Notes » March 2008

NitZit-Picking

The lack of compunction some Hong Kongers have about public grooming often astonishes new residents.

Now we're not talking about women applying cosmetics or men clipping their fingernails aboard buses or trains; these things happen in cities worldwide. And regardless of gender, nose-picking doesn't count as improving one's appearance.

The grooming in question is facial pore maintenance. It makes no difference if it's a boy using a mirrored surface in a mall, or a girl purging the pimples of her boyfriend on the MTR (an activity reminiscent of the nit-picking one observes among Hong Kong's wild macaques). See a blackhead? Squeeze it out. Spot a whitehead? Pop that puppy!

If you're grossed out just thinking about it, imagine for a moment what it's like to be a fresh expatriate sitting across from it. But don't feel sorry for them, they'll become jaded soon enough, and some will even engage in zit-zapping themselves.

When in Rome ...

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