Booger Eating Businessman

Not so long ago, I was coming back from a video shoot way downtown. I dragged my tired self to the E train and sat there, in the train, at the end of the line, waiting for it to move. It was past rush hour, but a few suits still straggled in. One middle aged man plopped down across the isle from me.

He loosened his tie and opened the Wall Street Journal. Nothing really remarkable there. Boring, really. I diverted my gaze elsewhere, my eyes drifting out of focus, really not looking at anything in particular, trying to whish the train to move. My thoughts kept getting interrupted by the man's crackling paper - either he is a speed reader or.... I looked over and I don't really think I was prepared to witness what he was up to.

Every minute or so, he let his right hand go of the newspaper, raised it up to his nose and went to work. He really dug around, his nose suddenly twice the size. After removing the offending piece of mucus, he proceeded to put it in his mouth. Naturally, I couldn't stop from staring. This was too gross not to gawk. A few times the bugger got stuck between his teeth, requiring a bit of a prod with this thumb nail.

I got off at my stop and, best I can tell, Mr. Booger Eating Businessman continued to snack all the way home.