To the editor:
Increasingly I’m seeing a very disgusting, dirty and dangerous habit around town – at bus stops, near the mall, by people walking together, and that is spitting.
It seems to be some kind of statement from mostly young people. To me it seems to be a thoughtless, mindless action, although it could be taken personally when a glob lands very near your feet.
Sometimes I have to watch where I place my feet while walking, so that I don’t go sliding on someone’s sputum.
Doggie-do is no more repulsive to me!
Hygiene used to be important in school and a poster emphasized how germs spread from the mouth and nose by stating: “When you cough, or sneeze or sniff, be quick, my lad, with your handkerchief.”
Spitting was also included in the teaching of how to help prevent the spread of contagious diseases.
Nowadays most young people don’t carry a handkerchief, or even a tissue, and there may be no one warning them of the germs that are carried in spittle/sputum.
Anyone can unknowingly have an active case of tuberculosis, or be a carrier, and each time those unknown people spit they are spreading their germs far and wide.
Also sharing anything that touches the mouth can pass the germs on. Just as sharing your cap or comb can possibly give you lice, so sharing a drink, a tooth brush, a lipstick, cutlery or a kiss can pass TB germs to you.
We can’t ‘catch’ cancer, but we can do a lot to keep from catching a cold, the flu, or even tuberculosis, which can take years to cure.
Tuberculosis used to be an even more common disease and deadlier than cancer, but it can still be spread to you by someone who doesn’t know they have it, and you don’t know they have it.
Spitting helps spread those ailments, so please heed the above advice.
We don’t urinate on our streets as we know it’s indecent and dirty. It’s time we frowned upon, and stopped those who spit on our streets as it is also indecent, dirty, repulsive and dangerous to our health.
Muriel Squires,
Thunder Bay
