In an effort to swim closer to home I started going to a community pool nearby. Just as I was about to get in a lane, the young woman in it stopped at the end, hawked something up, and spit it in the gutter. Then she did it again.
The lifeguard to whom I pointed this out said that the gutters empty into the sewer. I don't think so, and even if the water is sent through the filters, is spitting in the gutter now acceptable?
Wasn't when I swam in college 35 years ago, isn't at the (expensive) club I was trying to substitute for. But is this dirty or am I being foolishly fastidious? Your honest comments please!
Former Member
As to the original question --
I'd rather see them hocked into the gutter than directly into the pool.
At least, by the time the gutter water gets through the drain and back into the pool, it has been through the filter and through fresh chlorine and all. It's pretty thoroughly processed by then -- and if it's a result of the person having a cold, then even the germs/virus contained therein will be neutralized by the chlorine. It seems to me that the same material added directly into the pool would take longer to be neutralized.
Former Member
I would never "hock up" anything in the pool if I could help it. That would be extremely embarassing from my point of view. I do frequently spit water into the gutter when I stop for a break at the end of the pool. I hope people don't find that to be overly offensive.
On a similar note, there's someone in my swim group who blows his nose out in the shower. He holds one nostril closed, blows for a while, then does the other. Today, I was in the shower next to him and asked him to use a tissue. He said, "But I don't have a cold..." There's so many colds and such going around that I don't care if you have a cold, the shower is certainly not the place to be doing that, don't you think?
In the gutter is one thing. As long as it stays there, I'm okay with that.
In the shower? Give me a break, please. Use a tissue, sick or not.
That's just plain sick, lazy, rude and grounds for teammate termination. What's the guy think? It just evaporates before it gets on the walls, the floor or the person next to him?
Jim
Former Member
Originally posted by Rob Copeland
spitting: dirty or am I foolishly fastidious… Isn’t there a middle ground?
Did you also point out to the lifeguards all those people who broke the rules by not taking a shower before entering the pool? Or are you just sporadically fastidious? If you think a little spit is dirty and disgusting, what about all those lotions oils, sweat, fecal matter, bacteria, and fungus that are deposited in pools by all those unwashed millions? And that stuff goes right into the pool water, not the gutter.
And don’t even get me started on people who refuse to brush and floss before entering the pool. All that plaque, halitosis, and gingivitis…
I don't think it's so much rule breaking as it's just common courtesy. I hate it when runners do it, I especially hate it when baseball players do it, and swimming should be a 'cleaner' sport than that. Well, for that matter, so should every sport. I find it disgusting no matter what. I understand that you do get a buildup of mucus in your mouth and it's got to go somewhere, but still...
Former Member
Originally posted by centaur532
I understand that you do get a buildup of mucus in your mouth and it's got to go somewhere, but still...
This is a key point. And it begs the question:
If it's got to go somewhere, where should it go?
Former Member
I say let the stomach acid take care of it!
Former Member
shower snot rocket...AKA: farmer's blow
Former Member
I agree that spitting in the shower is disgusting.
Not showering before entering the pool is, to me, worse than spitting in the pool. Come on, it takes five minutes tops to lather up and rinse before you get in the pool!
Also:
"This is a key point. And it begs the question:"
Sorry to be picky, but you mean it "raises" the question. Begging the question is a term for a logical fallacy.
Not nearly as bad as spitting, but I couldn't let it go by.
Cheers,
Adam
