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Citizen complaint of the day: Joggers need to stop spitting
By adamg on Wed, 03/18/2020 - 10:45am
A concerned South End citizen files a 311 complaint:
Can some sort of PSA be sent out to tell runners, etc to stop spitting on the streets. Our dogs are walking on their germs and we are all tracking them into our homes, etc.
Neighborhoods:
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Comments
I've got some bad news for this citizen
about what kinds of behaviors are done by dogs, cats, birds, rodents, etc on those streets...
SRSLY
Someone needs to explain to dog owners how nonplussed the rest of us are by their dog's crap and piss everywhere.
Sure thing - As soon as..
Sure thing - As soon as entitled dog owners stop letting their dogs $h%t on the sidewalks - or worse, bagging their $h%t, then leaving the bags for other people to pick up. Went for a run in the Arboretum and must have seen 20 little bags of $h%t on the trails.
So lets walk this through. Entitled dog owner wants to "save the planet" and show how "respectful" they are - so they bring plastic "non-biodegradable" bags with them, bag up their animal's waste, then chuck the plastic bag on the ground (or on said trails) so that some other person has to pick it up.
And if you are in the woods, wouldn't it be better to just let them go and not bag it?
Mind boggling
No to scattered dog crap in the parks.
No, because their dogs crap on the trails where people step in or ride through it.
Just keep the dogs on leash and pick up after them. It's not hard.
Presumably they're thinking about COVID-19
not about E. coli.
Animals
can't help themselves. Humans, one presumes, could know better if they wanted to.
Humans
are animals. This explains a lot.
Birds spit?? News to me!
Birds spit?? News to me!
Pretty funny
Pretty funny coming from a dog owner, who “walks” their dog probably for the sole reason of having it urinate and defecate in public spaces instead of in their home.
Perhaps the pot likes calling the kettle black
Last Wednesday, during the family walk home from school, I had to draw family members’ attention to dog poop on the ground, lest they step in it. However, I neglected to note that the liquid on the otherwise dry sidewalk was probably pee until too late.
I would say that one solution to the dogs getting in the spit would be to have them well controlled on a leash. Considering that the rest of us are dodging dog poop all the time, I’d say it’s a fair trade-off.
PSA
Can some sort of PSA be sent out to tell dog owners, etc to stop shitting and pissing on the streets. Our pedestrians are walking on their germs and we are all tracking them into our homes, etc.
"Milhouse. I'm not going to
"Milhouse. I'm not going to take dog doo that's been on the dirty ground, and put it on my face." - Bart Simpson
Also, isn't there already an established fine for spitting in Boston? (Section 14, chapter 270)
I thought that got repealed
I thought that got repealed about 10 years ago, but apparently it was just a bill that was put forward and it didn't actually go through the whole process.
I am old enough to remember...
...when there used to be signs in all T stops that said "No Spitting. $10 fine". They were there into the 70s.
Fines
There's also a fine for jaywalking in Boston.
I honestly don't understand
I honestly don't understand the whole spitting phenomenon. I've never had the urge to spit, ever, for any reason. I feel like it's just a bad habit.
lol
ok, Judith Martin a/k/a Miss Manners. Do you also wear white gloves to dinner?
Spoken like someone who has never gone for a run on a chilly day and had your nose declare war on your throat with some gross post nasal drip.
This does nothing to explain
This does nothing to explain the disgusting people who constantly spit when they are just standing around not exercising. These type of people aren’t winning any genius grants.
In my experience, the kind of folks who do that are trying
to project badassery rather than the actual effect: brainless vulgarity.
they spit because they have
they spit because they have excess saliva. or some other reason. in the world we live in, there are far bigger issues than someone expelling saliva and/or phlegm.
get over yourself, bike-fury.
There are these things called tissues
They fit in your pocket. I can manage to use one while riding a bike. I expect that runners can do the same while running.
There is also this thing called water, which most people exercising can manage to carry and use to drink down the internal hydration.
I am most familiar with the phenomenon that you describe. However, I have never considered it to be any sort of justification for spewing.
