I was home yesterday surfing the Internet when the swine flu craziness broke. Mexico City was shutting down schools. People needed to avoid large crowds. I got an email from a DF-dwelling friend saying, “There are no more face masks left in the city!” and another from a friend asking me whether I was okay. Actually, I was tired. Stayed out too late the night before. Just wanted to eat a salad with my homemade walnut-miso noodles and go to bed. So I did.
Maybe I’m totally naive here, but I’m not that concerned about this swine flu stuff. We left this morning for the paint store — an errand I’d planned all week, and hell if I was going to let swine flu stop me — and people were out walking their dogs, eating at cafes, taking out their trash. Even my favorite juice guy was on the corner doing his thing:
It doesn’t seem different from any other weekend, except for the fact that maybe one in 10 people walking around wears a face mask. And the taxi drivers are wearing them on too. But not every taxi driver. No one is running around screaming, “Don’t inhale! Wash your hankies!”
My friend Joy told me she saw a CNN headline that said Mexico City was shut down, but that’s really not true, at least not where I am. However, the hip youngsters of Condesa and Roma were too scared to go out last night, according to a poetic report in El Universal. As the story related: “The streets of these neighborhoods shone emptily, uninspiring, sad, without their traditional charm.”
I figure as long as I wash my hands and get sleep, I’ll be okay. Maybe I’ll pick up an anti-viral juice, too.
Thanks for the blog! I’m glad things are semi-normal where you are. I read people were acting with “fatalism and confusion” so I’m glad that’s not the case in your neighborhood. I love that we have a front line reporter 🙂
I think a lot of people act with “fatalism and confusion” here generally…. but yes, it’s fine where we are. Just a lot of people in masks. Interestingly, some people are now sporting the mask as a neck accessory, meaning not actually wearing it, but having it hang on their neck like a necklace. Weird.
http://staringatstrangers.typepad.com/staring_at_strangers/2009/04/when-pigs-fly.html
I got here from David Allen’s blog. I think that people latch on to the worst and assume it is the complete truth – e.g. everyone in Mexico City is dying, everyone in California’s Inland Empire has a meth lab, etc.
Hey John: Thanks for visiting. Yeah, the flu hype was way overblown at first, but after a few days I think people really did start to feel panicked. Things seem pretty much back to normal now.