# Is It Acceptable To Spit If I Have Allergies **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 13, 2011, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-acceptable-to-spit-if-i-have-allergies/578195 "2011-04-13T03:29:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/f04885/32.png) [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qin_Shi_Huangdi)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2011, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-acceptable-to-spit-if-i-have-allergies/578195/1 "2011-04-13T03:29:36Z")
If I’m being tormented by allergies and mucus in my throat, is it acceptable for me to spit on the ground? ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2011, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-acceptable-to-spit-if-i-have-allergies/578195/2 "2011-04-13T03:30:24Z")
Nope. Get some kleenex. Get lots of kleenex. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2011, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-acceptable-to-spit-if-i-have-allergies/578195/3 "2011-04-13T03:36:31Z")
> [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](#): > > If I’m being tormented by allergies and mucus in my throat, is it acceptable for me to spit on the ground? Spit on the ground meaning spit in areas where people don’t walk, like a flowerbed? Certainly. Spit on the sidewalk? No. Spit in the smoking area? No. Spit outside a door? No. I don’t care how much you’re tormented, you spit where I’m going to put my foot in it, you’re an asshole. ---
**Author:** ![Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/f04885/32.png) [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qin_Shi_Huangdi)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2011, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-acceptable-to-spit-if-i-have-allergies/578195/4 "2011-04-13T03:43:50Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > Nope. Get some kleenex. Get lots of kleenex. Suppose I don’t have any immediate access to kleenex. ---
**Author:** ![jabiru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bbce88/32.png) [@jabiru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jabiru)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2011, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-acceptable-to-spit-if-i-have-allergies/578195/5 "2011-04-13T03:47:41Z")
> [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](#): > > Suppose I don’t have any immediate access to kleenex. Buy some. It’s not acceptable to spit. I don’t think it’s acceptable to spit into gardens but it’s beyond the pale gobbing up where people are going to walk. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2011, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-acceptable-to-spit-if-i-have-allergies/578195/6 "2011-04-13T03:51:24Z")
NO no no no one of my classmates has been sick with colds for what seems like the past month and every 30 minutes we’re treated to him horking up a big gob of mucus into the classroom trash can. Spitting is gross. Excuse yourself to the bathroom and take care of it there. ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2011, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-acceptable-to-spit-if-i-have-allergies/578195/7 "2011-04-13T03:53:28Z")
> [@jabiru](#): > > Buy some. It’s not acceptable to spit. I don’t think it’s acceptable to spit into gardens but it’s beyond the pale gobbing up where people are going to walk. This. I have allergies (no spitting, but I go through sneezing attacks), and if I feel like they’re going to be bad that day, or I won’t be anywhere near kleenex, I’ll put some in my pocket for that day. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2011, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-acceptable-to-spit-if-i-have-allergies/578195/8 "2011-04-13T03:55:41Z")
No. That’s fucking disgusting. Seriously, don’t do it. God, there is nothing nastier than seeing somebody spit. (Well, I mean, there are nastier things, but I don’t see them nearly as often.) ---
**Author:** ![alice\_in\_wonderland](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alice_in_wonderland/32/176_2.png) [@alice\_in\_wonderland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alice_in_wonderland)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2011, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-acceptable-to-spit-if-i-have-allergies/578195/9 "2011-04-13T03:58:33Z")
How revolting. No. Hell no, in fact. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2011, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-acceptable-to-spit-if-i-have-allergies/578195/10 "2011-04-13T04:00:53Z")
Things not to do in public, in order of importance: [ul] [li]Spit[/li][li]Piss[/li][li]Shit[/li][li]Ejaculate[/li][/ul] Just in case you were wondering. ---
