circa Sat, 10 Apr 2004 17:02:35 GMT, in rec.pets.cats.health+behav,
Brandy??Alexandre (brandy@kamikaze.orgy) said,

She has apparently never lived in New York. It is ridiculously common
here, as well. It does seem to be a cultural thing to a large extent,
but is one of the side effects of living in the great melting pot.
The first time I saw a man close one of his nostrils with his finger
and then blow snot out of the other onto the sidewalk, I nearly
puked. Now I just make nasty faces at people when I see them do it.
If I've had a particularly annoying ride in on the subway that
morning, I may even say "NASTY!" It doesn't stop them from doing it
again, I'm sure, but it makes me feel better and offloads a little
agression. <G>

And as far as hawking up lugies onto the sidewalk, my advice to
anybody visiting NYC is to not look down. You can't take a step
without passing over (or through) at least three globs of spit/snot.

Laura

My plan is to marry a Japanese man who works for a large multi-national
corporation so we can be transferred all over the world.  A friend's husband
works for Honda.  They've been stationed in Canada for the last 6 years and
will probably go to the US or Europe after that.  That's the life *I* want
to lead--travel, cultural immersion, plus excellent benefits and perks--what
more could I want :-).

I think I might have implied that spitting, etc. was a cultural thing, but
that was not my intention.  It is the taking off of shoes when entering a
home that is cultural.  I remember my first experience visiting someone's
home in Japan--I took off my shoes, stepped onto the floor of the entrance,
and then stepped into my friend's home.  My friend's son, who was maybe 3 or
4 at the time, pointed to my feet and said something in Japanese to his
father and his father quickly covered his (the son's) mouth sort of
embarrassedly.  I immediately knew I had done something wrong and suspected
it was stepping onto the floor.  I later asked another friend and found that
the floor of the entrance is similar to outside in that you've tracked
whatever dirt from outside onto that floor.  Usually, you enter the home,
slip your feet a little out of your shoes, and then step up into the home
from your shoes (the entrance is lower than the rest of the home).  Oops.  I
never made that mistake again!

It's interesting how different cultures have different concepts of
cleanliness.  In some ways, blowing snot out of your nose directly onto the
ground is actually cleaner since your hands don't touch the snot.  I've seen
so many people blow quite heavily into tissues, and then proceed to touch
anything and everything around them without washing their hands.  I think
that's just as gross as seeing a ball of snot fly out of someone's nose.
Well, maybe not *as* gross, but it's right up there.

rona

--
"Do not meddle in the affairs of cats, for they are subtle and they will
piss upon your computer."
 --Bruce Graham

<snip>

=:-o!  I always knew street/sidewalk grates were hazards!  The first (maybe
second) time I lived in Japan, there was a story going around about how a
cyclist rode over one of those grates when it gave in.  The cyclist was
thrown from his bike and died from head injuries.  I have always had a fear
of them since then and try to avoid walking over them.  Now I'm even more
paranoid!  I don't want to get electrocuted!

rona

--
"Do not meddle in the affairs of cats, for they are subtle and they will
piss upon your computer."
 --Bruce Graham