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ghostriter - > I'm Still Kicking! -> Flu vs. Fruit
Flu vs. Fruit

For over a year now, I have been buying fresh fruit and homemade tamales from a little Mexican girl and her mom. They come by my office with flats of strawberries, mangoes, and melons in the spring and summer, and tamales in the fall and winter. I am a sucker for this stuff. It reminds me of when I lived in the Philippines, and vendors would come to my door with fruit, veggies, and the best fresh seafood I have ever had.

Today, my vendor came to my office again, and she had fresh strawberries and melon, and plastic containers full of some delicious-looking sliced mango, which I just love; I bought a package. But as I sat at my desk munching mango, my two coworkers watched me with looks of disgust and horror painted all over their faces. "How can you eat that?" one asked. "Now you're gonna get swine flu" said the other. I never even considered any of this, but my coworkers seem to be terrified of this swine flu thing. Nevermind that we work in a doctor's office and are exposed to many people on a daily basis. Iif we are going to get swine flu, we will most likely get it from one of the hundred or so souls who walk through our door every day.

I really doubt that I am doomed to contract swine flu from eating a nice, fresh piece of fruit. If I were, I think I'd already have it; the strawberries I had for breakfast this morning came from the same place as the mango. I bought them last week, and my family is not sick yet. But along with my nonchalant lack of fear comes something else: the refusal to panic over every perceived threat that is broadcast over the digital wires. Every day, I listen to well-dressed, well-paid anchor people tell me about yet another danger lurking around the corner waiting to kill me. Bird flu, mad cow, cancer of the hair...it is all the same. Some will get it...others will not. When it comes down to the skeleton of the matter, we all, each and every one of us, is going to die of the exact same thing. That certain killer is called...DEATH. It'll get us all in the end, and sometimes it gets creative, like, say, using a flu virus from a pig. The point is, I refuse to worry about it. I take precautions, like anyone else. Actually, I probably take more of them because I work in the medical field. I wash my hands at least twenty times a day, and I use hand sanitizer every time I return to my work station. In my line of work, it is just smart. And, largely due to that, I think, I rarely get sick. But, sometimes, in spite of my workplace cleanliness, I do get sick. It happens. But having lived through an extremely stressful several years, I have come to one conclusion: the stress of worry will kill you faster than any of that other stuff.

So, here I sit at my desk, finishing the last of my mango. It is really yummy. And I will probably buy some more next week, when my friend comes by again. I know these people, and I trust them. I will not by hi-tailing it down to Cabo for a vacation anytime soon, though. I'll wait for the swine flu to pass. Maybe I can get a weekend in then, just before the next plague shows its face. And it surely will. It's always something.

Posted in these Groups: Food & Eating, Health & Wellness, Photography
Topics: swine flu, fruit, food, vegetables
posted by ghostriter on Wednesday, April 29, 2009 at 02:32 PM
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12 comments from 8 users

1

posted by msjenny on Apr 29, 2009 at 02:46 PM

Ghost: Now I am hungry, maybe I need to buy from them, sounds yummy

posted by CatherineBaker on Apr 29, 2009 at 02:56 PM

I am completely different.  I panic over everything.  Although, I have to say I wouldn't have worried about buying strawberries and mangoes from anybody.  Gimme a break.

Maybe I panic because I'm on a constant state of alert around here with two kids who are constantly getting themselves into worrisome situations.  I guess worrying about potential threats to the kids is my day job.

posted by ghostriter on Apr 29, 2009 at 03:18 PM

I was like that, too, when my kids were little. I wouldn't even let them out of my sight at the Tehachapi Mtn. Festival, when they wanted to run around with their friends. But that is different; that was them. I worried for them incessantly. That calms down as they get older...until your 15 year old daughter gets into some kid's car, that is!

posted by jfrancais on Apr 29, 2009 at 03:25 PM

So grocery stores are immune from swine flu?  Those strawberries come from the same fields.

posted by CatherineBaker on Apr 29, 2009 at 03:27 PM

LOL--when our daughter turns 15 and gets into a kid's car it will be my husband's worry!  ; )

I am soooo looking forward to a time when I don't CONSTANTLY have to make sure the cleaning products are locked up and my son's tiny toys aren't in the baby's mouth and my son isn't trying to jump off the top of his fort and the baby isn't trying to dig around in the knife drawer. 

I am getting better, though.  I used to worry when my son was little and ate play-doh, but now that I know it's non-toxic, when I see the baby eating it I'm just glad it isn't turds out of the litter box again.

PS--Thanks for Tuesday, Ghost.  : )

posted by donmason on Apr 29, 2009 at 03:41 PM

TWO SCOTTISH PEOPLE FEELING A BIT RUN DOWN

    
THE government has raised its virus alert level to 'pantastic' after it was confirmed that two people in Scotland were hovering close to feeling slightly unwell.


  
The pair, from one of the dozens of non-descript hell-holes between Edinburgh and Glasgow, were admitted to hospital yesterday when their condition was described as 'critically fuzzy'.

Doctors said they were now 90% certain the couple were suffering from Pork Flu as opposed to a common strain of Scottish Influenza, also known as a bastard hangover.

Dr Tom Logan, from the Royal Infirmary of Scotland, said: "Scottish flu is particularly common at this time of year as the weather becomes milder and the days longer, meaning everyone spends even more time in the pub than usual, mainly because they can stand outside all night smoking hundreds of fags."

He added: "I would not be surprised if over the next few days we see thousands of Scottish people coming forward reeking of cheap wine and claiming to have spent the weekend in Mexico City."


  A Department of Health spokesman said: "We are almost certainly facing a pandemic and there is now nothing we can do to stop quite a few people being given some pills and told to stay home and watch Murder She Wrote.

"However, we are urging those infected not to watch Grey's Anatomy on Living TV. It won't make their illness any worse, but it will make them much, much worse - as people."

Meanwhile in America more than 40 people have been confirmed as feeling a bit peaky, including one woman who really had to sit down.

posted by ghostriter on Apr 29, 2009 at 03:55 PM

ROFLMFAO!!!! Great one, Don!!! Where did you get that one?

Let's do it again soon, Cat. Maybe you can bring the kids up the hill and we can go shopping while my hubby watches your kids! He's really good at it....

posted by donmason on Apr 29, 2009 at 04:32 PM

"Where did you get that one?"

http://www.thedailymash.co....

The Daily Mash is England's version of The Onion.  Great satire.

posted by mrsearnhardt88 on Apr 29, 2009 at 04:54 PM

The lady I share an office with was in Cabo last week.  Should I be panicky???  Maybe I need to spend the next week in bed or on the couch just in case...  A vacation would be nice :)


posted by CatherineBaker on Apr 29, 2009 at 04:56 PM

Sounds fun, Ghost.  The kids won't stay with a babysitter, though--they freak out.  I'll just have to drag them along.  : )

And oh ho ho, Don--I can't wait to dig into the Daily Mash--I'm already putting it on my favorites.

posted by sagefever on Apr 29, 2009 at 06:42 PM

That was great Don~ I'm adding the Daily Mash to my list of addictions!

Panic is not the way to spend anytime, at all. Ever.

posted by LoveVintage on Apr 29, 2009 at 07:28 PM

Finally, something to laugh about.  Great piece Don.

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