Oh for the love of Susan B. Anthony...
Apr. 29th, 2009 09:10 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
gfrancieSwine flu. It's all the rage. It is terribly sexy to have it you know.
No matter how much pate I eat -nothing. Oh well I will just have to resign myself to Swine itch or something.
But on a slightly more serious note, I bring it up because my sister who works in a library and she was telling me that librarians there are acting like chickens with a fox in the hen house regarding the swine flu and that really bothers me for a number of reasons. I worked in that same library when I was a teenager and it was in that hallowed Carnegie library where I learned so much about how to research something, how to find accurate information and how to kind of take a subject and think of ten different ways to approach the information with a different perspective. I have to say I learned a great deal many skills from the ladies I worked for. It ended up being incredibly valuable in later jobs and a number of situations. I would like to think that I learned a great deal about the view point of "keep calm and carry on" and "knowledge is power" from them. But it seems that some of them refuse to look for accurate information about the current situation. My sister pointed out that should the swine flu ever make its way there, she would be the most likely one to die (as many of them are more mature ladies) and they didn't believe her; simply because they apparently hadn't read anything beyond the scary headlines. I told her to tell them from me that they ought to be ashamed of themselves for acting like this. They should know better.
Hysteria isn't good for one's complexion people. Let's be calm. A nice little Q/A put out by the BBC is worth perusing. A succinct bit of information.
A fast-spreading flu should be taken seriously but in a calm manner. Look at it like this; the number of confirmed vs. suspected cases is rather small. (26 cases are confirmed in Mexico while 150 are suspected. They are still working on the lab work) The CDC, the WHO and a number of other public health organizations are working around the clock in many states/countries and have labs that work 24 hours a day analyzing results. They work very hard and very fast to accurately track things. In some ways this is what got Mexico into trouble to begin with. It also doesn't help that in Mexico it takes awhile -and money to see a doctor, so many people apparently self-medicate with various anti-biotics that you can get over the counter. Many people in Mexico did not seek medical help until the flu was pretty bad. (and this article explains that officials may have thought it was another flu epidemic from December) And now that people are aware of what is going on -people are much more likely to seek medical attention earlier and that will help to reduce the spread. And if you read beyond the headlines, many people end up with a mild form of the flu. They stay home, take appropriate drugs and catch up on Gossip Girl reruns. (I know people.)
And as always wash your damn hands, cover your mouth when sneezing/coughing and try not to lick too many poles. (you know who you are)
So let's not spread bad information, wash our hands and not be eejits and if we all behave ourselves there might be jaffa cakes for tea.
No matter how much pate I eat -nothing. Oh well I will just have to resign myself to Swine itch or something.
But on a slightly more serious note, I bring it up because my sister who works in a library and she was telling me that librarians there are acting like chickens with a fox in the hen house regarding the swine flu and that really bothers me for a number of reasons. I worked in that same library when I was a teenager and it was in that hallowed Carnegie library where I learned so much about how to research something, how to find accurate information and how to kind of take a subject and think of ten different ways to approach the information with a different perspective. I have to say I learned a great deal many skills from the ladies I worked for. It ended up being incredibly valuable in later jobs and a number of situations. I would like to think that I learned a great deal about the view point of "keep calm and carry on" and "knowledge is power" from them. But it seems that some of them refuse to look for accurate information about the current situation. My sister pointed out that should the swine flu ever make its way there, she would be the most likely one to die (as many of them are more mature ladies) and they didn't believe her; simply because they apparently hadn't read anything beyond the scary headlines. I told her to tell them from me that they ought to be ashamed of themselves for acting like this. They should know better.
Hysteria isn't good for one's complexion people. Let's be calm. A nice little Q/A put out by the BBC is worth perusing. A succinct bit of information.
A fast-spreading flu should be taken seriously but in a calm manner. Look at it like this; the number of confirmed vs. suspected cases is rather small. (26 cases are confirmed in Mexico while 150 are suspected. They are still working on the lab work) The CDC, the WHO and a number of other public health organizations are working around the clock in many states/countries and have labs that work 24 hours a day analyzing results. They work very hard and very fast to accurately track things. In some ways this is what got Mexico into trouble to begin with. It also doesn't help that in Mexico it takes awhile -and money to see a doctor, so many people apparently self-medicate with various anti-biotics that you can get over the counter. Many people in Mexico did not seek medical help until the flu was pretty bad. (and this article explains that officials may have thought it was another flu epidemic from December) And now that people are aware of what is going on -people are much more likely to seek medical attention earlier and that will help to reduce the spread. And if you read beyond the headlines, many people end up with a mild form of the flu. They stay home, take appropriate drugs and catch up on Gossip Girl reruns. (I know people.)
And as always wash your damn hands, cover your mouth when sneezing/coughing and try not to lick too many poles. (you know who you are)
So let's not spread bad information, wash our hands and not be eejits and if we all behave ourselves there might be jaffa cakes for tea.
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Date: 2009-04-29 04:22 pm (UTC)no subject
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Date: 2009-04-29 04:38 pm (UTC)Also, that frittata turned out amazing, and my dinner last night reminded me of you.
I often notice you have breakfasty things for dinner, with a side of some sensible veg. It inspired me to make frittata and a side salad with leftover spinach and blue cheese.
Kudos to you.
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Date: 2009-04-29 04:49 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-04-29 05:35 pm (UTC)I think it's sensible that such a big medical complex use necessary precautions, but we both agreed the hysteria was silly. I love sensible adolescents.
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Date: 2009-04-29 06:15 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-04-29 05:41 pm (UTC)Does that make me a bad sheep?
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Date: 2009-04-29 06:15 pm (UTC)Just chill.
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Date: 2009-04-29 07:59 pm (UTC)no subject
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Date: 2009-04-30 03:15 am (UTC)