Blue
05-21-02, 01:24PM
Quote:
The Spitting image of America.
By Jeff Ventura
Columbia News Service
05-12-2002
NEW YORK
It was the cab ride from hell. In the winter of 1999, a New York City woman claimed she was terrorized by an enraged cabbie who drove around aimlessly, screaming obscenities at her. The driver eventually brought her home, where she threw money at him and fled the vehicle.
She filed a complaint with the city. He had his license revoked.
A routine taxi ride had turned into a heated argument over something that could very well be chalked up to a cultural difference. The driver, a man of Indian descent, had opened his door at a stoplight and spit onto the street. The woman expressed her disgust, and from there things went from mildly unsettling to downright ugly.
In many parts of the world, though, the woman would hardly have noticed. In Asia, for example, spitting in public is about as accepted as sneezing. It’s not even confined to the outdoors. People spit in movie theaters and in restaurants, sometimes into handkerchiefs, sometimes on the floor. The Washington Post reported that public spitting is so prevalent in China that planners of the 2008 Olympic Summer Games in Beijing are scrambling to curtail it before the arrival of hundreds of thousands of Westerners, who may not be accustomed to widespread expectorating.
In most places in the United States, spitting in public is considered a minor crime. In Battle Creek, Mich., it is a disorderly conduct offense. In Prescott Valley, Ariz., spitting on sidewalks or in public buildings could bring a $500 fine. “Expectorating on a public surface” in Virginia is a violation of state law. And in New York City, letting phlegm fly is a quality-of-life crime that is rarely enforced, the police say, unless the offender is caught in the subway.
For the rest of the story.........
http://www.annistonstar.com/lifestyle/2002/as-health-0512-0-2e09v0426.htm
The Spitting image of America.
By Jeff Ventura
Columbia News Service
05-12-2002
NEW YORK
It was the cab ride from hell. In the winter of 1999, a New York City woman claimed she was terrorized by an enraged cabbie who drove around aimlessly, screaming obscenities at her. The driver eventually brought her home, where she threw money at him and fled the vehicle.
She filed a complaint with the city. He had his license revoked.
A routine taxi ride had turned into a heated argument over something that could very well be chalked up to a cultural difference. The driver, a man of Indian descent, had opened his door at a stoplight and spit onto the street. The woman expressed her disgust, and from there things went from mildly unsettling to downright ugly.
In many parts of the world, though, the woman would hardly have noticed. In Asia, for example, spitting in public is about as accepted as sneezing. It’s not even confined to the outdoors. People spit in movie theaters and in restaurants, sometimes into handkerchiefs, sometimes on the floor. The Washington Post reported that public spitting is so prevalent in China that planners of the 2008 Olympic Summer Games in Beijing are scrambling to curtail it before the arrival of hundreds of thousands of Westerners, who may not be accustomed to widespread expectorating.
In most places in the United States, spitting in public is considered a minor crime. In Battle Creek, Mich., it is a disorderly conduct offense. In Prescott Valley, Ariz., spitting on sidewalks or in public buildings could bring a $500 fine. “Expectorating on a public surface” in Virginia is a violation of state law. And in New York City, letting phlegm fly is a quality-of-life crime that is rarely enforced, the police say, unless the offender is caught in the subway.
For the rest of the story.........
http://www.annistonstar.com/lifestyle/2002/as-health-0512-0-2e09v0426.htm