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SWINE FLU!

Panicky

0 votes

Very worried

1 votes

Worried

1 votes

A little uneasy

11 votes

Not at all concerned

12 votes

Benjamin Grimm Apr 28 2009 08:24 AM

The swine flu outbreak makes me feel...

metirish Apr 28 2009 08:32 AM

A little uneasy........... I work in a hospital , always around sick people.....worried about my son too.

John Cougar Lunchbucket Apr 28 2009 08:36 AM

I against diseases in general.

themetfairy Apr 28 2009 08:47 AM

With 20 cases in the entire country, I'm not worrying too much about it right now.

Benjamin Grimm Apr 28 2009 08:56 AM

I voted "a little uneasy" not because I fear the flu, but because I fear the overreaction to it. But only a little bit.

metirish Apr 28 2009 08:59 AM

21 cases now , worried yet metfairy?

themetfairy Apr 28 2009 09:08 AM

If it were 21 cases in my township, I'd be worried. 21 cases in the entire country doesn't worry me.

RealityChuck Apr 28 2009 09:13 AM

I haven't seen enough data, but it doesn't seem to be a major concern. Without knowing anything about the health of the people who died, the data is meaningless. Were the people healthy and with good nutrition? Then it's scary. Were the older and poorly fed? Then it's a routine flu bug. (People forget that the flu is serious and does kill people every year. The question is always: who is dying?).

Benjamin Grimm Apr 28 2009 09:15 AM

From what I've heard, the deaths have been of young (or youngish, 25 to 45 years old) people who had been in good health.

metsguyinmichigan Apr 28 2009 09:24 AM

Ya know, the flu kills people every year....this is hysteria.

Nymr83 Apr 28 2009 09:25 AM

show me some deaths of americans (or foreigners residing here) who failed to respond to treatment in american hospitals and i'll be genuinely worried, until then i'll remain confident that although it may be a big problem elsewhere, we can handle it if the need arises.

Edgy DC Apr 28 2009 09:53 AM

We don't have a good recent history of getting ahead of the game in commissioning enough flu vaccinations. My main worry is that we're bureaucratically unequipped to repond to time-sensitive crises. I see the government response to Katrina and Lunchbucket's company's attempt to change a lightbulb and I see them the same way --- a real epidemic of dysfunctional organizational behavior, where the definitions our roles in the system are kept shrouded in just enough nebulous jargon for us to wheedle out of any accountability.

Benjamin Grimm Apr 28 2009 12:58 PM

My daughter told me last night that, because of the swine flu, her second-grade teacher has banned "high fives" in the classroom and on the playground. I think my daughter's teacher is something of a twit. (This isn't the first time I've thought that, by the way.)

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr Apr 28 2009 02:16 PM

Spent yesterday cracking wise around the office about the low actual risk, calling this a practice pandemic. Spent today out with sore throat and clogging. The fates don't like smartasses.

G-Fafif Apr 28 2009 03:23 PM

I avoided the ballyhooed pulled pork sandwich at CF last night. Avoided it like the plague.

Frayed Knot Apr 28 2009 05:10 PM

="Nymr83"]show me some deaths of americans (or foreigners residing here) who failed to respond to treatment in american hospitals and i'll be genuinely worried, until then i'll remain confident that although it may be a big problem elsewhere, we can handle it if the need arises. There almost certainly will be deaths in this country from this. Some CDC guy virtually guaranteed it today. Nothing too unusual about that as flu kills people all the time. The odds of it being YOU, of course, is real small and the overall idea is to stop it from flowing unchecked. That said, high-five bans are really stupid. Not just for the obvious reasons but because it seeks to convince people that it actually does something.

cooby Apr 28 2009 08:11 PM

I think I've already had it. I've spent the past three weeks with a horribly sore throat, nasel infection, er, the scoots, headache, fever, etc. Lost four pounds and used up all but ONE of my sick days for the year. I better stay healthy now :( However, nobody called it any specific thing. I wonder though....

themetfairy Apr 28 2009 08:29 PM

Eek! I'm glad that you're on the mend cooby.

Benjamin Grimm Apr 29 2009 04:41 AM

Wow! Three weeks! Me too on the "glad you're on the mend" sentiment. I think I've had the flu twice, and each time I was knocked out for about a week. The last time was in 1996 when I had a newborn son at home and I was terrified that he'd catch it from me. I kept myself quarantined in the guest bedroom. I've had flu shots every year since then, and so far, anyway, no more flu. The shot I got last fall, though, doesn't protect against this latest pig variety.

