49 Death By Pig

The first thing that grabbed me this morning was the headlines in Morgantown: 17 year old dies from H1N1. Just this weekend I said to Roz: Why, when they see that there is a rash of flu in a school, do they not grab some balls, cancel classes and extracurricular activities and send home some school work with the kids? Remember when we were young and they sent home those snow-packs? They knew we would be home for several days so they fixed up some work and although it may not be as good as being in a school environment, at least we had something to do.

They could quite easily come up with something for the kids to take home for a week. Cancel the damned classes before more kids wind up in the hospital or worse, dead. If this virus is as bad as they have hyped it up to be and it has mutated over the summer, then for the sake of all that is good, send the kids home(with work to be completed and brought back the following Monday) cancel or reschedule all events and get all media involved. No social situations while you are off, Mom, Dad---go to the store and work only as needed. Get serious about this damned infection. Leave your kids home(if possible) while going to the store. Get help if needed. Get a family member or friend to help do your errands. You could both benefit. For God's sake, use common sense. Stop the spread of this thing before it really does mutate and cause (potentially) a high number of deaths.

Why do people never use common sense? If you know it is in the area, such as good 'ole Kingwood here, leave your children home with the other parent or a friend or relative long enough for you to do what you need to do. How many times with normal colds and flu have you seen the retarded idiot in a store with 1 or more sick kids, sniffling, hacking and generally leaving a freaking slime trail throughout the store? Is it really that hard to call someone if they are too small to stay home by themselves? No, it isnt. People are generally lazy and hardheaded it seems. They hack and gag and you just KNOW when you see them, its too late. You or one of your family is going to get it. They have already infected the air around you and in a few days or in the case of the common cold, a couple weeks, you're sick. Then your spouse. Then your kids. Then friends and relatives, and on and on.

How much lost time at work have these people caused? How much lost time at school? Sure, some kids are hardier than others and they may not get sick, but what about the majority? How many do you know that will go to school anyway because of a test or an event they dont want to miss? I'm not leaving out that some kids will use any excuse to take a day off, I just want to cover the other side of it. There are a lot of kids that will go, regardless. So, if you're going to wind up with a small epidemic in your school, why in the hell would you not want to stop it now? Nip it in the bud? Use your damned head for something other than a hat rack. I wont apologize for being worked up. This is idiotic. My 13 year old has told us for the last 2 weeks that there have been quite a few kids missing because of the flu. So what's the problem? Is the school board to stupid to figure out that a week of slower learning with kids doing some stuff at home outweighs the potential loss of one child? What if it were your kid that comes home with the virus and he or she is the one that winds up hospitalized or dead? Doesnt sound like too much to ask now, does it? What's a week? They'll miss wayyyy more than that here in Prestonhole, when the snow starts flying. Take a day with the teachers, run off some sheets for each class that will cover the current subject, and if at all possible, avoid having them bring every book from every class home. Too much for them to carry, after all. Let's be practical.

I know sometimes you guys think I'm nuts, but seriously, does this not make sense? If 1 week could contain, slow or stop the spread of this virus, then all the planning and rescheduling is worth it. Yes, teachers, it is more work for you. I'm sorry, but I think the whole reason you're there is that you wanted the kids to have a better future, right? You wanted to teach them something? Well, teach them that common sense is what is needed. Teach them that they can rely on you to look out for them as well as their friends and family. Teach them that their life and health is worth more than getting the required number of instructional days so that the school keeps its precious funding. Hell, get the board off its ass and TALK to the state, someone tell them that 1 week in the scheme of things isnt that much. Let's march on Charleston and demand that they waive the requirements or give you a free week, so your funding doesnt suffer more than it already is. Wait, no, let's not march. We dont want to spread the virus.

When I read the headline this morning, I got angrier the more I thought about it. What is that boy's life worth? Was it worth continuing classes while more and more of his classmates got the virus? Was it worth having a football or soccer game? Was it worth not taking a week or so off to curb this thing? Ask his parents. I bet I know what they'll tell you.

Someone that is reading this, let me know: How do we go about this? Is it a good idea? If not, then why? or what is? Give me some help, people. I will call the CDC in Atlanta myself if it will help. Let them tell the board what an appropriate time is to let this thing pass. I would not even care to imagine the devastation that would be caused if this thing mutated again and became fatal in a more-than-50% case basis. Would you? Some of you might not care, you might not think it will happen, but let me tell you, it IS happening. People are dying. Yes, people die every year from the flu, but this is different. This is killing children and young adults. It is killing people our age. They say it's odd because, usually, it kills the very young, the very old and the already weakened. This could happen to us, to you, here, now...

I hope and pray that it doesnt get any worse. I hope that we bite the bullet and dont have any fatalities here from it. I hope none of you do.