“Hello?”

“Yo.”

“Yo, what’s up?”

“Nothing. I want to know if you’ve observed something recently.”

“Shoot.”

“Have you noticed ear pickers lately?”

“Can’t say that I have. Has this become an issue in your town?”

“There seems to be a subset of people in this world who feel it is socially acceptable to perform this act in public. Like, we all agree picking your nose in front of others is taboo, but for some reason people think picking their ear is completely OK.”

“Huh. I have to agree. Seems those two should be treated the same.”

“Exactly. Worse yet, these people also feel it is OK to then inspect the contents of their excavation.”

“Wow. That’s not good. But, you know, I’ve got to admit that I haven’t really noticed this phenomenon.”

“Well, consider yourself lucky. This behavior has no bounds. Last week, I saw it done by a guy at the bus stop, then watched someone do it in a work meeting later that day. It’s infuriating.”

“Man, you’re pretty worked up. Are you sure it’s infuriating?”

“Yes! It’s a disregard of a social norm and thus it’s a violation of the informal code by which we all agree to operate. It’d be no different if I lifted my leg and cupped a fart in front of people. It’s just an unpleasant activity to be witnessed by others yet these people think they are entitled to claw around in their ears and then study the wax boogers they come away with. So, yes, it’s fucking infuriating.”

“OK, calm down. Look, I get it and going forward I’ll keep a vigilant eye out for these perpetrators. In all seriousness, I’m actually kind of curious to witness this myself.”

“Well, be prepared to lower your opinion of society.”

“That won’t take much.”

“Then this should do it”.