent.
I used to tell my daughters the bedtime story about how Ripley and her cat were ignored by all her co-workers when she tried to tell them how to not get the ship taken over by monsters, and only her and the cat escape....
posted by mikelieman at 12:53 PM on July 21, 2022 [1 favorite]
I used to tell my daughters the bedtime story about how Ripley and her cat were ignored by all her co-workers when she tried to tell them how to not get the ship taken over by monsters, and only her and the cat escape....
posted by mikelieman at 12:53 PM on July 21, 2022 [1 favorite]
Ooh! Ooh! Do earwax next!
posted by flabdablet
Is that you, Kevin?
posted by Pouteria at 5:13 PM on July 21, 2022
posted by flabdablet
Is that you, Kevin?
posted by Pouteria at 5:13 PM on July 21, 2022
Or go near them, who nose.
I see what you did there.
posted by a non mouse, a cow herd at 6:27 AM on July 22, 2022
I see what you did there.
posted by a non mouse, a cow herd at 6:27 AM on July 22, 2022
Late to the show, but... re:
posted by ElGuapo at 7:50 PM on July 25, 2022 [1 favorite]
Basically what I'm saying is, have children, and you too can spend the next several years of your life picking someone else's boogersSome of middle child Guapita's earliest words were: "hebb meeeee, hebb meeeee" to her older sister, while the dreaded bulb aspirator removed the offending mucus, as the South Carolina humidity and pollen make a wicked nasal cement and runoff cocktail.
posted by ElGuapo at 7:50 PM on July 25, 2022 [1 favorite]
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ew
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 5:42 AM on July 20, 2022 [36 favorites]