The Ultimate Body Language Book

is disliked. However, there is another related posture that shows an even greater form of contempt and
disapproval. It happens also by dropping the head, however, while in the position, the person will begin
to pluck invisible lint from their clothing. In doing so, eye contact is broken to stammer the flow of
conversation. The gesture says that there are unspoken objections that are withheld either because they
feel that they won’t be well received, because they are too timid to speak up, or is a passive attack on a
figure of authority.
Any other rude gesture meant to occupy the mind in lieu of paying attention says that a person lacks
respect, integrity or feels that they undeservedly lack control in the relationship and set out to prove it.
A person can pick their nails or remove dirt from underneath them, drum their fingers, smooth their
clothing when it does not require it, or seem distracted due to any number of factors. The goal of the
invisible lint picker is to withhold eye contact to gain an upper hand and end the conversation on their
terms, without being forthright about it. A person with integrity will use honest body language such as
pointing their feet and torsos toward the doorway, reduce agreement indicators, and use conversation
ending speech to speed things up. The lint picker, on the other hand, uses passive aggressive techniques
to waste the speaker’s time with no regard for their own. At times the lint picker is trapped by a more
authoritative figure than them, such as a boss, which prohibits them from leaving. Their defense to this
is to figuratively “kick dirt in their eyes” by withdrawing from the conversation. When small children
block their ears, close their eyes and sing to themselves loudly in order to tune out adults, they are
accomplishing exactly what lint peckers have set out to do. Incidentally, small children also use
distraction techniques to avoid the reprimands of adults. Whenever these cues persist they should be
quickly rectified so as to maintain respect.