I have many pet peeves, we all do.  For me, blowing one’s nose and spitting in public takes front and center.  Now don’t get me wrong, I understand that it is a necessary bodily function, and that’s fine, but so is urinating and emptying one’s bowels, but most people don’t do that in public– at least not normal people– there is a time and place for everything and I am going to cover what is and is not acceptable and why.

Imagine for a moment that you are sitting in a  restaurant, the lights are low, soft music is playing and you are indulging in your favorite meal.  You are sitting across the table from you date (or spouse) and having soft conversation.  Just as you dip your fork into a nice chunk of juicy prime rib you hear “Aarrrrgghhh… Hock!… Honk Honk”  loudly to your right.  You look across and you see a nicely dressed gentleman (and I use the word loosely) blowing his nose into a wadded up handherchief from his pocket.  After he finishes the very noisy nose blowing, he opens the hanky and takes a look at the surprise he left inside.  Looking satisfied, he wads the hanky up and stuffs it back into his pocket.  By this time, your appetite for that once luscious looking prime rib has ebbed and you feel a bit nauseous.  Nice.. Thanks mister!  How hard would it have been for him to either walk to the restroom or outside to do this disgusting business??  Have a little consideration!  I know that sneezes happen and these cannot be helped, but the loud honking and nose blowing can be done in a different area than where people are dining.  Why do some people find this  behavior acceptable?  Also in this category is when someone covers one nostril and blows the contents of the nose out onto the ground, Yuck!!

Next scenario.  You are walking down the street, minding your own business.  There is a young man walking ahead of you and “Hhhhaaaaaallllk!”  He spits a big green slime right in the middle of the sidewalk!  Good Lord man!  Whats wrong with spitting it into the bushes??  Or in the gutter even?  Why must I be subjected to your nasty green, slimey spit in the middle of the sidewalk where I am walking?  Even if I didn’t see the guy who did it, it makes me gag!  I admit that I have a pretty strong gag reflex when it comes to spit and snot, but geez.. am I the only one who this bothers??  Why can’t these people have some consideration for others?

This next scenario is from  personal experience I had at a job.  I was busily working at my desk when a guy came into my office to ask about something on his paycheck, no I didn’t do payroll, it was done by corporate, but I did address questions and issues about paychecks when they arose.  I explained to him what the deductions were for, and he seemed satisfied with the answer and left with a smile; but not before he turned  and spat tobacco juice into the little trash can next to my desk! What the heck?!  How rude!  I just sat there, trying to ignore the stench coming from my trash can, and not being able to stand it any longer, I, being who I am, called him back into my cubicle to empty my trash can and wash it out.

The final scenario just annoys me to no end!  I was sitting in the library studying for class when a young woman came and sat down at the public computers to do some web surfing.  Almost immediately, she started this:  “Sniff, sniff”  sucking snot back into her nose.  “sniff sniff”, this became louder and more pronounced.. “sniff sniff”… “clears the throat, sniff sniff”, wipes her nose on her sleeve… after about fifteen minutes of this annoying business, I couldn’t stand it anymore. I walked over and handed her a kleenex.  She took it and wiped her nose, but it was quickly obvious that she really needed to blow her nose, because the sniffling got louder and louder.  I finally moved to a different area of the library.  Why did she not just go into the bathroom and blow her drippy, snotty nose??  My God!!  I just don’t get it.

Now I ask you, am I being unreasonable by asking for these little things?  To me, bodily juices should not be excreted in public, no matter which end of the body they come out of, well, tears are an exception, but ther are not gross and disgusting.  It is ok to wipe your nose, sneeze into a tissue or cough into your sleeve, but I should not have to  be subjected to what comes out of it!  Take it outside or to the bathroom!  Geez!

Thanks for listening.