Nymr83 Apr 29 2009 07:06 AM

i saw some guy on the train this morning with a surgical mask on, and he didn't appear to be sick at all. maybe this is just a result of small sample size, but every time i've seen someone in public with a surgical mask they've been a middle aged asian male. never young/old, never a woman, and never not asian.

Benjamin Grimm Apr 29 2009 07:17 AM

It's a cultural thing. I saw a lot of those surgical masks on city streets in Japan. For some I think it's a fear of catching germs, and for others it's a courtesy thing; they don't want to spread their germs to others.

metirish Apr 29 2009 07:18 AM

The Daily News had one of it's journalists wear a mask around the city. ] With swine flu spreading in New York, a mask a day keeps everyone away BY EDGAR SANDOVAL DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER The coughs and sniffles were real. The mask was a test. I wore a surgical mask around the city Tuesday to see what reactions I'd get from tourists and New Yorkers as fears of swine flu start to build. My seasonal allergies have me sneezing and hacking - just like they do every year. But add a mask and people started eying me warily, trying to figure out if I was sick or just paranoid. An employee trying to rope pedestrians into a Times Square chain restaurant noticed me coughing. "Come on in, ladies and gentlemen. There is no swine flu in here. At least I hope there isn't!" screamed Daniel Dickie, 22, of Brooklyn. "We don't want swine flu!" When I assured Dickie I don't have the flu, he breathed a sigh of relief. "With the mask, you look like you were full of germs," he told me. Soon, a British TV crew excitedly stopped me, hoping to get an interview. "I'm one of you," I told him. The crew and I then noticed a couple wearing similar masks in Times Square. I ran faster to snatch them from my competition. North Africans Soumaya Ghaona, 41, and her 51-year-old husband - who would give only his first name, Nouraeddenu - said Americans are crazy not to wear masks. "I thought Americans were more aware," he said, looking around him and shaking his head in disbelief. "But they are not." "I don't care if people think we are crazy," echoed Ghaona. I tried to test reactions underground and jumped on an uptown F train. Friends Milan Patal and Nirau Gohel, both 24, were standing on the platform, enjoying their frappuccinos, when I approached. "Is that the new choca-mocha latte?" I asked innocently. Gohel noticed the mask and stepped away quickly. "It's good that you don't want to spread the flu," he said. "But stay away from me." The masks don't do a whole lot anyway from what I have read.

Benjamin Grimm Apr 29 2009 07:25 AM

This is like the people who were carrying around gas masks in case someone tossed an envelope of anthrax at them. The fear and the panic is spreading much faster than the disease. At least, unlike with the financial crisis, the panic isn't likely to make the actual problem worse (that is, the swine flu itself) but it is likely to cause its own host of problems. Cuba has canceled all flights in and out of Mexico. Cruise lines have suspended all stops in Mexican ports. China and, I think, Russia, have banned import of pork products from the U.S. and Mexico. This is all crazy. I predict that this story will fizzle out before Mother's Day.

