Spitting in public places

Try any big city in France. Spit and phlegm are minor problems compared to steaming coils of pungent dog turd.

I completely agree, although I live in a totally diffrent country. But this should be forbidden everywhere in public.
If you live in UK and are disgusted by the "big blobs of gob" that you're seeing there, I guess that's nothing compared to what you'd see in Budapest, Hungary. We have a population of over 1 million and I think a quarter of these people reguraly spit in public, so that the our city could be better named "spit City". In some areas, on the pessenger walkways there is no square meter without a spit in it.

Add to this the constant dust and garbage on the street (packings, bags, pieces of paper, food remainings). Lovely, come visit.

I totally agree that spitting in public areas should be illegal, however I am sure way back when I was a less mature person, we had signs in Public Toilets forbidding spitting on the floor (so we carefully turned upside down and spat on the ceiling) which would incur a fine ?. I can find nothing to support this, which is unusual because it's normally the short term memory that goes first !. I have also asked a Police Officer, wether or not spitting is an offence, having confirmed that they found it to be repulsive they also owned up to not knowing the Law on this subject. Chewing gum a blight on our paths, well documented by Gilbert & George in a piece of work titled "GUM CITY"

Mal, several of my relatives have hayfever and other allergies. I myself have a slight allergy to pollen and used to create quite a lot of mucus while on a long road to recovery from being in an apartment fire. None of us spit. Swallow what you've got. It will not harm you. It's going into your stomach, not your lungs. Spitting in public is not only socially unacceptable, but you do run the risk of accidentally spitting on someone else. (Something that has been done to me by accident on two occasions).

i'd rather spit and be damned thank choke on my own mucus during hayfever season
an unpleasantry for you could be a lifesaver for me

Whenever I see spit on the ground I get a gag reflex. I dont understand why people spit(except those with a disease), I have never felt the need to do it! But if one has to,then doing it privately,or at least in a tissue is not rocket science, and they should avoid that horrible noise they make. Yes,these people should be fined! And smoking on the pavement,or anywhere where there are people should also be illegal, why should I have to choke in smoke when walking down the road? And those who sneeze in people's faces, those who yawn and dont cover their mouth, and those who spit chewing gum or dump litter should have to go to a special "adult common sense course"! and by the way, who are these disgusting people who keep their shoes on in their home???

I'll stop spitting in public when smokers stop letting smoke get in my way!!!

Sputum on the side walk. That's spit on the pavement. Having taught my kids that anything that was on or in their body is personal to them and should be disposed of discreetly. I'm very proud to say that those 3 males now find it as disgusting as myself to see sputum on the sidewalk.
I find it really hard to understand why so many people find that they have to spit on the pavement. OK, so you may find your mouth full of something your rather not walk around with, why not spit in the gutter where it is more likely to disintegrate without anyone else having to walk in it (and I have witnessed someone slipping having stepped in some), or even look at it.
Yuk.

People from the far-east consider blowing your nose into a tissue and then putting it away in your pocket or up your sleeve disgusting. There was a TB epidemic in Europe, (not asia), hundreds of years ago and the government advised the public to start blowing their noses, today however we have Tuberculosis injections; now, the blowing of our noses is merely a cultural habit, and there is little risk of a disease spreading that way.

I just wanted to let everyone know that many people (including myself) have some unknown illness (at least 3 doctors cant tell me what it is) that causes us to spit at random times, otherwise we'll choke and vomit, more so after meals. What would you rather see, spit or vomit? I know 90% of the spit you see isn't caused by people with illness like me (as im sure like myself, the rest of us don't go out much due to this) but it's still rude of you to assume EVERYONE who spits in public does it for the heck of it

Somehow the whole revolting process behind working up to a really bad spit seems a lot worse than a sneeze! Hankies do seem to be a thing of the past now, you are quite right Oracle. Nothing nicer than a freshly laundered and ironed linen handkerchief.

Spitting is an unpleasant habit but everyone seems to have overlooked behaviour which is
far more dangerous: sneezing into other people's faces. There was a time when this
behaviour would be followed by an immediate apology but now it seems to be taken for
granted. Hardly anyone bothers to use a handkerchief to prevent the spread of infection
any more. Does no-one realise the way our lives are put at risk because of this?

Cheap air travel has made the world a much smaller place and terrifying diseases can
move all round the planet in 24 hours. Deadly viruses like SARS, Bird Flu, Ebola Fever,
etc., can now arrive in this country every day of the week - and they spread through water
droplets in the air, expelled when sneezing. It is only a matter of time before a pandemic
takes place which could kill millions.

One of the simplest ways of stopping the spread of such diseases is by using your
handkerchief when you sneeze. No, it's not a perfect prevention but if you don't do this, you certainly risk infecting everyone around you.

Poster Waters says "keeping a used hankie or tissue on your person is disgusting". I
wonder how many people he will eventually send to cemeteries because of his
fastidiousness?