Pandemic, Eh?

So, I realize that the health complaints I was experiencing last week (fever, chills, sore throat, extraordinary fatigue) are on the list of Swine Flu symptoms. I feel 100 per cent now (OK, 99 %), but perhaps we should put me down to Ground Zero of the Canadian pandemic?

Naturally, the media is all over this story. Ad nauseam like everything else. If I recall anything from SARS, it's that the media loves a good burgeoning pandemic. Toronto, as you may recall, was hit quite hard by SARS several years ago, and hit even harder by SARS-related panic. The Chinese origination of the disease made all local Chinese Canadians - and probably anyone looking vaguely Asianish - quite suspect. Poor Eric couldn't even clear his throat in public without people glaring and pulling out their Purell. At least this time, we can turn our (hopefully) irrational fears onto spring-breakers who just spent 7 days guzzling Coronas at a Cancun all-inclusive.

One upside to SARS, (a very, very narrowly-focused upside, mind you) was that our company made a LOT of money. When your job is providing facilities and equipment to visiting news agencies and networks, crisis events like that tend to make the company's soul-less bean counters very happy. Ours and the aforementioned Purell executives were probably the only people that were privately rejoicing at every new outbreak.

Anyway, here we go again. If you need a camera crew or a feed point let me know. Otherwise, please don't cough in my general direction. Especially all you tanned, rested travellers. This time, we are targetting you.