No pick!

Okay: so here's a very serious question. Say a certain part of your body itches. Okay, say it's your nose. Just inside your nose.

You know, the outer rim.

Scratching it doesn't really signify a pick, does it?

So how deep do you have to go before it becomes a pick?

Now I know you all have your tricks for pretending you are not picking your nose, when you know danged well that is exactly what you are doing. There's the nonchalant face dab, intended to look like a scratch to the outer nose area, which is of course still socially acceptable. I don't find the face dab very satisfying, myself, although it may buy you a little time. It really only works until you can get yourself around the corner and into a more reclusive picking angle.

And then there's the I'm-just-looking-up-into-the-sky while-swabbing-my-entire-fist-vigorously-over-my-face-routine. The idea there is to pretend you're just rubbing your eyes and somehow your nose got in the way.

If you happen to be lucky enough to be wearing something like a sweatshirt, you can pull it off and skillfully snag your finger on your olfactory appendage as you do so. Of course, that leaves the risk that you really will pull something out and leave it decorously hanging on your cheek afterward. This of course is much worse than leaving a dangler in your nose, where at least it belongs.

But I kinda figure that people who peer up your nose pretty much deserve what they have coming to them.