Seamus Haley

Forgot the poll options in the first post, D'oh!

I'll begin by stating that most users will want to keep their responses anonymous, by responding only to the Poll and not leaving a message... If people are brave enough to come forward with a public response attributed to their own name, then they're extremely brave souls.

Bit of a preamble... I read quite a bit and am a firm believer in the value of ALL knowledge and place research very high on my list of ways to subdue any curiosity I have about a subject. The problem is that I'm also interested in just about EVERYTHING and can easily become distracted, losing whatever my original question was and ending up with a set of answers to en entirely different subject. I also have a garbage pit mind, useless information just sits in there fermenting like a compost heap in the sun.

So I won't explain *exactly* how I got from the topic of "How constriction can enhance the effects of envenomation" (Seriously the topic I started with, I know how it works but needed specific lab results for a conversation I was having with a buddy to prove my arguments) to the subject of Victorian Etiquette manuals. There was a logical and clear cut series of linked and related topics in between, I swear.

Anyway... I ended up reading selected quotes from a book that was written to teach children how to behave in polite (to the point of masochistic obsession) society... One of the quotes I ended up reading pertained to how to go about performing certain bodily functions in public... Cover your mouth when you yawn, don't belch (explode instead), turn away from other people when sneezing or blwoing your nose... all pretty straightforward stuff BUT... It also stated something to the effect of "Don't open your hankercheif and view the contents as if diamonds and rubies may have fallen from your head" which I have to say, made me laugh until I thought about it seriously for a moment.

I do this... It's nasty and disgusting and now everyone knows it but I'm going to stand up and admit it... When I blow my nose, I then look at the contents of the kleenex. I can't say exactly what it is I'm looking for, but I do it every time, without thinking. Same for removing bandaids (usually from bites), I take a moment for personal reflection on the nastiness that I had been leaking. Now what I'm wondering is... is this some sort of terrible bad habit or is it simply human nature and an automatic reaction? Despite the truly dedicated efforts of my parents (I put them through absolute hell, I'm sure of it) am I simply not fit for victorian society or is there something in the human genome which says "Hey check out the semisolids!"?

So here's a poll... for those who wish to remain anonymous, just leave a response. For those who are brave, feel free to add some thoughts or comments.

On a potentially related matter, how many people with bifocals find themselves opening their mouth when leaning their head back to read things posted on walls? I always find myself gaping like a fish at the list of office floors in elevators.