Something S-Whine About

Disclaimer:  I have done absolutely no research to back up the following post.  For the most part I have read nothing and had zero intelligent conversations on the subject matter.  What I write is based on my own perception.  Reader beware.

I'm simply not understanding this whole swine flu thing.  I just don't see how it is that big of a deal in the United States.  I'm not talking about Mexico, I'm talking about here.  I don't understand why schools are closing and proms are being cancelled.  I'm still going to work everyday and riding the subway- are high school kids more important than I am?  Why is there such a discrepancy in how this is being treated between high school kids and adults?  I am confused.  How can these kids have weeks of school off, while everyone in the workforce is going about their business like nothing out of the ordinary is happening?  Trust me, at work they have packed 15 of us, all between the ages of 22-28 onto a 30 foot long bench.  This is just as contagious of an area as a high school gym.

I just don't see how this is different than the regular flu.  The flu is contagious, it sucks, and every year elderly/sickly/young people probably die from it.  I'm not saying its not a big deal, but I just don't understand why this is so different from the usual annual flu.  We don't close schools for that, do we?

The worst of this whole thing are the people with the SARS surgical masks on their face on the subway.  There are 200 people on a rush hour subway car- are you really that more important than everyone else that you need to wear this thing?  No one else is wearing it.  It just makes things seem so much worse than they really are.  How am I supposed to feel that you are protecting yourself, and I'm just hanging out there breathing in the swine?  We need a uniform approach on this whole thing.  Either we all wear it, or none of us wear it.  Otherwise, we are just going to have mass hysteria at some point.  I'm already starting to freak out.