MANITOU SPRINGS, CO -- The dry, crusty mucous that develops in the corners one's eyes, sometimes termed as "eye snot," has become a regular annoyance for Steve Garufi in the past two weeks.

Although the Manitou Springs resident showers and meticulously washes his face every morning, Steve complains that he still feels those pesky, crusty critters on the edges of his eyes.

"Sometimes I wash my face real hard and scrub out my eyes, and I feel great. Then five minutes later, I can feel that eye snot in there again." Steve explained in frustration.

This eye mucous problem has exacerbated to the point where even those in Steve's social circles are noticing his pain.

"Dude, what's that in your eye?" asked Boki Evans, a regular costumer at Spice of Life Café one morning.

After listening to Steve's griping about his crusty eyes, Boki offered very practical and helpful advice.

"You've got all that natural fluid in your eye (and it also) collects all the debris in the air, then you've all this goo in your body … (the eye snot) is a natural process and it protects your eye." explained Boki.

"Your eye is cleaning itself out. You should rejoice in it!"

Despite those words of encouragement, Steve's frustration is noticeably escalating.

"Boki can say all that nice stuff, but it's getting to the point where I don't know what else to do. I rub (the eye mucous) out really hard with my finger but it still feels icky in there."