To Blow, or Not To Blow?

Jasongreat

I try the best I can never to be in a public place, :), But when I am I could care less about the rest of the public. If I need to blow my nose, I blow my nose. If I am outdoors, it only takes a finger on my off nostril, no tissue needed. :)

BobG

I'm an INTJ.

So I sneeze into my hand, wipe my hand on my pants, and then offer to shake hands. That cuts down on the number of people that come up to bother me with greetings.

Between that and me bringing up discussions of how a person should only use one piece of toilet paper (as divided by the perforations on the roll) in order to save the trees, nobody shakes my hand anymore.

DaveC426913

omg, I saw a homeless guy do this once from a second floor window. I never recovered.

rhody

When my anti-viral was wearing off weeks ago, my immune system wents nuts and I found myself sneezing almost 50 times in a row, one sure way to stop it, grab your lower lip (I know this looks stupid, but it works, and not just with me) and squeeze and wiggle back and forth slightly. It stopped the onslaught but not forever. If you catch it before a sudden histamine buildup or right after your last vigorous sneeze it works best.

I have a clarifying question for you mucus officianiado's out there, is clear mucus safer than the stuff with eww... greenish chunks, and does the color indicate presense of active bacteria in it, and if so what are type of bacteria leaves this signature ? There, I just grossed myself out, I hope I didn't gross you out too, well, maybe not...

Rhody...

Monique

Here cyclists do that regularly, especially the semi-profi ones that don't want to lose speed by fetching a tissue. One soon learns to keep appropriate distance, ugh, so gross.

DaveC426913

Yes. Yellow or green mucus is filled with dead bacteria and (I think) white corpuscles.

I can't remember the reason for the green in the bacteria, but I think there was a thread on it here a few years ago.

A similar thread, though it does not explicitly say what the colour is due to:
http://physicsforums.com/showthread....acteria&page=3
I recall hearing from someone that it has to do with the size of the bacteria and light scattering.

Moonbear

After all of the discussion in this thread, I have now concluded one should never blow your nose in public. I will stick with picking my nose from now on. And, since those elevator buttons are pretty germy, I'll remember if on an elevator to pick my nose before I push the button, otherwise I might transfer nasty bacteria from the button to my nose. Another successfully educational topic courtesy of PF.

SHISHKABOB

this thread makes me feel like a big jerk for using a public computer while I have a cold :(

Gad

I always use my index proximal interphalangeal joint to press whatever button in public places.

Jimmy Snyder

Go to a plastic surgeon and pick your nose.

Danger

It wasn't germs that were being trapped; it was men.
Ah, never mind. You kinda had to be there...

KingNothing

As people age, they are allowed to do more and more "inappropriate things". Once you hit about ~75 you can just fart/burp/blow your nose anywhere you want.

mege

Which is more distracting while in class/meeting/gathering - the occassional nose blow or the constant sniffling?

Personally, I'd rather hear the occassional nose blow.

I'm almost 30, American, and it's never dawned on me that blowing your nose in public was considered rude. Are there situations (resturants, etc) where doing it discretely is neccessary? Absolutely. But if I see some random person in a mall pull a (clean) tissue out of their pocket, blow into it, then toss it right away - it wouldn't phase me in the slightest.

During the dog days of summer, I keep a linen hankerchief (sp?) in my pocket to wipe sweat from my face (especially if I am not wearing a hat, I have to keep extra shirts around too). I wouldn't really ever dream of blowing my nose into it and placing it back in my pocket - but sweat? Is there really that much of a difference? :p

ThomasT

Between sweat and mucous?

Ouabache

My part of the world is the USA. Age; young enough to have viewed the original airing of Star Trek. I do blow my nose in public as the need arises (typically shortly after sneezing). Venue really doesn't enter into it (ballgame, restaurant, theater). I use tissue or a handkerchief, whichever happens to be handy.
Having allergies, I take antihistimines regularly. So my nose is dry most of the time unless I happen to have a cold or exposed to a high load of airborne allergens. If I have the opportunity I will blow my nose in the shower or use warm water from a faucet which facilitates loosening mucous.

In this discussion of nasal mucous, I notice comments of gross and icky, suggesting
feelings of repulsion and disgust. This reminds me of a recent SciFri podcast with a
discussion on the psychology of disgust.

Why people find certain things disgusting? Is it cultural, Is it learned behavior?
In one country spitting or blowing your nostrils in the street is normal behavior,
yet other societies would find this repulsive or gross. Foot odour is considered disgusting, yet there are many who delight in aroma of Munster, Bel Paese and Limburger cheese. In my neck of the woods, farmers spread manure in open fields after mucking out the barns. Some folks would retch at this odour. I find it tolerable and a pleasant reminder of the upcoming gardening season.

(the rest of the podcast is a good listen. If you're interested, here is the main link to their science podcasts
http://www.sciencefriday.com/audio/scifriaudio.xml

netgypsy

If it's at all possible to avoid I never blow my nose in public. I'll "dab it" if I'm having a major allergy attack or the onset of headcold. My father would pull out his handkerchief, shake it out and "blow his bugle" as a doctor quite descriptively put it and it was embarrassing. Another family member would do the same but not nearly as loud or as frequently. But that family member like to scratch the inside of his ear with a car key. Luckily he didn't do it in public. My social "flaw" is my sneezes will topple tall buildings and having serious allergies I sometimes sneezed 100 times in the morning and late at night. A bit annoying to family members but I've never been able to stifle a sneeze.

lisab

I can often stifle a sneeze but most folks can't, so I put sneezes in a different category than nose-blowing.

I guess there is too much of a cultural overlay to really decide if there is an age bias to public nose blowing.