Long time, No Posts :(

Forgive me but I have sinned,
It has been forever since my last post.
Somehow I found myself lost in a world of microbiology, illness, scandal, endings and beginnings, and forgot how to communicate.

My bad.

However! I have been noting issues that require attention, and will be updating shortly. It should be noted though, that I may choose to focus on poetry and photography in the next little while. :)

kthnxbai!

Swine Flu? H1N1? Pandemic or just Plain Paranoia?

For my very first entry I would like to bring to everyone's attention (not that everyone hasn't noticed) the fear and distress the term swine flu is having on people across the globe. It apparently originated in Mexico (as in, that's where it was first encountered) according to CBC, and has been spreading due to its contagious nature at a very rapid rate, so much so that the WHO (World Health Organization) has declared it to be a pandemic.

Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa! Overwhelmed yet? There's more. A recent article (May 9, 2009) in the Vancouver Sun, has revealed that so far, Mexico has confirmed 44 deaths, America has confirmed 2, and one woman in Alberta who also had this strain of flu, has also passed away; thus putting Canada on the H1N1 death map, with one casualty since the outbreak.

In response to the constant reminders of new cases, and casualties in the media, it appears that people are really taking the message to heart, stockpiling vitamins, Tylenol, antibacterial soaps, and hand sanitizers en mass. I could hardly believe my eyes while walking through the shampoo and soap aisle at my local Shopper's Drug Mart, when I noticed that the middle shelf (which usually holds hand sanitizers) was COMPLETELY EMPTY! I quickly snapped a photo of the little label hanging from the shelf with my cell phone, and which read, "Sorry but were out of the hand sanitizer." I was left utterly speechless. I did not know what shocked me more, the missing apostrophe in "we're," or the fact that an entire shelf could become depleted of its product so quickly and so completely. I managed to find one last pack of three mini Purell sanitizers hidden behind the shampoo bottles. My best guess to explain this mystery would be that the store tried to impose a limit on the amount of packages one tried to buy. That, or someone ran out of money. 25 packs of sanitizer cannot be all too cheap. I promptly bought the last box.

Later that week, while talking to some of my friends in Square One (the local shopping mall), I noticed a tickle in my throat and began coughing up a storm. The effect this fit of coughing had on the shoppers around me was to die for (no pun intended, I really was choking). I was shot a substantial amount of dirty looks from passers-by who began walking faster, and subtly covering their faces with their hands. Once my fit had passed, my friends promptly asked if I had the swine flu and needed to be taken to a clinic. I informed them of my dry scratchy throat, bought a drink, and sensed them relax and become comfortable with me again. W...o...w! I felt lucky to still be alive! And not because I feared I had the swine flu either! In fact, I half expected someone to come at me with a shovel, knock me out and place me in quarantine! Just for coughing in public! Note to self: Never cough in public again (at least not while people are still worried about catching the swine flu). Take heed to this advice! You never know when someone will attack you in suspicion that you might give them the swine flu!

What can I say to all of this? You may have read this and thought, "wow she should start taking this more seriously", or perhaps, "what does she know?" Fact is, I know what I observe, and never claim to know any more. However, in my honest opinion, I believe that people are taking the swine flu alert much too far. Yes it is a new strain of the disease, and yes it has killed people, but we have to remember that so far, the deaths confirmed have not been that many, and mostly in countries where good living conditions are hard to come by. Not only that, but we must resist the urge to panic. Buying 25 packs of hand sanitizer is a bit extreme, considering that as of yet, only one person has died in Canada, in a different province, and the cause of death was only suspected to be the swine flu. After all, annually the common flu virus is said to kill an average of around 4,000 Canadians, according to the Vancouver Sun. Call me crazy, but this number seems to be significantly higher than the one suspected swine flu death in Canada so far. The real shock though is that the common flu has existed in Canada for ages, but not until now have people felt the need to buy disinfectants in bulk. Not until this new, incredibly publicized, strain of the common flu. Ah! Don't you just love the smell of paranoia in the morning? Yea me neither. In fact, it smells like a thousand squirts of sanitizer as five hundred people disinfect their hands.

Perhaps I am wrong, and heaven forbid, the virus gains momentum, I will be the first one to eat my words. But until the numbers show a significant rapid increase, I'll remain a cynic. I'll see my doctor, take some Tylenol, and get plenty of bed-rest whenever I feel poorly. After all, if there's one good thing that's coming out of this swine flu scare, it's that bosses can't say anything to you when you call in sick, as they are afraid of catching the terrible swine flu themselves. So rejoice! And if you feel ill, take some time off, and relax. Because chances are, the swine flu fad will only be in style for a little while longer.

Time to Create!

I'm currently trying to organize and personalize my lil 'ol blog so I'll try to find something creative to talk about A.S.A.P. Thanks!