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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
Lifestyle
Rick Goodman

66 days to stop nail-biting: ‘Now my fingers are forks!’

Zoe
Rick Goodman is trying to stop biting his nails so he can finally peel tape and remove stickers from fruit with ease
Rick Goodman is trying to stop biting his nails so he can finally peel tape, untie knots and remove stickers from fruit with ease. Photograph: Eugene Hyland/The Guardian

I’m sitting on the couch with Zoe the jack russell on my lap and we’re watching the Gourmet Farmer who is in France researching how to preserve meat in cans. It’s a relaxing Thursday night. So why am I biting my nails? As I gnaw at my fingers, the TV chef opens a can of paté and eats it with a fresh baguette. What a life. I can only dream of opening cans of paté with my bare hands like that; my bitten-down fingernails can’t get under the pull ring.

I also struggle to untie knots. Or peel the stickers off apples. But worse than those inconveniences is the pain and shame my lifelong habit causes. It stings when I bite my nails too much and I’m embarrassed by how short they are.

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