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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to think that spitting in public is downright disgusting.

33 replies

vienna1981 · 08/02/2015 19:21

This is something that seems to happen particularly after dark where I live. Tonight on the High Street pavement there are innumerable blobs of spit and mucus and God knows what else. Plus chewing gum and bubble gum. It's absolutely foul.
Who does it and why ? Are there any laws against it in the UK ?

I've heard that some foreign countries don't tolerate public spitting and discarded chewing gum at all and deal quite severely with offenders.

The deputy head at my secondary school took a particularly dim view of anyone he caught flegging in the playground. Usually sent to the toilets for paper towels in order to clean up after themselves, plus detentionAngry . Proper discipline from thirty plus years ago. Would it happen now ?

OP posts:
ItsAllGoingToBeFine · 08/02/2015 19:23

YADNBU. I dont understand why it is at all socially acceptable. Seeing someones big gob of mucus on the pavement gives me the boak.

BathtimeFunkster · 08/02/2015 19:24

YANBU

It's revolting.

JohnPlayingDarts · 08/02/2015 19:25

I agree it's vile. I've caught my DH winding down the car window and spitting when he's got a cold. I slaughtered him. Why not spit in to a tissue if you have got a cold and have to get rid of it.

LooksLikeImStuckHere · 08/02/2015 19:25

Hate it, hate it, hate it. Absoutely disgusting.

I may be making this up am sure someone told me this was outlawed many moons ago because of the cholera epidemic.

InteriorsMum · 08/02/2015 19:26

It is an absolutely vile habit YANBU

Wantsunshine · 08/02/2015 19:27

Yes I think there are laws against it and you can get fined. I think for some cultures it is not seen as an issue though

scratchandsniff · 08/02/2015 19:27

YANBU

It is absolutely vile. No excuse for it. I make it my mission to shoot my most disgusted face at the culprit if I'm witness to it.

HairyOrk · 08/02/2015 19:28

YANBU at all!!!
It's my number one pet peeve!

SquidgyMaltLoaf · 08/02/2015 19:28

I hate it too. Disgusting habit. It doesn't help that footballers seem to do it every two minutes as I do think particularly young boys copy them!

candyflosssky · 08/02/2015 19:30

YANBU

Icimoi · 08/02/2015 19:30

Absolutely. It physically makes me gag.

I really don't understand why footballers do it. You don't see other sportsmen gobbling all over tennis courts, cricket pitches etc, and if the vast majority of the population can manage without spitting, why can't the rest?

Tinofroses · 08/02/2015 19:30

I was at a children's soccer match and my friends husband did a huge disgusting phlegmy spit and he caught me watching him. I was so flabbergasted I said to him 'you are disgusting' without thinking . Anyway his wife overheard me calling her husband disgusting and guess what she doesn't speak to me anymore.

WhereIsMyFurryHat · 08/02/2015 19:32

It is absolutely disgusting.
I cannot stand it. Why does anyone think that it is ok?!?!

YANBU

scarletforya · 08/02/2015 19:32

It's sickening. How hard is it to use a tissue?

Out0fCheeseError · 08/02/2015 19:33

YANBU. I passed a cyclist the other day who proceeded to evacuate both nostrils onto the path beside him. I saw the gobs of snot hit the pavement. Vile vile vile.

Behooven · 08/02/2015 19:34

YADNBU - revolting

AnnieMorel · 08/02/2015 19:37

My no1 pet hate too.

Footballers have a lot to answer for - all that unnecessary gobbing on the pitch.

And chewing gum. Why do people spit it out, just swallow it or put it in a bin!

DoNotDenyMe · 08/02/2015 19:38

Funny that this should come up here today.... Yesterday I saw a man spit inside the supermarket!!!!Shock
The security guard informed a manager who gave him a tissue and got him to wipe it up. He was very 'not bothered' by it all though- at one point saying, "For Gods sake, what's the big deal?".
Disgusting!

meoryou · 08/02/2015 19:39

filthy filthy habit and pretty much unnecessary ... carry a bloody tissue!!
YADNBU

Original poster
vienna1981 · 08/02/2015 19:39

Squidgy. You took the words out of my mouth. Footballers set an appalling example and you're probably right that youngsters copy them. Just before I came into this pub tonight a teenage oik deposited a large gobful on the pavement. I would happily give the uncouth little shit a good kicking but for the CCTV cameras around here. Angry

It's also something certain men do when confronted with a urinal, apart from the obvious. Equally baffling.

OP posts:
BuzzardBird · 08/02/2015 19:40

Would actually pay towards snipers to sort this problem out.

meoryou · 08/02/2015 19:41

Do not deny Shock that is seriously mingin! He's a hallion.

Should have been told to leave the store!

jackydanny · 08/02/2015 19:41

YANBU.
Some anti social toe rag hoiked up a big green phlegm at the bus stop.
As the weather was freezing it sat there for weeks and made me feel sick every morning.

FindoGask · 08/02/2015 19:44

UGH yes I hate this!

I can sort of understand why footballers might do it - exercising in cold air can make your airways very mucusy. Sometimes when I'm out for a run I need to attempt a discreet hoik and spit (but never on the street!) otherwise I can't breathe properly. But for people not running about for 90 minutes in the cold, it's completely unnecessary.

TheCraicDealer · 08/02/2015 19:46

I keep meaning to start a thread about this. Strange how you ever see women feeling the need to spit in the street. Wonder how we've evolved so differently that all these males can't contain themselves or, shock horror, swallow their own spit. Clearly mainly the influence of football players; I once saw a teenager waiting on a bus who spat on the ground about 5 times in the space of ten minutes. Who even produces that much saliva?!

They should have some sort of punishment for spitting on the field- its unsportsmanlike, unprofessional and sets a bad example.