Cautious or Crazy - The Fine Line Gets Finer Thanks to this Swine Flu Business

Oink! In lieu of the swine flu—the collective pulse of America has quickened and everyone is on high alert. We love epidemics don't we? We love fear with a face—something that, in actuality, is unlikely to cause our deaths yet incites fear and unrest and just so happens to be identifiable as an actual disease. Usually we fear the huge, unspecified things: death, war, terrorism, aliens (none of which we've actually experienced). But this time we have an actual disease to fear! And the news media couldn't ask for a better enemy to pit us all against. Most people have had the regular flu before, so they know exactly what swine flu would feel like - except that it's even scarier because it has the word "swine" in it (and of course that makes it creepy because we like to separate ourselves from mere animals.) Pigs, you used to be so cute and pink. Sometimes you were delicious and bacon-y. At your very worst you rolled around in mud and participated in anarchistic Animal Farm. But now, oh no, you've gone too far this time.

I'm being cynical but in actuality - of course I wouldn't want to get swine flu. Or any flu. Who would? But the overbearing buzz of the ominous Swine Flu is pretty comical if you think about it. And, in perfect defense-mechanism-fashion, I tend to lean toward humor when fear creeps in.

Anyway, nationwide this fear has gotten intense. We've seen similar hysteria with anthrax and avian bird flu (another cute animal flu!) - but as more people get onto the Internet in a more regular fashion and information is just readily more available – we have more to be scared of. And of course news beeps in on our cell phones, shoots us email alerts, and comes - as always - through hearsay and common conversation. We're more aware than ever of this supposed epidemic (though, if most people were honest, they probably don't know much about the actual disease. In fact, a few days ago I wikipedia'd (shh my college education shuns it but my heart will never resist it) "Swine Flu," saw that it has "regular flu symptoms" and stopped reading. That's all I needed to hear to be set. Want to learn more? Read Sarah's awesome blog post.
Ok.
What I wanted to mention in this particular post was the fine line between crazed and cautious. When are we going too far with our precautions and when are we being aware and smart? I've seen a few articles this morning about the following - which brought this idea into my head.

1) Priests told to take precautions about flu – In Baltimore (a city afflicted with 6 known cases of The Pig) have discussed not serving wine at Mass to guard against spreading germs and possible this flu. They also urge people to not shake hands during “peace be with you” (as my brothers and I called it) or hold hands during the Our Father. These three things are essential to Mass. Without them, there is little else for the parishioners to participate in (besides of course praying and listening to the homily). Is this a good idea? Should people resist touching each other and getting too close just in case? Perhaps they should (like my mother) carry a mini Purel bottle and slather it on before and after hand-shaking. This one seems logical especially since Baltimore is one of the more affected cities.

2) Near Atlanta, a 7th grader was sent home for wearing a mask to protect himself from getting the flu. He was sent home because, instead, people thought he was wearing it because he already had the flu. This made people a little crazy. His mother, who gave him the mask said, “I think we should all have a right to protect ourselves… I mean, they’ve raised it to a Level 5. You don’t know who all could have it.” Was this a good idea? Was the school right to send him home?(I’ve seen a lot of hilarious photoshopped pictures of celebrities with masks online.) But should we wear these when we’re around people? Is it a good idea or will it make us look crazy and possibly negatively affect others who see us?

3) Harvard Dental treatment clinic closes. They closed 3 locations as “a precaution after a third-year dental student developed "a probable case" of swine flu.” In addition, “Harvard administrators decided late last night to cancel classes today at Harvard's medical school and school of public health.” The school did this because they believe the student might have SF because a) he had contact with someone from Mexico (where the SF is running free) and b) because tests showed that the strain the student had was not a common type of flu. Was this a good idea? This seems ripped right out of a sci-fi movie—if we don’t protect our doctors, who will be able to save us when the rest of us contract the disease?!

Anyway, so far these precautions are reasonably tame. No one’s day-to-day life seems horribly affected (except those who think they might have SF!) I think the hysteria is more word-of-mouth than actually physically active. I haven’t seen anyone in a mask in Boston yet – but I will be on the look out as we’ve had 2 cases of The Pig in MA. What do you think about this hysteria and other like ‘epidemics’? We’ve talked before about the anti-peanut hysteria in the Allergy forum, for example. This tendency to blow things out of proportion and get all ‘excited’ seems inherent in our human nature. I think it is also, like everything else, exacerbated by the media. Every top story is SF related. And though I’m glad people are so easily made aware of current events, I hope that people keep themselves in check before getting too out of control. It’s important to be health-conscious and safe so long as we don’t affect our daily lives in an extremely negative way.
Thoughts?