I'm so confused by this.
Someone walks into my office to discuss a case with me. We're a casual office- t-shirts and jeans every day unless we're going to court. As they're walking in, I was reaching for my nail-clippers. They sit down and we start chatting and I start clipping my nails. They are disgusted with me. Like I just let out a huge fart or pissed my pants disgusted. They can't believe how gross I am that I'm clipping my nails right there in front of them.*
Mind you, I'm not just spraying nail parts around the room. I clipped my finger nails one week and then my thumbs two weeks later, then my nails two weeks after that, and so on. So I'm not doing fine tuning or tiny trims. All my nails are contained and in a tidy pile in front of me on my desk, and when I'm done I put them in the trash.
This is not gross at all to me. But I've discovered that 80% of people think it is. Can someone explain what's so awful about this?
Public Nail Clipping
Re: Public Nail Clipping
If the nails are properly contained, I don't really care, but I know other people are disgusted by just the thought of it, so I wouldn't do it in front of someone, except family.
And I get it stems from the fear of having someone's dirty fingernails going rogue and flying at you, but that's why everyone should have those enclosed clippers that capture the clippings.
And I get it stems from the fear of having someone's dirty fingernails going rogue and flying at you, but that's why everyone should have those enclosed clippers that capture the clippings.
Any time the solution is "banjo rifle", I'm in 100%.
Re: Public Nail Clipping
From my perch here far away, where this does not affect me, no judgment or criticism is implied here...
But as an informational service, honestly, in the workplace this would ALARM me significantly. It would cause a minor sensation; it would be discussed. I don't think I'm way out on an island on this; if you do this at work, they will put it into the annual meeting roasting video or whatever the equivalent might be.
At home it doesn't worry me much because I'm the one who vacuums, but sure, I believe in clipping into a trash can when possible or doing it outdoors. I clipped one hangnail in my husband's vehicle and nearly had to revive him with smelling salts as the world ended, so I'm definitely not the sort of person who is most worried about this business.
Oh I see you were not just wanting a judgment, which I was glad to provide, but an explanation. Well, this activity falls into the same zone as things like trimming your nose hairs onto the desk, or cleaning out ear wax and then setting it there with the cleaning implement. Things like that. Like would you clean your under-nail with a tool and then wipe the findings on the desk? If not, consider that it's similar for many people.
But as an informational service, honestly, in the workplace this would ALARM me significantly. It would cause a minor sensation; it would be discussed. I don't think I'm way out on an island on this; if you do this at work, they will put it into the annual meeting roasting video or whatever the equivalent might be.
At home it doesn't worry me much because I'm the one who vacuums, but sure, I believe in clipping into a trash can when possible or doing it outdoors. I clipped one hangnail in my husband's vehicle and nearly had to revive him with smelling salts as the world ended, so I'm definitely not the sort of person who is most worried about this business.
Oh I see you were not just wanting a judgment, which I was glad to provide, but an explanation. Well, this activity falls into the same zone as things like trimming your nose hairs onto the desk, or cleaning out ear wax and then setting it there with the cleaning implement. Things like that. Like would you clean your under-nail with a tool and then wipe the findings on the desk? If not, consider that it's similar for many people.
Re: Public Nail Clipping
Whoa whoa whoa- this is not the same thing as wiping ear glue on the desk. That requires sanitation, as would putting mucus covered nose hairs somewhere. But since you clip your nails in front of your family, does that mean you also just wipe your ear wax on the arm of the couch? That's nasty.
But seriously, I just find it weird that people think it's so gross. I'm guessing that people find nails to be gross, like they do nose hair or ear wax. I just don't see it that way.
But seriously, I just find it weird that people think it's so gross. I'm guessing that people find nails to be gross, like they do nose hair or ear wax. I just don't see it that way.
Re: Public Nail Clipping
I mean, it is something created by the body no longer attached to the body. I imagine they would have a similar reaction if you lopped off your whole arm and calmly set it on the desk. I mean, what if you just plopped a baby down?
Re: Public Nail Clipping
All of those examples include fluid. I agree with you that spraying bodily fluid is unacceptable and gross. But when I cut my nails (and I don't know how short y'all are clipping yours), but there's no fluid involved.
Re: Public Nail Clipping
"that requires sanitation"
IMO this is the key phrase explaining the reactions you get to the nail trimming. People who react this way likely see the fingernail as a basically unsanitary place, due to the accumulation of dirt and grime and food and skin flakes and dog musk and other random filth. So they would see trimmings on the desk as requiring sanitation. By contrast, you and others likely see the finger nail as an essentially dry, dead, harmless thing - i.e. from a perspective where it's obviously different from wiping ear wax on upholstery. But others see it as functionally equivalent to the ear wax wiping - indeed, depending on what you've been doing with that finger, it might even have ear wax stuck to the nail. Or... much worse! The worse elements, some of which appear once a day or more, are probably somewhere in mind when people think, what could be lurking under that fingernail? People know others are not good hand washers - they know even a good hand washer seldom scrubs the nail thoroughly, in a pale imitation of surgery prep style. Even reasonably cleanly people may accept a level of clean where no crud is immediately visible from the top. IMO do your best and forget the rest; excessive clean is for bad immune systems and OCD suffering, so we don't need to encourage it. But people are running around with a lot of crud under those nails - it's why some find the fashionably long nails on women pretty gross, because you know that thing isn't being cleaned particularly well, and are concerned by reports that only a third of men or so bother to wash up after using the restroom.
IMO this is the key phrase explaining the reactions you get to the nail trimming. People who react this way likely see the fingernail as a basically unsanitary place, due to the accumulation of dirt and grime and food and skin flakes and dog musk and other random filth. So they would see trimmings on the desk as requiring sanitation. By contrast, you and others likely see the finger nail as an essentially dry, dead, harmless thing - i.e. from a perspective where it's obviously different from wiping ear wax on upholstery. But others see it as functionally equivalent to the ear wax wiping - indeed, depending on what you've been doing with that finger, it might even have ear wax stuck to the nail. Or... much worse! The worse elements, some of which appear once a day or more, are probably somewhere in mind when people think, what could be lurking under that fingernail? People know others are not good hand washers - they know even a good hand washer seldom scrubs the nail thoroughly, in a pale imitation of surgery prep style. Even reasonably cleanly people may accept a level of clean where no crud is immediately visible from the top. IMO do your best and forget the rest; excessive clean is for bad immune systems and OCD suffering, so we don't need to encourage it. But people are running around with a lot of crud under those nails - it's why some find the fashionably long nails on women pretty gross, because you know that thing isn't being cleaned particularly well, and are concerned by reports that only a third of men or so bother to wash up after using the restroom.
Re: Public Nail Clipping
I would sanitize post-baby-seating. I've seen too many things to trust it. A whole massive OCD chain of events is set off by the fact that people put their kids in the top of grocery carts, but then you might want to use that convenient space for your purse or purchases. Is it safe to put food up there as long as you're going to wash the packaging off or throw away the outer bag when you get home? And then what about your purse? I just assume the bottom of the purse is like a shoe; I can't set it on things I want to stay clean. It's madness though... and then they have little sanitizing wipes at the store for this purpose, but they are suspect in effectiveness and wasteful in general.... just a WHOLE CHAIN of OCD feelings about it.