I bite my nails and I know that my nails make my otherwise ok hands look shabby. I don’t want to stop biting my nails. I actually quite like it. Other people seem to have a problem with it though. Should I stop biting my nails just to please other people?

I’ve got this slightly anti-social habit and I have no desire to stop it. Every so often when an occasion looms ahead, like Christmas or a wedding, I paint my nails in advance. This stops me nibbling for a while and my hands look briefly quite tidy and respectable.

I’m off to a blogging conference this weekend and it’s one of those rare occasions I think I might try to spruce myself up for. I’ve painted my nails and to anyone else they probably look terrible. But to me they look ok. I’ve got funny cuticles which need attention and the paint job isn’t great, but they’ll do. Anyone who wants to stare at my nails and judge me on them can judge away.

I’d love to be able to go for a manicure. I’d love to spoil myself with one. I’ve had them in the past and almost without exception they’ve been joyless experiences. The nail technician always comments on my nail biting, the length of the nails, the state of my cuticles and has a resigned “what the hell am I going to do with these” look on their face.

No I don’t want false nails thank you. No I don’t want to grow them either. I hate the feel of having even slightly longer nails that I already have. Feeling the tips as they tap on the keyboard makes me feel sick and they have to come off. They have to be short and after 40 years of biting I’m not going to stop now.

I’d just love a manicure from someone who gets that I just want to make what I’ve got look pretty and tidy. I don’t want to stick false nails on. I don’t want to try nasty flavoured stuff either. My need to bite my nails is such that I will tolerate the terrible taste to get my nail nibbling fix.

My name is Jane and I bite my nails (and always will because I like it).