For Sidewalk
I was probably in fifth grade when I learned about tuberculous. I remember the teacher telling us about how people got sick and died because of poor health habits. Epidemics spread because people didn't wash their hands, or cover their mouths when they coughed, and they spit on the sidewalk! The teacher told us that there were laws against spitting on the sidewalk to help stop the spread of disease. And all of us in that class learned this lesson.
Maybe I was less observant in my youth, but I don't remember people spitting. I wish I could say the same now. Last week I was at Safeway. As I walked toward the door a man exited and hocked a loogie on the ground right in front of the door. The slime glistened in the sunlight.
I may have tuberculous!
Posts
When I was a child growing up in NY, there was a sign in the subway stations that said "No Spitting". People, at that time, had respect for others and obeyed signs.
ReplyDeleteOh my I hope you don’t have TB. I notice that men do that spitting thing. I wonder why?
ReplyDeleteYuck! I think it's a terrible habit. In China the men do it all the time, and seemed to enjoy my dismay. :-)
ReplyDeleteGross!
ReplyDeleteMy dad had TB, circa 1952-3. Almost killed him. I don't know how he got it. We did have sidewalks in our neighborhood, but ... I don't think that was it. I just remember he had to go away for about 6 months, and then afterward a nurse would come to the house, make him take his pants down, and then give him a shot in the rear. As a little kid, I thought it was very funny!
ReplyDeleteMemories from the past guide us into the present...
ReplyDeleteSusan
Garden of Eden Blog
Dear Jann, I don't remember ever hearing about tuberculous being connected with sidewalk spitting. But given germs there's probably some validity in that. I can remember being in bars where my father drank and seeing men chaw tobacco and spit into spittoons. I was fascinated and appalled by this! Peace.
ReplyDeleteI hate it when people spit! I tried to teach my son NOT to spit; hubby said it was natural for guys to spit...on what planet!!! Sure hope you don't have TB:) I don't remember hearing about spitting on the sidewalk in conjunction with TB???
ReplyDeleteWell, of course you made me laugh with this one, but I remember those same lessons from my youth. I was raised in Colorado Springs where back at the beginning of the last century many came to be treated for tuberculous. In those days, CS was known for its clean streets that we watched down all the time so that no one could pick up the tuberculous germs. The problems with today's world, well one of the problems, is that no one thinks of the health and safety of others. I agree with you on this. Spitting in public is just too nasty to think about. The thoughts of walking in the spit gives me the heeby jeebies.
ReplyDeleteThat should be that the streets were washed down.
ReplyDelete