SEEING RED: Why do people spit?

I often wonder why folk feel the need to spit - be it on the ground or even at another person.

To some, it appears to be second nature.

In fact, I’ve lost count the number of times I’ve been in the street or a town centre and seen someone spit on the ground.

It’s revolting.

End of.

It’s so bad some even believe spitting is as low as you can get - worse than violence.

You can understand the sentiment. It’s sickening and rightly socially unacceptable.

But why on earth do people feel the need to do it?

It simply baffles me.

The very people who do it are the same classless sort who believe its’s ok to not clear up after their ‘trophy’ dog fouls on the pavement or those who drop their used cigarettes on the ground.

But it’s not ok, is it?

Even during a run - yes, your eyes aren’t deceiving you - I have never felt the need to forcibly project saliva from my mouth.

I would never dream of it, but then again I was taught right from wrong at an early age.

I dread to think what some in our broken society were ‘taught’.

Then there’s sports spitters.

Recently, ex-Liverpool footballer and now Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher brought spitting to the fore after he was videoed showering a 14-year-old girl in spittal during a roadside exchange with her father.

He has rightly showed contrition since, but it doesn’t excuse what he did.

But he’s not the only sportsman to be guilty of spitting.

It’s pandemic across the sporting world, from out of shape football managers on the touchline to cricketers on the boundary.

I have even seen golfers do it, which is pathetic.

If golfers feel the need to do it during a leisurely stroll, then there’s no hope.

Of course, most sportsmen and women are seen as role models by impressionable youngsters.

They mimic their heroes, including some of their more odious traits.

So be it on the streets or the sports field, please put an end to this disgusting habit.

- I saw a headline at the weekend which made me smile - and no it wasn’t wind.

‘English people only care about Ireland on St Patrick’s Day’.

The asssociated clickbait post on Twitter seemed to stir all sorts of angry responses from the masses.

As for myself, I see St Patrick’s Day as an event when folk jump on yet another bandwagon - we’re pretty good at leaping on to them - to get absolutely smashed and wear silly looking hats.

So, I suspect most English folk don’t give a toss about Ireland but simply use March 17 as yet another excuse to get obliterated.

- My local county council is asking residents to tell it about roads which have been decimated by potholes.

Surely it would be quicker to just list the roads which do not resemble the Grand Canyon?

- The weekend’s snowfall came as no surprise but the depth of it did to some, which is odd considering forecasters had predicted up to 10-15cm of the white stuff as part of an amber weather warning issued on Friday.