I lived in San Francisco when I first started working and my path to the office would take me through Chinatown via Grant. I learned early on to listen for the telltale sound of someone gathering in mucus when coming up on the entrance to a shop. If I heard it, I knew to pause before crossing in front of the store. :eek:
They aren’t doing it right. In a job situation, or near electronics for instance, proper etiquette dictates cutting up a paper towel or napkin and put it into the cup to absorb the tobacco juice/spit so if you accidentally tip the cup over, no gloppy brown goo spills out.
When I play soccer or run, I build up a tremendous amound of spit and snot. Don’t know why. But that shit has to go somewhere. Usually on the field.
I do not, however, spit on sidewalks or parking lots, etc. If I am at home, I will spit into a tissue if there is anything in my mouth that the thought of swallowing makes me gag… which is pretty much anything of substance beyond clear spittle.
I agree with the sentiment that female soccer players are pretty gross.
I don’t think there is such a thing as “proper etiquette” when you’re talking about a habit that makes people spit brown, foul crap. Okay, maybe “Don’t do it in public or around any other people” might work for that. 
It’s a rite of manhood to accidentally drink a sip of your buddy’s dip-spit.
When my ex-boyfriend dumped me and I was counting all the things that were good about the situation, “Never dating someone who spits in public again” was fairly high on the list. Damn! I’m lucky! 
I think it’s more telling that you think men who spit are “foul disgusting creatures.” Sure, it’s not the most polite activity but not one worthy of such an insult. People really need to be more careful about what they say.
I’m surprised by the number of posters who didn’t seem to realize that spitting in public is an unhealthy practice. We seem to be such an aware society about things like sneezing, second-hand smoke.
When I was a kid virtually every old man used to chew and spit. And some of the grandmas as well.
Walking the sidewalk in frtont of the old-timer’s bench was just like running the gauntlet.
Maybe because tuberculosis was more common then there was quite a campaign to educate the public about spitting. Maybe it’s time for some PSAs?