Our Desk | Somebody please stop indoor spitting

Lynzy Valles

The habit of spitting on the streets is already visually unpleasant, but imagine having neighbors expectorating on the staircase, or seeing spittle on the elevators of residential and/or commercial buildings.
I think one would agree that it is nasty.
I have seen locals, non-locals and tourists practicing this habit outdoors and I guess that’s tolerable because everybody falls prey to such nasty actions at some point. Of course, to some it may be acceptable, but I suspect that most would still see the act as appalling behavior.
Although the habit was said to be a norm a few centuries ago, I’d still like to think that indoor spitting is disrespectful to both the place you’re in and the people around you.
The obvious and ongoing issue here is that some people spit indoors and even make gruesome noises when hawking up phlegm.
A couple of months ago, I was on an airplane and I was turning on my laptop with my earphones plugged in my ears, when suddenly this man seated beside me started to clear his throat in a violent manner, took the sickness bag from the airline and spat. This happened throughout the three-hour flight.
Although it is odd that such habit occurs on planes, indoor spitting is also present in hotels, casino floors and corridors. WHY? It may seem an exaggeration, but I have also heard several stories of other people witnessing this unattractive habit in a variety of places, from the casino gambling floors, hotel lobbies, and residential corridors, to commercial buildings’ elevators.
Some may say that this article may be quite disrespectful as it slates a habit of an individual, but a quick Google search revealed that there are actually reports showing that some cities have banned indoor spitting, citing public health concerns.
Health-wise, medical experts believe that tuberculosis can be spread through saliva particles on the ground, as when it dries up the wind spreads the bacteria through the air.
Hong Kong’s Department of Health stated that the disease is “mainly transmitted through inhalation of airborne particles […] the particles are generated by maneuvers such as coughing, sneezing, and singing by patients with tuberculosis” and only a small number of bacteria are needed to cause an infection.
Whether it’s overstated or not, I reckon individuals could learn to prevent the cultivation of such habits, although to some nationalities, such action has already been embedded in their culture.
A professor in China said in Huanqiu magazine that due to the fact that they spit loudly, cut lines and litter, Chinese tourists would feel unwelcome in other countries.
“But discrimination and prejudice against Chinese people abroad hasn’t diminished,” Sun Yingchun wrote. “Even though Chinese people bring tourist business with them they are also castigated by foreigners. Some foreigners don’t feel kindly toward Chinese tourists because they say they are ill-mannered.”
So how can one really eliminate such practice when it’s already culturally normal? How can one see that the habit is nasty when they’ve been doing it all along? I believe it would really take considerable self-reflection to actually rid the practice.
As the saying goes, “Habit, if not resisted, soon becomes necessity.”
However, indoor spitting, expectorating and hawking up phlegm in a violent manner in public places should not be called “normal.”