spectrum 8 - the whiner

WARNING: the following is about snot and phlegm…and a little pee.

this is terrible and possibly insensitive and i shouldn’t even write about it. but i will anyway because i can’t get over it and hopefully this helps (every city has its grime, right?). it is impossible to walk in the city without stepping in another person’s fluids. there, i said it.

snot rockets – an inelegant yet precise term – seem to be the most widely used method here for clearing out the nose. and although i’m impressed by the efficiency of it, the sight and sound really just makes me want to barf. the steps outside the school where i teach are dotted with frozen globs of what i hope is mostly spit. and even the stairs inside the school have puddles here and there every once and a while. i haven’t actually been spit or snotted on, but have caught various backsplashes and narrowly escaped a few ill-timed and ill-aimed wads. it’s only a matter of time, though. i’m a little paranoid.

unfortunately, if you are not stepping in one thing, you are stepping in another. for me, it’s mostly pee. example: on my way to work i pass a bus stop, the back of which is generally used as a toilet. i usually try to avoid walking back there, but it’s a busy stop and i’m not always lucky. i just try very, very hard not to slip and fall in this particular area.

ok. i’m done. i’m over it. i promise.