Try exercising in the cold
A lot of people get a buildup of thick saliva etc in the back of the throat that's kinda uncomfortable. Not much you can really do about it other than try to spit it out somewhere where it won't hit anyone else.
Not just that
but also the series of motions you have to do to clear it and then swallow it prevents you from breathing during the maneuver, which is a problem when jogging. The solution is to break it up: First clear it into your mouth, then breath for a few cycles, then swallow it.
It's not impossible to avoid spitting, but it's irritating enough to avoid that I guess a lot of people don't bother.
Carry a tissue
And spit into that. There is no need for you to spit on the ground
Pocket squares are now mandatory
For anyone, regardless of gender, who leaves their home.
Lol ok buddy
Should I also carry a towel to mop up any sweat that might fall on the clean, clean ground?
Yes
I'm not a dog owner. I am a pedestrian who just took a walk outside and side stepped spit along the way.
Better idea
Just grow up and keep your phlegm to yourself.
It really isn't hard.
Even better idea
There are these new fangled inventions called "shoes" which prevent you from getting random crud on the sidewalks directly on your feet. I'd recommend putting a pair on before you go outside, and then take them off before you walk around your home. Simple and easy!
Tissue
As a runner I bring tissues with me. An easy place to put your saliva. Then I put the tissue in my fanny pack and keep going.
Lol
That has to be a joke. Does someone really think their dog’s feet are cleaner than my mouth?
This citizen should be grateful that "hawking" isn't
part of our culture. Coughing up and spitting phlegm is done superstitiously or for alleged health reasons in some countries -- I saw it everywhere in mainland China, usually by older folks -- and that's just nasty for everyone and their dogs.
Magoo sez.
Magoo has to hock loogies every morning when Magoo wakes up. Usually Magoo does this in the shower. Magoo Can’t swallow loogies due to gag reflex but Magoo never does it in public. Magoo.
I’ll stop
spitting, as long as I can keep blowing snot rockets!
was coming here to say similar
This person knows next to nothing about active exercise and the results on the body.
I do know about both
I've probably been doing the sorts of things that generate the snot trough longer than you have been alive.
Tissues work. You should try them sometime. Or bring a water bottle and swallow.
When you run, what’s your average pace?
That’s right, you bike.
Different types of exercise, my friend.
Hahaha
I doubt that.
bostnkid spitting jogger story
when i was a kid my best friends father was a bartender at Maryanne's. every year we would watch the marathon on beacon street, in front of the bar. always lots of pretty BC girls and free cokes flowed all day long. it was a great time. one year we sold programs for the BAA. because we were selling the magazines we were allowed to walk along the race track/ beacon st. selling them to spectators along the sidewalks.
it was pretty quiet and suddenly there was a huge applause! bill rogers was coming around the bend into cleveland circle. he was headed towards maryanne's and he had a pretty decent lead. my old pal eddie was the closest one to him as he passed. ed got very excited and reached out to slap bill rogers the back! rogers turned his head slightly, placed his left index finger against his left nostril, and fired a foot long snot rocket right into eddie's chest. it was like it happened in slow motion. it was gross. we had to get eddie a new shirt. it was a pino's pizza shirt. the end.
stay well everyone.
I hope this citizen doesn't learn that ...
Homeless and other people may be relieving themselves in the out of doors where doggies may also be walking.
Scratching the surface
There's a whole 'two dogs, one sidewalk' situation going on out there...
see also: fountains
see also: fountains
never, ever, ever let your kids play in a public fountain
Or that his dog is relieving
Or that his dog is relieving itself where other people may be walking.
I'm always surprised when I
I'm always surprised when I see an adult man or woman spit in public... no manners and just a nasty display of disrespect for those around you. Grow up!
I was told by my grandfather
I was told by my grandfather once about the government campaign to get people to stop spitting so not to spread TB. Maybe we need to do this again besides, it is nasty.
I think...
We will see a return of the "No Spitting" signs on the MBTA as a result of this COVID-19 pandemic and yes @redheadedjen they were first put in place to try to curb Tuberculosis spread.
Urine is sterile.
It contains ammonia which is also a cleaning agent. Spit is neither. Dogs are doing us a favor every time they pee on spit.