What Would You Do…
Friday, January 11, 2008Posted in: dilemma, what would you do? The Case of The Dangling Snot
If you were talking to somebody who had a huge bogey (erm is that booger to you Americans?) dangling from their nose?
I was talking to a client yesterday who had a massive greeny hanging out of his nose… well strictly speaking, it wasn’t hanging out of his nose, but as near as.
Anyway, throughout our meeting, I kinda talked to his nose. I couldn’t help it. I really wanted to tell him, but how do you do that to somebody you only know on a business basis?
In the end, I didn’t say anything to him. I just couldn’t. The arduous task of trying to come up with a diplomatic way of mentioning it, was making my brain hurt.
What would you have done?
loonigrrl
January 11
9:56 am
Oh no! That’s such an uncomfortable situation! Yeah, the few times this has happened to me, I haven’t said anything either although that’s all I can think about: “I should tell him. I should say something.” *sigh* If it were me, I’d want someone to say right away.
MERLIN
January 11
10:59 am
If I had a handkerchief I’d pass it to them and say “you may want to use this”.
Of course, if it was a woman I’d pass them my underpants in lieu of a handkerchief.
M.
Karen Scott
January 11
11:41 am
Of course, if it was a woman I’d pass them my underpants in lieu of a handkerchief.
That is just sooo wrong. 🙂
Shiloh Walker
January 11
12:07 pm
Excluding the underpants comment, I’d go with Merlin’s approach and give them a tissue or something
I don’t know if I couldn’t NOT say anything.
Cookie
January 11
12:16 pm
God, that’s gross.
Yeah, I’d say something. Just staring at it for that long would’ve made me vomit.
Anonymous
January 11
2:10 pm
It depends, with some people I will say, you have a booger in your nose, if I feel comfortable with them or I’m in the mood that I don’t care. But others I will let it go.
One time, I was with some friends who were visiting and we were in a shop in the tourist area of Seattle. This guy walked in with toilet paper trailing after him with some poo on it. I smelled it first before I noticed that TP hanging off the back side of his pants and I looked at the clerk and my friends and we all started sniggering.
Then I felt bad so I went to him and told him. He was embarrassed of course but thanked me profusely.
MB
December/Stacia
January 11
3:00 pm
A lot of people recommend rubbing/wiping your own nose. Imitation is a human instinct.
Katie(babs)
January 11
3:03 pm
I would find a tissue and say,”Excuse me, you may want to use this.” I do it all the time to people who have tags hanging out of their shirts and food stuck in their teeth. If it was me, I would like the person to do the same.
Anonymous
January 11
3:19 pm
Ah! See, as a parent, I no longer fear nothing the body makes. So not only would I have grabbed a tissue, I would have steadied him by holding him by the left shoulder as I carefully wiped his nose for him.
Then I would have continued with his presentation but if he was grumpy, I would have put him down for a nap. I also would have checked the conference room to make sure there were no loose paperclips, as he might pick one up and put it in his mouth and choke on it.
–MaryJanice Davidson
Anonymous
January 11
3:20 pm
“…no longer fear nothing…”???? Man oh man, do I need a cup of coffee!
azteclady
January 11
4:32 pm
I use the, “if it were me with the booger…?” approach.
The result: if there’s a tissue handy, I offer it with a “you may want to use this.” If there’s no tissue, I would say, “you have something on your nose/face/teeth/whatever.”
It can be very general, not personal at all, so it doesn’t matter whether you know the person well or not, IMO.
And in my experience, most people feel grateful to be told asap–as opposed to finding out when they are getting ready for bed several hours later 😉
Gwen
January 11
4:41 pm
DEFINITELY would tell someone as soon as I noticed it. I would want to be told, so I would tell someone.
I’d just say, “You’ve got a little something right there,” pointing at the offending area.
I mean. Can you imagine how mortified they’d be if 10 mins after you left they noticed it?
Janean
January 11
5:22 pm
I would probably spend the whole time I was talking to him trying to get up the nerve to say “you’ve got something on your nose”, but our meeting would be over and he would leave before I could make myself do it.
byrdloves2read
January 11
9:05 pm
I think you did the right thing Karen. In a business situation, as yours was, there isn’t the assumption of familiarity that would encourage you to tell the client he’s got a bogey.
In a friendship situation, I agree with the others: since I’d like to be told, I would tell my friend. Handing them a tissue is the best solution, then.
Telling a total stranger, as with the toilet paper, nope, I wouldn’t say a word then either.
Eve Vaughn
January 11
11:47 pm
I usually tell the person, as inconspicuously as I can. I’d probably brush my nose to signal to them they have a dangler. I’d want someone to tell me. I once had an hour conversation with someone and when I went to the restroom, I saw some hangage. I was mortified. It’s embarrassing for all parties involved, but more embarrassing for the person to find out on their own.
Misty G
January 12
12:13 am
I once got stuck on an airplane trip from California to Oklahoma with an old man who had a nose dripping problem. Thankfully I was next to the window, but my neck had a crick in it by the end of the trip. His wife didnt give him a tissue until 15 minutes before we landed.
Grrrly
January 12
6:31 am
i was once talking with a guy who was a friend of a friend outside a coffeeshop, and as we were away from the rather dim glow of the parking lot lights, i couldn’t tell if the little squiggly thing hanging down from his chin area was really flesh-colored or not. i didn’t know him well enough to risk flustering him if it was some embarrassing growth that’s been humiliating him since he was a kid, so i kept chatting and didn’t say anything. a few minutes later our mutual friend walked up and said “dude, you’ve got cheese on your face”, at which point the guy wiped his chin and said “oh thanks man, i was at taco bell earlier”, and i had to explain my “wierd growth, really i thought i was being nice” silence on the matter. we all had a good laugh about it though.
but in a business meeting? i dunno. i’m trying to think of one of my bosses having something gross going on during a meeting, but nothing comes to mind. i’d probably ignore it, unless it was a good friend.