Can Pigs Fly....

The Swine Flu is the topic in the News as well as on the minds of many parents. It is a killer flu, as the news makes us believe, killing children and elderly people. Capable of wiping out whole villages.

Remember the Bird Flu a few years back... another killer flu. The only thing that really spread around the world was fear, not the Bird Flu. But the fear was justified as we were told that this was a killer flu.

Isn't that the case of every Flue? A "regular" flu kills about 400.000 people per year. So far the Swine flu killed about 8,000 worldwide.
To create the vaccine for this killer flu, the actual cost is about the same as the creation for a "regular" vaccine, but people are asked to pay almost twice as much.

I will not deny the possibility that this Flu can spread around the world in the next few weeks/months and kill many more. But that is what happening every year during Flu season. I am not an advocate of denial but some skepticism is always healthy.

Let's be honest, the best way to prevent any flu is to take good care of yourself and your family with healthy well balanced food, washing hands and other sane measurements that you can apply without a 40 dollar vaccine.

But don't take my word for it. Do your own research, find the facts and make up your own mind. Use a little skepticism until the Pigs really can fly.

One of the reasons....

I go downtown to the Government Center Metro rail Station at least twice a week. There is a square in front of the building that I have to cross from the Bus stop to get into the Station.

Like many squares it is always filled with all sorts of people. You can see the homeless gathering there on the outside of the square. The religious ones, who try to convert you to whatever they believe in, stay close to the stairs and escalators to catch as many souls as they can.

You also see the occasional security guard in their "golf" carts being present, the cleaning people cleaning all around and people running towards the metro they have to catch.

And then there are the vendors, little tables with fruits and vegetables, home-made jewelry from China, and water bottles.

Monday morning I was crossing the square on my way to the entrance when a vendor on my right sneezed really loud. So loud that it made me look at him. And there he was, trying to hold his saggy pants up that obviously dropped because of the sneeze.

He squatted a little to stop his pants from totally falling down, kept the front up with the tips of his fingers and I realized that he had sneezed into his hands and he was holding his pants up with snotty hands while trying to keep them dry.

I know it is not nice but I was laughing my head off.

Yesterday I passed him again and I noticed that he was wearing the same pants but this time with a belt.