Nose picking culture...ooo disgusting!

A Nose Picking Culture

WRITTEN BY: DUE-EAST ON APRIL 14, 2011 2 COMMENTS

[Downtown Vancouver Perhaps? You've Gotta Be Kidding Me]

Only up to one knuckle? Amateur!

I totally love it here in China. It’s a really awesome place! But every culture has its drawbacks. One of the things I hate about Chinese culture is the nose picking, the very public, .

Now, everybody does it sometimes. It’s just a fact. If you say otherwise, you’re either perfect or a liar (and there are no perfect people on earth). It’s not like we do it purposely; sometimes without even realizing it, we do it. You know how it is: something in your nose feels uncomfortable, and without realizing it, you quickly thumb it out. Gross, yes. A fact of life? Absolutely. The difference is that in general, people from the West are pretty grossed out when we catch ourselves doing it. So when that happens, we take care of it as quickly as possible and wash our hands. We’re ashamed of it.

That’s where Chinese culture as a whole is totally different. Here in China, picking your nose in public is extremely common. Everybody does it. Old men do it. Old ladies do it. Kids (of course) do it. Young business men do it. Extremely beautiful women, dressed-to-the-nines and wearing wonderful smelling perfume, do it. And time and place? Make no difference. They do it at home. They do it on the street. They do it waiting for the bus. They do it on the bus. They do it while eating. They do it while waiting in line at the grocery store. The employees do it while they’re waiting for the next customer at the grocery store. I’m actually scared to think of what may be going on in the kitchen at my favorite restaurant. I try my best not to eat out a lot.

And how do they deal with the fruits of their labor? Often in the most disgusting way imaginable! The other day, when I was on a crowded bus going to work, I saw an old lady digging away, working so deep that she was up practically to her second knuckle. Having dug a winner, out came her finger, and after inspecting her find, she wiped on the handrail. But she wasn’t done yet! Oh no, not she wasn’t! This was 1949, her nose was California, and she was a prospector with 10 hungry kids at home. She bravely went back for a second round and dug out a second large nugget. EUREKA!!! Just as before, she wiped her glorious catch on the handrail. Apparently loathe to miss one precious nugget, she then leaned forward, pressed her thumb against one of her nostrils, took a deep breath, and proceeded to blow a gigantic snot rocket on the bus floor. After shaking the excess snot off her finger, she calmly went back to looking out the bus window.

At first, I couldn’t help but laugh. It was surreal seeing someone pick her nose with such vigor and vim in such a public place. But then it occurred to me: how many other people who had held the very handrail I was now holding had done the same thing? Then it wasn’t so funny anymore…