Swine Flu... A Big Deal?

Swine flu is the recent epidemic that is rapidly spreading across the nation and the world. According to the CDC there are a total of 64 lab confirmed cases as of April 28th. But people....is it as big of a deal as it seems? Or is this just a up close and personal exposure of the media's power to manipulate a news story? Let's look at the facts:

For one, did you know the normal flu strain causes roughly 35,000 deaths a year?

This swine flu for the month or so it has been going on has only caused 26 deaths since it began. According to the Homeland Security Secretary, Janet Napolitano, this swine flu strain is moderate but will spread. Yet somehow, the media initially portrayed it as a huge deal. This flu kills less people than the regular flu yet for some reason the entire Huntsville school system was shut down for up to seven days when an elementary school child was found with the swine flu. Trussville's band was quarantined because they just got back from a trip from Mexico. So, if I make a big deal about......strep throat.... will people quarantine themselves and stop going to school? With the media's help, I bet you it would work.

Science of Fear

This past weekend I flew to San Francisco and back. With Mr. Beitelman's lecture on the science of fear fresh on my mind, I actually for the first time felt a little scared when the flight took off. I never get scared when flying but for the first time, I imagined the plane losing control and plummeting towards the ground. I thought about dying because I was blown apart by the force of the plane hitting the ground. Whew, believe me it was not a pleasant thought. It's funny what thoughts of death can lead to. I began to think about which one I would prefer: instant death or prolonged death. Who knows. Through instant death you can die with the pain of an instant rather than a century. However, you can't say bye to the one's you love or accomplish those last minute necessary tasks. Prolonged death allows you to do that, but what would life be like if you were constantly reminded that it was soon going to end? Those of us who don't know when and how we are going to die live without accepting the reality of death. And one day, it hits us that at some point all that we have ever known will vanish. It's scary!

Haha, I cannot believe I went through all of this within those first 10 minutes of the plane ride. Eventually, my conclusion was: thinking about this could drive a person insane. So I shoved it from my mind.

On a side note: Ironically, on my back to Birmingham, I sat next to an Air Force pilot who was talking about how his worst flight was the flight he took right after learning about all of the malfunctions that could happen with a plane. :)