Sick of the Swine Flu by T. Edwin Perry
For the record, I don’t have it. For the record, I’m not actually sick. For the record, I’m not getting the vaccine. In fact, I don’t get a vaccine for the TYPICAL flu, and I usually end up with it for at least 3 days each year, and I’m STILL not going to take the Swine Flu vaccine. Why, you ask? For me, it’s a matter of trust.
Unfortunately, there’s a lot of paranoia about getting sick, and, for some people, there’s a realistic reason for it. Those with HIV or other immunity deficiencies SHOULD take the extra steps to protect themselves. But will the vaccine do it? Will the vaccine be MORE protective for the typical person than, say, washing your hands? Perhaps using a tissue when you sneeze would be helpful.
We live in a world where hand sanitizer is mounted to the door at the grocery store. I keep a pump of sanitizer at my desk at my office. I spray down the phone with Lysol. When I use the bathroom, I wash my hands. These are common steps, and they’re useful ways of staying healthy, regardless of what you’re exposed to. So why is there so much fuss about THIS virus?
Experts disagree on the dangers attributable to this version of the flu. Some say it’s less virulent than the typical flu, and, even if left untreated, would not result in the same number of deaths as the TYPICAL annual flu virus. Others shout pandemic on the television and radio, practically declaring the end of civilization as we know it.
Hospitals are requiring their employees to get the vaccine, and schools are demanding that parents have their children get the shot, while President Obama told school kids to stay home if they were sick in his much-debated school address. (Imagine it: the PRESIDENT has given them permission to stay home. What a coup!) Meanwhile, there are people who argue that vaccines, which are stabilized with mercury, are poison, resulting in autism and other developmental & neurological injuries to kids.
Perhaps most disturbing to me is that there are those in our Government who are suggesting legislation to force everyone to get the shot, and to make refusing the vaccine a crime.
So, having outlined the debate, let me give you MY OPINION about this issue. You can choose to follow it, or you can choose to do your own thing, but this is my point of view on it.
1) I don’t trust vaccines. I don’t trust that injecting myself with a living virus is a good way of fighting off infection by the EXACT SAME VIRUS! That’s like saying that a good form of fire prevention is to SET FIRE to your house!
2) I don’t trust the materials being used. We live in a world where the Chinese have shipped us tainted drywall and toys painted with lead paint, and we buy it because they offer it to us at a low price. How do we know where the bottles came from, or the gaskets on the top of the bottle? We assume that they were sterile, and that everything is fine, but we don’t know. Maybe it’s just paranoia, but that doesn’t mean that I’m wrong.
3) I don’t trust the Government. Sorry, folks in Washington, but any time you get out there and declare an emergency about things like this, I make the assumption that you’re full of, well, Swine Flu!
George Carlin made a great point about the human immune system in his special, “You Are All Diseased.” In that show, he rants about growing up and swimming in the East River to stay cool, and makes claims that swimming in that “raw sewage” and “sludge” made his immune system so strong that no germ could get close to him. (If you haven’t listened to the late great GC, I strongly recommend this one as a rental. It’s a bit racy, so my more sensitive readers might want to wait for the Comedy Channel to show it.) As I discuss this topic, I’m forced to think that the estimable Mr. Carlin makes some great points, among them, perhaps that we do TOO MUCH to avoid illness. Maybe a little illness now and then makes our immune systems stronger. Maybe instead of fighting the flu with nukes, we should just accept that, every now and then, it’s worth taking a few days off from work and just be sick. After all: whatever doesn’t kill us makes us stronger.
Look, if you want to get the vaccine, go for it. If you have other health issues, take the steps necessary to stay safe. Wash your hands, put on that little paper mask, wear a full body condom, if you need to, but don’t EVER let anyone else think for you…including me.
Do the research for yourself, and make an INFORMED decision. That’s all this post is really about. Stay healthy, and we’ll talk again soon.
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