We see it as a disgusting habit but spitting wasn’t always considered low brow. In the Middle Ages it was just as important as breathing or blinking; humans had a need to spit frequently. Even at the dinner table, it was polite to remove the excess saliva from one’s mouth with a single expulsion (the only rule was to spit under the table instead of on top of it). In the year 1530 opinion slowly started to change,when renaissance scholar, Erasmus of Rotteram, suggested to turn away from people as you spit so not to accidentally splash them. He also criticized those who spat every three words in conversation… imagine how common spitting must have been, if it only became offensive after every third word. It took another three hundred years for spitting to become taboo… the 1859 book, The Habits of Good Society, reads, “spitting is at all times a disgusting habit. Besides being coarse and atrocious, it is very bad for the health.” Curious, what once was considered a biological necessity… is now a criminal activity. Indeed, if you’re caught spitting in public in Saskatoon, you’ll face a hundred dollar fine. We’ll end with a quote from author Lewis Grizzard… “You can get fined for spitting, but you can throw up for nothing.”