We thought it was an innocuous habit. In fact, in many ways it seemed useful and efficient and saved time and money. As an inveterate nail biter, I’ve long been convinced that I’m on the right track and everyone around me who walks about with pointed and polished nails would do well to take a leaf from my book.
Look at all those expensive manicure sets that I don’t need, the nail polish and nail polish remover that I don’t have to bother with, the amount of time I save that I would otherwise have spent filing and shaping my nails, admiring my fingers and toes, applying nail polish or removing it. And what about the rings I don’t need to wear because I don’t want to draw attention to my hands? That is a massive saving, isn’t it? No need for platinum love bands or an engagement ring that eats up two months’ salary, no need for a wedding ring or rings with birthstones and lucky stones...
I’ve spent a lifetime toting up the savings and congratulating myself that this quirk of mine serves a purpose. What’s more, it is the one trait the spouse and I share. Our common bond: Both of us are nail biters and our right to stay that way is the only thing that we agree on!
There are a couple of drawbacks, of course. It is almost impossible to find a pair of scissors or a nail cutter anywhere in our house and both of us have really ugly hands, that begin somewhere around our elbows because the rest has been gnawed off. Whether or not nail biting interferes with normal nail growth and leads to deformed nails is hard for us to say — where are the nails to be seen to figure that out?
Everything else, however, seems to me to be on the up side: When waiting anxiously for news — good or bad — it keeps us silent and introspective and others around us do not have to listen to incessant “What if’s”.
Attending an interview? No need to mop our brows, wring our hands or pace agitatedly. Just sit there with our files and folders and studiously gouge out our nails as we go over all possibilities in our heads! Way better than allowing our blood to thunder through arteries and veins until one of them pops!
Having a disagreement? Why go for each other’s throats when our nails are there growing every second and crying out to be cropped? I do believe that we have staved off many a blow-up by simply sitting there and attacking our nails and not each other!
Almost a lifetime of what we believe has been an easy going and well-adjusted life has passed. At no stage did we believe that we were extra nervous by nature or as we were sometimes told, that we were suppressing our aggression and were actually not nervous individuals who were not sure of themselves, but over-belligerent ones! “Let them say what they want,” we agree, “maybe if they occupied their jaws and paws the way we do, they wouldn’t take swipes at us!”
But now, it seems that the psychiatric community is preparing to designate nail biting as an obsessive compulsive disorder and we are no longer going to get away with what we consider an innocent and harmless pastime! How could we be right there on that borderline — about to be labelled mentally deranged?
Maybe it is time to start holding hands or slip them into our pockets or into each other’s pockets.
Cheryl Rao is a journalist based in India.
