Spit on the Sidewalk in this Illinois Town and You’ll Get Busted

My dad used to tell me that one of the nastiest habits was spitting. My guess is that this was his attempt to keep me from doing it which only partially worked. There is one place in Illinois where that will get you busted fast.

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When I first saw this shared, I had to double-check my calendar to make sure it wasn't April 1. It was a factoid buried in the middle of a new 10 seriously weird laws article by Only In Your State. The claim is that there is one thing you dare not do if you're in Ottawa, Illinois involving spitting. I was not able to confirm the Ottawa part of it, but did find a real city ordinance elsewhere in the Land of Lincoln.

Here is the exact wording of Sec. 6.106 in Wood Dale, Illinois:

It shall be unlawful to spit or expectorate on any public sidewalk or other public place or on the floor or walls of any store, theater, hall, public vehicle or other place frequented by the public or to which the public is invited.
Any person violating any provision of this section shall be subject to enforcement as defined in chapter 1, article IV of this Code. (Ord. O-18-024, 7-19-2018)

Dang. They take their bodily fluids issues serious in Wood Dale. I realize that this is more than just a gross habit these days with the recent health crisis around the world, but this ordinance was passed a couple years before that.

I came across video shared by the official Wood Dale city YouTube channel of their Memorial Day parade this year and did notice that not once did I see anyone spit. Well done, citizens.