Political Morsels and Other Droppings

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, or on vacation… somewhere other than Mexico… you have probably heard about the swine flu epidemic. That’s one step removed from pandemic… apparently.  Now, from what I’ve heard and read, there are vaccines that can help prevent this strain of swine flu… I’ve learned that, like humans, the pig community has a few different strains that they have to deal with as well.  I take solace in knowing that we’re not alone when it comes to the flu.  However, I don’t take solace in knowing that humans can catch a virus like this from pigs. I don’t have anything against pigs.  In fact, I like pigs enough that I actually sat through Babe: Pig in the City (It was the sequel to the first Babe movie and trust me, they should have quit while they were ahead).

What gets me is that the flu comes and goes every year in countries all over the world.  Many people die from the flu every year.  However, as soon as you add word relating to some sort of animal in front of the word “flu” you have people rushing off to find their masks.

Now I have to say that I am very much a germaphobe.  Hell, I’m probably one of the biggest germaphobes that you may, or may not, ever come across.  I try to avoid shaking hands, and always have hand sanitizer at the ready and use it when I touch common area items, such as doors (because you know one out of three men don’t wash their hands), keyboards, cupboards, etc. People at work know not to touch me. If someone even touches my desk, I will use cleaning solution right after they have walked away. I will even wipe down the equipment with sanitizing sheets that the gym provides, before and after I use each machine.  Okay, so perhaps I’m slightly OCDish.  I’m fine with that.  With that said, I AM NOT PANICING…. yet.  So far in the cases recorded in the US, no one has died!!!  However, if it starts to spread and people start dropping like flies at a higher rate than the normal human flues, I will be donning my mask, while walking around in a bubble that looks more like a hamster ball while lathering myself with sanitizer. After all, I’m allergic to flu shots. 

Filed under: Droppings Tagged: | Babe the Pig, flu, germaphobe, pig, swine flu