Fingerlickin' bad

I have had some red wine this evening which has made me more than usually intolerant. I know. Hard to believe.

Here is the thing that annoyed me this evening. The man sitting next to me on the train was reading the Evening Standard. Every time he wanted to turn the page, he licked his thumb. Every time. He held the paper in both hands, lifted it to his face and licked his left thumb. Every time he turned the page.

Questions:

a) Is his thumb that slippery?
b) Is the Evening Standard that tough to get a grip of?
c) Didn't his thumb get newsprinty?
d) Didn't that make his thumb taste worse every time?

To him - normal. To me - impossible to cope with.

I moved.