An Unhealthy Habit

An Unhealthy Habit (Originally published by Beijing Review )
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By LISA CARDUCCI

No matter how many years a foreigner lives in China, I think it’s impossible to get used to the awful sound of someone clearing their throat loudly and then spitting right next to you. The SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) epidemic last year should have changed this extremely bad habit, but sadly for all of us it did not.

People continue to spit. Everyday I see staff in the ladies’ toilet at my workplace, who miss their goal and spit on the floor beside the lavatory bowl. Some spit in the sink, where it sticks inside the pipes and produces germs. I watch a constant display of spitting on a daily basis. A man playing ping-pong during the break spat on the floor, and his playmates didn’t bat an eyelid. A taxi driver waiting for customers spat once every minute, while in a restaurant, a diner right beside me spat 31 times while having his meal.

And it is not only foreigners who complain. Several indignant Chinese friends told me how they had been spat upon by someone in front of them, when out riding their bicycles and I have personally been hit by spit from someone in a passing bus.

After the SARS outbreak last year people did not spit on the sidewalk, but on the grass or the side bushes.

People should know that dry spit is even more dangerous to our health than wet spit, because a broom or the wind can spread around billions of germs expectorated daily by a regular spitter. In China, where all is permitted if there is no policeman around, how do we get people to understand the health implications?

Immediately after the SARS period, I started to stare hard at spitters, showing them my disgust and even saying things like “Congratulations! Your spitting skill is very high!” I also distributed tissues on the street to spitters, adding, “For the next time you feel like spitting,” but frustrated, I finally abandoned my fight.

Why not to use the media, as well as organizing a national exhibition (as it was done for drugs at the Military Museum a few years ago) to show people how dangerous spitting is, not only to our health but to the Chinese society’s image? Exhibitions could feature examples and eloquent images (such as the famed Harvard University where a large sign only in Chinese says, “Please do not spit; do not litter”), to explain the dangers and inconveniences of spitting.

If people could see with their own eyes how many germs they spread around when they spit, they might think twice before doing it. Examples of how other countries got rid of the spitting habit could provide convincing models to follow. After a big education campaign all over the country through schools, street signs, TV and radio, newspapers, cartoons, exhibitions and conferences, those “hard core spitters” reluctant to change should be punished accordingly.

I remember, years ago, a “neighborhood committee” woman wearing a red armband actively reacted when a man spat on Wangfujing Street (one of the busiest commercial areas in Beijing), not only asking for the fine, that was 5 yuan ($0.6) at that time, but ordering the offender to clean up the spit. I think drivers or ticket sellers on buses, waiters in restaurants, clerks in stores, etc. should have the right do the same. Spitting is a civil offense, and should be a punishable offense.

The fine for spitting was raised to 200 yuan ($24.15) during the SARS epidemic, but I never saw a policeman fining anyone. As it’s human nature to be moved only by the carrot or the stick, let’s use the punishment, as the reward in this case—contributing to public health and earning a good reputation for the country should be reward enough. To apply this, the number of authorized staff should be raised. For instance, in each work unit, store and hotel, every chief of department should be enabled to fine offenders.

Also, photographers and even citizens who could catch spitters with their cameras could have these photos published.

Chinese people are no different from others; they can get rid of this bad behavior by the means of more education campaigns, just as other countries have succeeded. [END]