**Author:** ![SeaDragonTattoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@SeaDragonTattoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeaDragonTattoo)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2011, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-acceptable-to-spit-if-i-have-allergies/578195/11 "2011-04-13T04:02:05Z")
Then swallow it. I don’t get the big deal people have about swallowing mucous. I’d rather sniffle my nose and swallow than hork up whatever phlegm went into the back of my throat up into my mouth. That means I would have to _taste_ whatever vile plug of phlegm was back there. I’d rather not be in a position to describe flavor or texture of whatever was _already in my body anyway_. Just make it go away, without being a disgusting tool. Seriously. Unless I’m built differently than all other humans, that shit never enters my mouth unless I do it on purpose after a sniffle. Why would I want to do that? Blow it out your nose into a kleenex, or swallow it. I had a cousin I was close to growing up, and he was a hork-spitter. It was disgusting and my mom had to have a talk with his mom about doing that when they came to visit our house. No spitting in the trash cans, no spitting in the sinks! Here’s a box of kleenex, or just make a simple swallowing motion that you do with regular spit anyway and make it gone without making everybody else want to barf. I don’t feel strongly about this at all. ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2011, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-acceptable-to-spit-if-i-have-allergies/578195/12 "2011-04-13T04:04:34Z")
Not just disgusting but unhygenic too. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2011, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-acceptable-to-spit-if-i-have-allergies/578195/13 "2011-04-13T04:05:33Z")
Sure, if you’re in a field or a forest, alone or with your dog. Then you can not only spit, you can do a farmer nose-blow. But in town, or indoors, or in the company of other human beings–no. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2011, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-acceptable-to-spit-if-i-have-allergies/578195/14 "2011-04-13T04:08:11Z")
I was out walking a couple of months ago, and some teenage boy little piece of shit horked out a loogie on the sidewalk and damned near hit me with it - I was extremely tempted to explain to him in graphic detail why my foot was up his ass. If you have allergies (and I do - hay fever), you prepare yourself with kleenex. My husband has allergies and asthma, and we have kleenex in every room of the house. In cold places, there is nothing quite as gross as a huge green and red loogie frozen on the sidewalk so EVERYONE gets a good look at it all winter. (Where’s the barfing smiley?) ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2011, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-acceptable-to-spit-if-i-have-allergies/578195/15 "2011-04-13T04:10:23Z")
With the exception of your own yard, **no**. Millions of us have allergies. You don’t see the sidewalks dotted with mucus because of it, do you? ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2011, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-acceptable-to-spit-if-i-have-allergies/578195/16 "2011-04-13T04:12:11Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > In cold places, there is nothing quite as gross as a huge green and red loogie frozen on the sidewalk so EVERYONE gets a good look at it all winter. (Where’s the barfing smiley?) Vote for the NDP, and the All-Canada Frozen Loogie Removal Force. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2011, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-acceptable-to-spit-if-i-have-allergies/578195/17 "2011-04-13T04:12:58Z")
It’s illegal in Singapore to spit on the ground. If all 4.8 million of them can figure out what to do with it, so can you. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2011, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-acceptable-to-spit-if-i-have-allergies/578195/18 "2011-04-13T04:38:21Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > Nope. Get some kleenex. Get lots of kleenex. And Benadryl, or the generic equivalent. It is NOT acceptable to spit. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2011, 10:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-acceptable-to-spit-if-i-have-allergies/578195/19 "2011-04-13T10:13:02Z")
> [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](#): > > Suppose I don’t have any immediate access to kleenex. Swallow. ---
**Author:** ![JuliaSqueezer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/82dd89/32.png) [@JuliaSqueezer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JuliaSqueezer)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2011, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-acceptable-to-spit-if-i-have-allergies/578195/20 "2011-04-13T14:26:27Z")
Nope. Spitting, especially indoors, is not socially acceptable in most Western societies. Horking, bringing up mucous and then expelling it out into the world, is nauseating to many people, including me. Use a kleenex or spit into a toilet, if you absolutely feel you must spit. Most humans are able to swallow their mucous. I may be overly emotional about the subject because I used to work in an office of about 50 people. We had one drinking fountain, in the hall outside our large, open office space. A coworker had a habit of standing up from his desk, simultaneously horking and walking fast, and then spit into the fountain. He was shocked and angry when a supervisor had to counsel him to use the restroom for his expectorations. He did stop, but few people ever used that fountain again. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-acceptable-to-spit-if-i-have-allergies/578195.md?page=2)