ski track ettiquette

I would like to begin this by saying stop walking your dogs on the bloody ski track!

Finns apparently have two rules of ettiquette:

1) Don't fart in the Sauna
2) Don't walk on the Ski tracks

Seems like sound social rules to me. I mean really who wants wants to be in a hot small room full of steam with a rank fart in the air.

If you go skiing (like classic or skating style) then you'll know that tracks make a big difference to doing it smoothly without tripping up. When you're training as a sport it can be annoying to trip up because of a deep foot print in the track. So of all people Finns should know better than anyone that you should not walk your bloody dog on the bloody ski track.

You may have guessed that this topic drives me insane.

The worst part is that it is plainly and unambiguously a violation of laws. To make matters worse the National TV station here (YLE) tried to present a program about it and in the interests of political correctness ended up making a case that it was some how ok.

Well congratulations YLE, you just helped their cause.

What really drives me nuts is that these responsible and caring citizens also allow their dogs to shit on the tracks and just leave it there.

On the foot path its just unsightly, but on the Ski track ...

Its stunning to me that people even let their dog do a shit right in the middle of the bloody track! I mean what normal dog shits in the middle of a path?

Then they leave it there ...

When I was in Canada the people in the towns of Alberta were much more ethical in this way and many picked up their dogs shit in small plastic bags. They even had dog shit bins at the dog walking track entrances.

Now this isn't so unique, these same dog owners usually never pick up their dog shit anywhere any time and make no effort to pick it up.

Now don't get me wrong, I don't want to create the impression that no Finn picks up their dog shit, but it sure does seem to be a minority looking around.

But seriously, little is more annoying than getting dog shit on your skis when its just around zero deg C.

spitting

One of the things which struck me when I first came to Finland was just how many people spit. They spit in town, they spit on the busses, they spit everywhere. It was nearly as bad as China (which seems bent on changing this).

I was particularly reminded of this upon returning to Finland from 10 days in southern Europe where I didn't see anyone spit. But its not just young lads, you walk around any place here and you'll see boys and girls lean over and spag on the ground.

Given the current fascination with averting Pig Flu here in Finland I'm surprised that noone public has yet mentioned this point.

Its a filthy and disgusting habit, totally unnecessary and helps spread disease.

stop it ... please!