944

This morning I saw a perfectly well-groomed and articulate man speaking to a colleague outside of a Starbucks. But wait, there's more.

He was using a key from his key chain to clean out his ears.

Yup. Standing there all casual cool, picking away at ear wax and the like as he chatted it up. The colleague blinked a few times awkwardly in reaction, then kept right on talking. No waxy orange elephant in the room here!

Um. What the hell? Is this not a social faux pas that falls under the realm of picking your nose while driving, or letting one rip around the ol' conference table? I've scolded a guy friend or two for taking a whizz while actually chatting on the iPhone with me (when I can hear the flush, the jig is up, guys!), but I have usually excused it almost as a “thank you for considering me such a good friend that you have no problem dispelling your bodily waste while on the phone with me.”

But car keys used as as gold diggers? And outside of a Starbucks no less? Is nothing sacred? I didn't check to see if his fingernails were clean, because dirty digits would have just sent me over the edge.

So where should the line be drawn? What would Mizz Manners say? Or is she dead to most? What social faux pas do you argue should be punishable by law? Or at least punishable by my calling them out in a blog.

Because Mr. Gold Digger is pretty deserving in my book.

Sarah Daoust
944 Managing Editor