Frayed Knot Apr 29 2009 07:31 AM

="Benjamin Grimm":2tw0n4sf]It's a cultural thing. I saw a lot of those surgical masks on city streets in Japan. For some I think it's a fear of catching germs, and for others it's a courtesy thing; they don't want to spread their germs to others.[/quote:2tw0n4sf] A tradition which likely comes via living in very densely populated conditions such as what exists in Tokyo, Beijing, and many other Asian cities. Benjamin Grimm Apr 29 2009 07:34 AM Yes, good point. I also wonder if the dense conditions in Mexico City are somehow making the virus more lethal there than elsewhere. I don't know what kinds of neighborhoods these deaths have occurred in. It may be a combination of population density and other living conditions. Meanwhile, I just saw a news item that Egypt is slaughtering every pig in the country. (It's a Muslim nation. They have what, eight pigs?) Regardless, this seems like another big overreaction. And it also sounds rather Biblical. metirish Apr 29 2009 07:36 AM The lead story on the News station I listen to from Ireland is the death over here of the youngster in Texas. This with record unemployment reports coming in today in Ireland. Mendoza Line Apr 29 2009 08:11 AM ]Gohel noticed the mask and stepped away quickly. "It's good that you don't want to spread the flu," he said. "But stay away from me." Note to self: Next time I'm on the subway and need a little space, break out a surgical mask. Edgy DC Apr 29 2009 08:14 AM Farts work also. Mendoza Line Apr 29 2009 09:12 AM According to the Sydney World Herald, the WHO has revised the death toll down to seven. http://www.smh.com.au/world/only-7-swin ... -aml1.html Nymr83 Apr 29 2009 09:14 AM ]Meanwhile, I just saw a news item that Egypt is slaughtering every pig in the country. (It's a Muslim nation. They have what, eight pigs?) that made me laugh. Edgy DC Apr 29 2009 09:20 AM ="LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr":16hiq9xf]Spent today out with sore throat and clogging. [/quote:16hiq9xf] I picutred somethign like this: <img src="http://www.grifton.com/shadfest07/shad07picts/IMG_0932clogging%2007.JPG"> LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr Apr 29 2009 09:35 AM ="Edgy DC":13eg5hxp] ="LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr":13eg5hxp]Spent today out with sore throat and clogging. [/quote:13eg5hxp] I picutred somethign like this: <img src="http://www.grifton.com/shadfest07/shad07picts/IMG_0932clogging%2007.JPG">[/quote:13eg5hxp] Pretty much. Except with elbow touching instead, and dresses made of Purell wipes. Benjamin Grimm Apr 29 2009 09:36 AM Be sure to wash those elbows. And no high-fives! Edgy DC Apr 29 2009 10:09 AM That's 300,000 pigs in Egypt. Cutting off the nose there. Nymr83 Apr 30 2009 07:21 AM Panicky VP says: ]"I would not be at this point, if they had another way of transportation, suggesting they ride the subway. From my perspective, it relates to is mitigation. If you're out in the middle of a field and someone sneezes that's one thing. If you're in a closed aircraft, a closed container, closed car, a closed classroom, it's a different thing," Biden said ]"A parent whose child's school is closed out of a precaution or because there's been a confirmed case of flu should not take child then to a day care center. They're going to have to take them home," he said. "And the hope is that the employers will be generous in terms of how they treat that employee's necessary action of taking that child home and not being at work." yeah! everyone stay home and watch your kids! as usual, his "people" cleared things up right afterwards and echoed the president's far more sensible "don't panic" lines. Edgy DC Apr 30 2009 10:54 AM Yeah, somebody needs to keep homeboy on book. Didn't he question whether McCain had a leadership temperament? seawolf17 Apr 30 2009 01:06 PM Nymr83 Apr 30 2009 01:32 PM LOL metirish May 01 2009 10:53 AM Northwestern University has banned handshaking at this weekends graduation ceremonies , fist bumps are OK . I can't verify that but Michael Graham just said it on Irish radio. Fman99 May 01 2009 11:23 AM I'm surprised I didn't get swine flu in college, from all of the pigs I fucked there. seawolf17 May 01 2009 12:03 PM ="Fman99":13xv7hgr]I'm surprised I didn't get swine flu in college, from all of the pigs I fucked there.[/quote:13xv7hgr] Dude, it was like 6:1 females to males. How did you screw that up? (Unless you were talking about the fraternity. NTTAWWT.) Fman99 May 01 2009 12:08 PM ="seawolf17":2oou6jl3] ="Fman99":2oou6jl3]I'm surprised I didn't get swine flu in college, from all of the pigs I fucked there.[/quote:2oou6jl3] Dude, it was like 6:1 females to males. How did you screw that up? (Unless you were talking about the fraternity. NTTAWWT.)[/quote:2oou6jl3] Ha! I did fine for myself, being not obese and not in possession of any hideous deformities (the only things that prevented any male at Geneseo from having a good time). Mostly this was just an opportunity to make a pig-fucking joke. Play can now resume. Nymr83 May 01 2009 12:29 PM you guys really had a 6-1 ratio? i picked the wrong school. Frayed Knot May 01 2009 12:33 PM Back to swine flu for a moment -- is our Vice President out from under that couch in his sealed-off room yet? seawolf17 May 01 2009 12:57 PM ="Nymr83":1e7g7c70]you guys really had a 6-1 ratio? i picked the wrong school.[/quote:1e7g7c70] That's the reason why my wife is a supermodel and I'm... well... me. Nymr83 May 01 2009 01:09 PM ="Frayed Knot"]Back to swine flu for a moment -- is our Vice President out from under that couch in his sealed-off room yet? God could strike Manhattan with the ten plagues and Mayor Bloomberg would still be riding the subway. ]That's the reason why my wife is a supermodel and I'm... well... me. See, you had a plan. I never even thought to investigate male-female ratios. cooby May 02 2009 06:35 PM ="themetfairy":u84vba1h]Eek! I'm glad that you're on the mend cooby.[/quote:u84vba1h] Thank you, I do feel better, though I still look pretty ruff. themetfairy May 02 2009 07:34 PM I doubt that.