I have never, up to this point, been one of those moms that totally freaks out if her kids gets dirty, or eats dirt (i'm looking at YOU, Seba); one of those moms that continuously douses everything in Lysol and freaks out if her kid does get the flu. Lord knows we have had our share of the plague in our home, kids get sick - it's a fact of life. (By the way, just to clear things up I DO clean the house and enforce hand washing rules and yes, I do clean the kids toys and such, it's just that I don't totally freak out and avoid all situations where my kid might possibly get a cold). Iam a conscientious parent in that if my kids do have a cold, I will stay home with them and not let them go out and spread their plague to other kids. Still, they go to the babysitters and swap germs that occasionally lead to colds with the other kids there. I can deal with that.
Enter the Swine Flu. We live in NYC and are very close to the outbreak source here - in fact, my own dear brother works in the school where about 20% of the students came down with the flu after a senior trip to Mexico. Luckily he didn't catch it and hasn't been further exposed since they shut the school down for a week in order to clean it from top to bottom. [On a side noteI am wondering just how many secret weed/alcohol stash's they might uncover in their cleaning process- heh.]
I was riding the subway this morning and was lucky to be sitting 2 people away from a lady obviously suffering from a cold. Now, we've all seen the pictures of masks being handed out on th streets of Mexico and I thought that would be a good thing to do here in NY - especially for us who have to ride the subway to get to and from our jobs. Boy did I wish I had one this morning when the lady (and I want to use another term that rhymes with witch, but I won't..yet) started to sneeze. Now, I know sometimes a sneeze can catch you unaware and just explode out of you with no warning, but this lady was coughing and sneezing regularly. WITHOUT EVEN TRYING TO COVER HER MOTHERFUCKING MOUTH. I mean, come on. You cannot tell me that with all the damned news coverage this is getting she had no way of knowing that the public is a bit jittery when it comes to catching the swine flu. But there she sat, spreading her plague,,, not even attempting to shield her mouth and nose with her hand - much less a napkin. Swine flu or no swine flu, her total disregard of possibly infecting of everyone else on that incredibly crowded train really really bothered me. That's why when someone shouted at her to cover her mouth, I agreed loudly. I am not a germaphobe, but I don't want to take her germs with me when I go home and possibly get my family sick.
I am going home now and I will try not to worry overmuch, but I will sure as shit be picking up a box of masks at the drug store on my way to the subway. Armed with those and my hand sanitizer - I venture forth.
By the way - where can one procure the materials needed to construct the bubble that Jake Gyllenhaal lived in in that movie "Bubble Boy"? What? I am just asking!
