There are so many expres­sions to show disgust : “eewww”, “yucky” , “gross”, “ugh”, “gosh” and a lot more. A feeling of dis­gust is typically associated with objects that are seen as dirty, in­edible, contagious or in some way offending. The sense of taste, ei­ther perceived or imagined is usu­ally primarily involved but it could also create a similar feeling by the sense of smell, touch, hearing, or vision. Disgust is not all sensorial; there is moral disgust when cer­tain manners or proper behaviors are not met. I guess this particu­lar disgust is very subjective and could spark an endless exchange of contradicting views.

Let us dwell on the actions that cause sensorial disgust, which in my opinion will be easier for most people to relate to. I am talking about certain habits, which are of­fensive most especially if done in public. These habits are usually unconsciously done, I am posi­tive they are, and could place a person, unfortunately, to a certain level of social standing or the for­mation of a first impression that is usually irreversible.

Picking fruits or flowers is fun but picking facial bumps, zits or blackheads in public is a no-no. Not only are you spreading the acne bacteria on other areas of the face but also you also run more risks of infection by bringing in more dirt to your skin from your dirty hands.There is nothing wrong with growing nails. I find well main­tained & manicured fingernails (on female hands) very feminine but when you use your long nail to pick food particles between your teeth at mealtime, then you create loss of appetite among the people seated with you. Yucks! Some people put the particle back in and munch on it as if the food tastes yummier while scooping under the nail to get more particles to nibble on. That’s double yuck!!

Do you observe some men grow their nails only on their pinkies? It took me a while to understand why. I have yet to witness a dis­gusting use of the pinky to know. There are probably hundreds of reasons for the long pinky nail but I know for sure that men use the pinky nail to pick cerumen or ear stuff out. Please use cotton tips or disposable ear picks to harvest bunny rabbits off your ears! Eee­www! Do cotton tip ear cleaning everyday, after bath, so that the stuff is soft and easy to remove. I particularly find licking such a disgusting habit. It is almost a crime for me. (LOL). Licking en­velopes to seal the letter is one top grosser. When I migrated to Canada in 2001, I observed one particular habit most people do around here.

A lot of people have the ca­sual habit of licking the fingers to turn the page of documents, magazines, newspaper (?!), bills (?!) or anything for that matter that required moisture at the tip of the fingers. What if the person leaking the page is sick with colds or cough, or worse, HIV, Hep A or C? This abominable habit gives me nightmares especially when it is done right in front of me. I find myself frozen at times when the stuff is handed to me afterwards.

KFC has a slogan about their fried chicken as “finger-lickin’ good!” My goodness, in my household, licking fingers always turns on my “stress button” and raises my blood pressure. Use pa­per napkins to wipe your fingers clean. Would you use your tongue to clean your counter after eating? When I attend parties, I get of­fended when I see people lick their fingers and hold service spoons at the buffet table. Please don’t use the fingers you just licked to pick up foods, which are not finger foods in the first place, from the serving dish. I avoid getting food from that dish instantly! Pardon me, but it simply grosses me out and I know that some people share the same disgust. The tongue is such a perfect breeding place for bacteria. These bacteria are not always the “villains”, because they are normal part of our oral envi­ronment and digestive process. They live in large numbers on the surface of the back of the tongue, and also in pockets and folds in the gums, and between the teeth. But the same useful bacteria can multiply beyond healthy levels, and this overgrowth, caused by more anaerobes from air, water, food, unhygienic licking habit, and from mouth disorders can cause dis­eases. Remember that some life threatening diseases can be trans­mitted via the oral route including the most dreaded swine flu.

Spitting any substance or ex­pelling mucus from the nose on any street or any public place will cost you a fine of S$500.00 in Singapore! In Singapore, they call people who spit on public areas uncivilized. Why can Singapore implement this ban to spit in pub­lic and the other countries cannot? Avoid making other people miser­able by stepping on your gunk. If it’s inevitable that you have to clear your lungs, do it in the toilet, flush it away, or just do it with a piece of paper napkin, discreetly of course, and throw it away in the rubbish bin.

There are hundreds of disgust­ing habits to enumerate but the newspaper pages would explode with them. I apologize if you read my article before mealtime but I felt a lot of us need to know that our unconscious habits stigmatize and offend other people. There is a saying that people judge us not by what we put in our mouth but what comes out of it. Crude lan­guage could be very offensive too. Let’s try our best to be mindful of our habits because it only take 3 seconds to create a first impres­sion.