No need to hide inside
One of my favourite literary characters has to be Chicken Little. Take an otherwise minor incident and through hyperbole and imaginative exaggeration, convince yourself and others of impending disaster. It’s a mechanism with a long and hallowed history. Think of the Bible and it’s prophet of doom and gloom. Or borrow from the Greeks, where Cassandra had important things to augure, if only the rest of the community would shut up and listen closely. We, as modern, well-informed individuals have the mainstream media. Think Fox, or CBC (unfair pairing, but I want to keep your attention).
As we wade through the muddied waters of the coming recession/depression (you say to-may-to, I say to -mah-to), and wait for the automotive industry to fold itself into an origami bird and fly away, the country has a new “coming disaster”. Pandemics are possible, but the latest “little bit of press” is on high alert over a swine flu strain coming up from Mexico. We didn’t take the SARS warning too seriously back in 2002, but how many people did you know that took a vacation in Hong Kong? Cancun and Acapulco, on the other hand, are part of the season “tanning break” destinations, wherein those with extra money and vacation time get away to avoid seasonal disorders. Maybe they’re bringing home a viral payload, if the press is correct.
I’m not going to get neurotic just yet. Out of a combined North American population of roughly 350 million, there have been an estimated 1000 confirmed cases to date. Even if the afflicted were gathered together into one place, it wouldn’t fill a local high school campus. I’ll read the newspapers, but I’m not putting my life on hold just yet. The discomfort of a facemask at the supper table would be unbearable.
