Brain scratching

I think its funny how picking your nose is such a "matter of fact" habit here in Beijing. Just on my way to work I witnessed three people digging for nose nuggets, one of them being my taxi driver. My taxi driver was pretty local, spitting and picking his nose at the same time. He even dared to use his thumb to explore his brain cavity.

Another person I saw was sitting next to the window on a bus, and he was actually using his knuckles. He would rub/wipe his nose with his knuckle, pull his fist away, glance at his find, then move onto the next knuckle. What was weirder, is that he didn't even brush his hand off after he was done.

Now, I know double standards are frowned upon, especially amongst women, but I must say I am even more grossed out by a woman who gets her finger in her nose up to the second knuckle on her index finger. Granted, women's fingers are more petite, but that still takes some serious coaxing to get that bad boy in that far. What could possibly be in there THAT deep? I mean, that is some Circque du Soleil type contortion. Maybe its due to the yellow dust, or maybe people are bored. I will admit though, the air quality does create a lot of debris in the nostril area, but rest assure, this guy won't be publicly grabbing brain anytime soon.