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Friday, July 22, 2011

Bad Habits: Spitting in Public...Or is everyone suddenly pregnant?

I live in Lagos and have always done so. As far back as primary school, I remember we were taught that it was very bad to do it in public. Unfortunately, rather than see this habit get extinguished it seems to be getting more rampant this days.
I am talking of spitting. It is very disgusting and should not be done in public places.


According to Wikipedia, it is the act of forcibly ejecting saliva or other substances from the mouth. It is currently considered rude and a social taboo in many parts of the world including the West, while in some other parts of the world it is considered more acceptable. It is possible to transmit infectious diseases in this way.


Personally, I doubt if it can ever be considered acceptable. Ever. In fact, as far back as the 19th Century in Western Europe, it was considered vulgar to spit in public. (Fancy that).
I remember in our "Health Science" classes in Primary school, we learned good and bad habits (don't spit in public, cover your mouth when you cough, don't talk with a full mouth...etc). Is it just me, or have all these things passed like a fad? Back then we used to call people who spat in public "dirty". This doesn't seem to be the case anymore, as you see pregnant women, non-pregnant women, men, children spitting. Aaarrrggghhhh!

Granted, the environment in Lagos is smelly and dirty (open sewers and drains, stagnant bodies of water everywhere, dump sites on normal street, to put it mildly - Lets not even get to the men people who pee in these drains- have you ever thought of what happens when the place is flooded?As has been the recent case in Lagos? Let me save that for another day). But does spitting make the place cleaner for you? Does it make you feel cleaner personally?
Well, if you answered yes, then I must inform you that spitting tends to bring about various diseases and infections can be spread by respiratory droplets, including tuberculosis, influenza, and the common cold.
Plus its very irritating to the other people around. If you are so irritated, why not just leave the place and go somewhere that is cleaner?

Please save the world and try to stop being "dirty". We need to teach the wee ones good habits, because they copy everything they see us do or say.

14 comments :

  1. Try the northerners. They don't see anything wrong with this. They will even spit on you, if you give the the chance. lol

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  2. I don't think that it is limited to northerners alone. People from all over the world do it. When you watch football matches, it happens every so often and these are international stars.

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  3. You will run out of India as fast as possible because here it is their national identity.

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  4. @Ilola...hmmn! Granted, they may spit a lot, but like i started...I live in Lagos...Its bad here...really bad.
    @Natural Nigerian, all over the world? that's interesting... for the footballers, its true, seen it often enough.
    "Lara..."National Identity?"...rotfl

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  5. Bet you've seen some of d irritating ones dat spit, use their hands to clean d remaining part that hangs on d side of d mouth, then...u know d rest na (feeling sick already)

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  6. It's really disgusting to say the least. If i am walking on the road and i see spit on the floor, if you see the way i jump over it as if it's some kind of virus. I just imagine all sorts of things. nyanmmmaahhhhhhhhh

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  7. hahahahhahahah, let's take a trip to China, shall we? Add to the spitting, hacking......uhm......num yum!!!eeeeewwwwww!!!!

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    1. I remember honeydame's post on spitting...i almost died reading that.... spitting is so gross!!!

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  8. Waoh!! I cant stand the idea of spitting. It is irritating. NIce blog.
    www.roseofsharonwrites.blogspot.com

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  9. I personally cannot stand the presence of an Hausa man for an hour because it seems spitting is part of there tradition, spitting on the road personally disgusts me. Talking about blocked drainage you still find little children playing bare footed in those places. owwwww disease oooo *Temitope*

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