Thursday, April 30, 2009

Panic ! Maybe ?




At first I was not concerned when I saw the helicopter circling. The local hospital is only about a quarter mile away. We hear medic-vac choppers quite often so I glance up, sun in my eyes, glance back down and kept watering the young plants in the front flower bed.


Chris arrives home and states that chopper has a camera. Camera? I question. Then the chopper circles. I see it is the news crew from the big city. Why would the news crew be HERE? Overhead? What has Chris done now? Is there already a watering ban and I am in deep trouble? Then I see another news crew truck pass by.


I decide it is time to go in and turn on the t.v. "What is being reported from down the street?" When I worked in the city, choppers were no big thing. Just a visual reminder to avoid that area. There was a wreck, a 357 car pile up on the connector. My drive home was gonna be a pain. Maybe, I should go shopping instead.


When the news does not report live from the area, I call my Uncle. Our town is a small town. Yes, one of THOSE small towns. There are a handful of folks you can call to find out the 411 on what is happening. Uncle M is one of the few. This time, he does NOT know a thing.


Finally there is a small blip, a teaser of sorts. The long report would be on the 11:00 news.

The short report was....."A confirmed case of TYPE A unidentifiable flu" at the hospital. The local hospital, the hospital just a very short distance from our home. I also think "confirmed, unidentifiable" really means they think, but do not know.


EEEKKK!


Well this morning, word on the street passed much quicker than the news. Some of it true, some of it....not.

Yes....It is here....THAT flu. The first confirmed case in the southeast. Swine Flu, Pig Flu, Abc123 flu. CDC confirmed it, not just Rumor Mills. (You know him. He lives in every town.)


Hold on...
Just typing that made me need to wash my hands. Just whose hands have been on this mouse?


I have mixed feelings. Should I stock up on groceries, Dial soap, dust masks, and hand sanitizers? Or should I have confidence, all will be OK?


I am planning on going to the Piggly Wiggly in a bit, making sure I have everything I need for the week. I did hear that no Purell can be found in town. (Rumor told me.)


And if we really need masks.


I would fancy one of these....

17 comments:

C&C said...

Yikes, that is scary! I think it's being overly sensationalized by the media though. I'm crossing my fingers and praying that's the case anyways. Good luck & healthy wishes to you!

Dana said...

jenni...your post made me laugh out loud. not to take away from the seriousness of the situation but i loved your sense of humor. i do hope they nick this in the butt so that we don't have to be afraid to walk outside. sorry it's so close to your home.

Jen said...

Um....I really do shop @ the Piggly Wiggly.

C&C- Other than this Hog flu stuff, the news is kinda boring. At least we are not thinking of the economy.

Thanks Dana, You know, I really did not think a thing about all the hype of this flu until it was here, really here, in my neighborhood. That makes it kinda freaky. Hide under the bed freaky.
News reports say the lady went to a wedding here Saturday, seeing many people at the wedding. Those people have seen people, who have seen people, and so on. That is the eeeekkkky part.

Liz said...

Mom called and told me not to take the kids to Wal-mart. I wondered if she was talking about my kids. They aren't taken to Wal-mart unless it is of necessity. Anyway, it does make me want to wash my hands a lot!

Jen said...

Too Funny, Sis. Who would want to take kids to Walmart anyway?

StuccoHouse said...

I was at our local Snyder's today and in chatting with the cashier, she told me that our city is also sold out of hand sanitizer :-) It is kind of an odd feeling. I may have to hoard the hand sanitizer I have.....

Jen said...

Stucco- I am hoarding our Hand Sanitizer. Also wondering just where I placed all the extra dust masks left over from sanding drywall. But I think it would be cooler to go around with the Plague mask pictured or maybe a western hanky cowboy bandit style.

Karen Anne said...

Geez, people. What happened to you during Gerald Ford's swine flu thing? During bird flu? Nothing, right?

How many people in the U.S. have died from this? 1, who had just arrived from Mexico. How many people die from cancer each day in the U.S. on average? Over 1,500.

Why S? said...

I'm not panicking but I cannot tolerate another respiratory infection this year.

I'm flying next week and looking for the n95 masks. So far, no luck. I'll just wear the masks we've been using during construction. But I do love that plague one. That would be a good business to go into.

Instead of hand sanitizer, today I bought alchohol wipes. They come in Kleenex-sized sheets in a dispenser. Should be as good, right?

Anonymous said...

Jenni & Liz made it thu the 70's flu scare because their mom did not take them to Wal-Mart.

goddessof4 said...

I have to admit I went out and bought hand sanitzers for the family!!! My oldest just got Strep throat so we are trying to Lysol EVERYTHING!!!!! I am hoping none of the rest of our family catch strep as well as the flu!!!!

Jen said...

Karen- Anne - I felt the same way....until this happened just round the curve in the road..... There ARE a lot more things to worry about, cancer being one of them.
And I have been a hand sanitizer freek since the stuff came on the market.

Why S ? - I had a year like that once. Those wipes should be better. Hope you are feeling better.

Oh and when I traveled all the time part of my freeky routine was to wipe down the tray, the arm rest, the seatbelt clip, and the window shade with a hand sanitizer wipe.

Jen said...

goddess- I hope your oldest feels better.

EGE said...

Gee, I don't know if the PIGGLY Wiggly is your best choice in this situation!

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Anonymous said...

Please do not click on London Fashion. I will erase when I get to computer.

Erin- I know...But....but...I like to shop there.

Jenni

Sandy said...

Hope you will escape this flu thing. I worry they're not telling us everything...