What color is your toothpick?

Have you ever noticed in police dramas there's at least one officer always chewing on a toothpick? Captain Leland Francis Stottlemeyer on Monk comes to mind. Sometimes it's not a cop, but a bad guy – and he's chewing on a match stick. Sometimes it's an FBI agent chewing all the chew out of some gum in an intense scene like Don Eppes on Numb3rs. Then there's Fox Mulder with a paper clip hanging out of his mouth...when he's not working through a bag of sunflower seeds.

Other times, it's less of a prop and more of bad habit such at Groucho Marx and his cigar. Who can forget the "Cigarette Smoking Man" on The X-Files or "Cancer man" as Mulder called him. What about Madeline Westen from Burn Notice? It's hard to find a scene where she is not smoking. Of course, the same could be said for all the hoop earrings she wears. Meanwhile, Michael Westen is off downing a blueberry yogurt and saying "Yes" to some crazy person needing "help".

We also can't forget Sheriff Walt Longmire drinking only Rainer beer. A character trait that was used to both prove he was innocent as well as attempt to frame him. Walt has other fun traits too, such as picking up litter compulsively, and refusing to get a cell phone. Don't mess with his tea box.

It's not all bad. Some "toothpicks" are there to poke fun at a character. Take Joey from Friends. Dude is dummer than a dumb thing that's really dumb. Then there is Monica who would literally rather clean than do anything else in life. Norm from Cheers would do anything for a beer. Cliff never read that proverb about remaining silent and be thought a fool rather than opening his mouth and removing all doubt. Sam's toothpick was clearly his hair. He even had hidden product in the bar for emergencies.

Some actors come with a built in toothpick. Take Tom Selleck or Sam Elliot. Have you ever seen one of those guys without a mustache? I'm pretty sure they both loose their super powers, like Samson, when they shave.

I could go on and on. I enjoy watching shows and pointing out a character's "toothpick". It's the sort of thing that when you see it you think, "That's just what they would do."

What "toothpicks" have you noticed? Better yet, what is YOUR toothpick? When people think of you what comes to mind when they think "That's just what they would do!"