As years pass by, different trends fall in and out of practice. Jeri Curls were once popular in the 1980s. At the turn of the twentieth century, children were given morphine to calm them down for bed. Both of these things were viewed as socially acceptable in their times, and both are now recognized as being grossly irresponsible. And now, today, there seems to be another irresponsible trend on the rise at Skyline: spitting on campus.

It almost seems as though it is such a simple and long-standing social construct that it shouldn’t require commentary. Don’t spit on campus—it’s gross! It occupies the same realm as picking your nose and flicking it aimlessly into your surroundings. But sure enough, it’s becoming more and more prevalent: people walking around, spitting wherever they feel like, with no regard to people around them. I have seen actual pools of spit around the stone blocks in the quad. I have friends who walk around and, I kid you not, spit at the end of every sentence, as though it’s a period or a way to make a point.

There are times when spitting is fine, such as when you have been exercising vigorously, have eaten something that is unbearably horrible, or on the grave of an enemy, but that is not the problem. The problem seems to be that there has been some slow decay of social awareness among some people throughout the course of their lives, which has led to the point where they either don’t care or don’t notice that they are spraying bodily fluids in public.

But wait! I’m not just some lone maniac, lurking behind bushes, seething with rage every time someone expels spittle. Other students share my disgust as well. For example, Skyline student Sarah Lidwell personally finds spitting very unsightly.

“It’s disgusting and ungentlemanly,” said Lidwell. “People shouldn’t hack their phlegm on the sidewalk.”

Of course some may argue that to be forbidden to spit wherever they feel would be an infringement on their rights, maybe even going so far as to say that to spit in public is to express oneself. Let’s try to use the first amendment as a shield for spitting. Such an argument would ultimately be faulty, due to the fact that the expelling of expectorant in public is unsanitary and is endangering the health of those around you. I am far from a legal expert, but I am fully aware that freedom of expression and doing what you feel like stops dead when it interferes with the well-being of others, like the Ohio retiree who allegedly punches children for fun. (News coverage of the event can be found at here.)

“But how could it be harmful?” you may well ask. The answer comes in the form of a list of diseases spread through saliva: tuberculosis, whooping cough, mononucleosis, and the flu are just a few of the fun ways that your spit can turn into a weapon of pestilence. In fact, Sky- line biology teacher Dr. Nickolas Kapp specifically says that many public health issues, such as the spread of disease, can be solved specifically by not spitting in public.

I feel that this whole problem of spitting where people please could be solved with the tired, ridiculous, yet appropriate adage of “would you like it if I came to your house and spat on your floor?” Not that I think of this place as a home, but since I have to be at Skyline, I’d prefer it not be soaked in phlegm.