The other day, I found myself sitting in the Testing Center taking my Hinduism test for World Faiths right after lunch.  The test was not exactly easy, which caused me to look around and see if other people were finding it as difficult as I was. That’s when something caught my eye.  No, it wasn’t an answer to a question or witnessing someone else cheating, but instead, someone looking around like I was.  I decided to watch the mischievous student to see what she was doing.  Little did she know, I was watching her every move like a hawk before it attacks its prey.  The student quickly reached her finger in her mouth and scraped the food off of her teeth.  I know we all have been in the situation before when those leftovers are stuck in your teeth; you can’t pry them off with your tongue and you feel like there’s nothing else to resort to.  Well, news flash, there is.  Toothpicks were invented for a reason, which is why I feel they should be used.
I know we go to an all-girls school, but it’s really not attractive when someone sees you almost trying to gag yourself.  You embarrass yourself as you sit there trying to dig food out with your finger.  It is so much simpler to pull out a toothpick instead of using those unsanitary phalanges.  Bet you never thought about how sanitary fingers are, did you? Think of how many times you have washed your hands that day, or every single thing that you touched that is now in the back of your throat.  Yum.

I can’t think of how many times since that day that I’ve see people who look like they’re trying to eat their entire finger because there is something stuck in their teeth.  It’s not worth it for people to start rumors about you being a cannibal just because they think you try to eat your own fingers.  Is it really that hard to use a toothpick, or at least go to the bathroom to do your disgusting finger digging?  No, it’s not. Here’s a tip: buy a pack of toothpicks and keep them with you! Instead of resorting to your fingers that have been exposed to everything you’ve touched, it would be more convenient  and sanitary to pull out a toothpick and use it for its purpose: a tooth-picking utensil. It’s worth it to spend $2 on a pack of toothpicks instead of using your finger and risking the possible humiliation.

I didn’t do as well as I hoped on this test, and I believe the finger-digging student was the reason.  Not only did it freak me out, it is also weirdly distracting. Keep this in mind when you raise your finger to put it in your mouth, because in the end, people will see you, and they will be grossed out. Use a toothpick.  Please and thank you.