Blown out of proportion perhaps?

Okay, so anybody who doesn't have their head buried in the sand should have heard at least something about the swine flu, or the H1N1 virus, that's had health officials all over the world in such a panic in the last few weeks. I, too, care about this potential health hazard and have no interest in catching it. Whether it's like the regular flu or not, I would rather not end up running around acting like a pig rolling in the mud or something. (Isn't that a symptom of the swine flu? Oh wait--it's really not. Sorry, I'm making light of something I shouldn't. I'll stop now.)

What I don't like about this scare is some of the spiral affect it has, i.e. that if you're sick with something, people jump to conclusions too quickly. When I didn't feel well yesterday and ended up coming home from work early because I felt so terrible, the first thing my colleagues said, some in jest others in all seriousness, was, "Is it the swine flu?"

Two of those people were saying it with sarcasm, and I was amused. I pretend coughed on them (I would never cough on someone intentionally even if they did claim to want to be infected by whatever bug I had) and joked about the health scare my "disease" was going to cause in our workplace. Then I told another friend who gave me a horrified look and suggested I had swine flu. I wish I could say she was joking, but she was actually serious. And she has said something about it to me not once but twice today already! Unless the virus has mutated to the point that it is now airborne (perish the very thought of that!) so someone can get it from being exposed to the elements, there's no way that's what sickness is currently afflicting me.

It just so happens that I was in Idaho this weekend for some key family events (namely a baby blessing and baptism). One of my sisters and my nephew were both pretty sick with a nasty cold. Unfortunately, I was in close proximity to both of them and am 99 percent sure I ended up catching whatever they had. It's a natural consequence of being in the near vicinity of someone who is sick with a contagious virus. My nephew got sick after getting thoroughly chilled from playing soccer in the rain last week. He's the one who was the sicker of the two, and my illness more closely mirrors his, so, again, unless you can now get the swine flu from being exposed to the elements, I don't have it! And that's final!