Spit-free zone

How does one react when one spits in public places?

April 02, 2014 06:24 pm | Updated May 21, 2016 07:46 am IST - chennai

Tough to swallow: Spitting should be a strict no-no. Photo: K.V. Srinivasan

Tough to swallow: Spitting should be a strict no-no. Photo: K.V. Srinivasan

Is spitting in public places a crime? It should be. “Complain to the police,” said one man, when a security guard asked him not to spit. “ Kudutha velaya mattum paaru (do the job assigned to you).” He was well-dressed and decent-looking. My jaw hit the floor when I heard this exchange. Tempers rose and I stood there staring. When I was about to leave, he called someone and went on about the watchman’s misconduct. He talked as if the watchman had committed some crime! I cursed under my breath, and left the place.

On my way home, I realised that I should have talked some sense into that man. But then I wondered, what would I have told him? It may have escalated into a meaningless argument. God only knows how to handle such people.

Hari is a Final year Civil Engineering student at Meenakshi Sundararajan Engineering College.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.