Spitting...for the heck of it..

[shootingstar]

You know it appears people, especially children spit for the heck of it..more so than 3 decades ago.

Since I don't have a car, I have used public transit for the past 25 years...subway /commuter train and buses. It gets pretty tiring to see people just spitting on the platforms, staircases, etc. while they are just standing there waiting. And now it's more kids..just spitting directly on the floor space around them.

Recognizing if they are hacking away with a cold, it maybe justified...

Maybe I'm just an ole hygiene-oriented fogey..

[Tuckervill]

I think boys spit for the heck of it, but I never see girls or any women do it. I remember trying to spit for the heck of it when I was a girl, but it just didn't do it for me.

During baseball season, lots of people eat sunflower seeds (down here anyway) and they're all spitting the shells all the time. I refuse to partake.

My mother taught me it was impolite to spit, so I passed that on to my sons, and they don't spit like some of their redneck friends. I'm so glad.

Karen

[shootingstar]

Am seeing more girls ..just standing there and spitting. They aren't doing any sports activity at all.

Just gross. For the young women they look like under 30.

I work out in the industrial suburbs where there are alot of light manufacturing factories..and construction projects..

Good thing in terms of public health and consideration, to teach kids not to do it unless they are desperate and cannot find a gutter, kleenex or garbage container somewhere.

[RoadRaven]

I wonder if this is because it has become a more visible thing to do. With TV we see sports people spitting all the time.
Children who used to go mostly to friends and school but now go to so many places on a daily basis are also seeing this all over the place as they travel to various places.

Its like swearing on the radio..... it happens more and social rules have lapsed... and children follow what they see and hear. So each generation lapses a little and changes what is socially acceptable...

(goodness, I sound OLD!!! oh, wait, maybe I am )

[shootingstar]

Please don't get me wrong that I'm a spitfree tight-***. I have a mother who does the powerful clearing throat thing and spits huge into the toilet or garbage can at home. It's an Asian peasant trait that she hasn't dropped.

But she NEVER does it outside of home.

And my father seldom does it, but he does it discreetly at home..actually more discreetly than mother.

So I have grown up..when and where to absolutely spit when you really need to.

[DDH]

Being a former smoker, I use to spit all the time. Still do when I brush my teeth, but I am so glad I don't have to spit so much anymore.
I have to say though, when I did spit, I did not ever want others to see me so I always did it while alone if at all possible.

I do have to spit quite a bit while bike riding though because it does seem like my mucus membranes go into overload while exercising. LOL
I still wait and make sure there is no car or nothing going by, and on an organized ride, I make sure no one is around if possible. It's gross to me to see someone else do it, therefore I should prevent myself from doing it in front of others if I can.

My son doesn't spit, of course he is only 13 so I guess I shouldn't speak to soon.

[Jolt]

So I have grown up..when and where to absolutely spit when you really need to.

Yes, there's definitely a time and a place! Spitting in public "for the heck of it" is just unsanitary and gross. Why do some people think it's cool?

[OakLeaf]

Aw, c'mon, we've had whole threads about improving our snot rocket technique, and we're worrying about a few people spitting?

[Jolt]

Aw, c'mon, we've had whole threads about improving our snot rocket technique, and we're worrying about a few people spitting?

True...but do we launch snot rockets in the stairwell or on the train platform?

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

When I was growing up in NYC, the subways always had had old signs on the platforms saying "Expectorating Prohibited".

Spitting is gross. I don't want to look at much less walk on other people's slimy spit. Plus it spreads germs and illnesses like flu and tuberculosis.

[mimitabby]

I can understand people spitting lugies even though it is completely disgusting, but even as a child i never did get Spitting for the pleasure of it. Wouldn't you know, I married a spitter.
He was a parent volunteer on a field trip with the 3rd grade kids. They were at the waterfront and all the boys were getting antsy. the teacher freaked out when she saw him and all the little kids spitting off the pier !
(they were quiet!!)

[CarbonCandy]

Ok ok...so I need some help. Is it ok on your bike? Is it not ever?? I've a retainer with a fake tooth on it, and my mouth thinks its food, so it salivates a considerable amount...When you say spitting for the heck of it, its not when you actually have a mouth full of salvia, its justy because you feel like it?

[Tuckervill]

I don't really think spitting off the pier is spitting for the heck of it! That's learning physics and cause-and-effect!

Spitting for the heck of it is spitting without thought to anyone else, because your mouth was full of stuff (or not, and you decided to call some up), and just doing it without regard to where you are. Kids do lots of things for those reasons--like swinging a baseball bat around people walking by, climbing on the bleachers. Spitting just happens to be more gross than that.

I'd still be grossed out by the spitting off the pier, and I'd correct them if it was impinging on someone else, but I probably would just avert my eyes and say "la-la-la" in my head until they were done.

Karen