cce blog

ok, ok, i get it

My mother wants me home. My sister is afraid of coming to visit me in Hong Kong. I'm getting emails and IM's from friends I haven't heard from in ages, all politely asking "ARE YOU DEAD YET?" My boss even brought me up in a recent meeting back in New York ("we have to get Chris home before he catches SARS"). I'm starting to get the point.

I get it. I'm starting to believe the hype. SARS-mania has hit me. I'm taking ALL my vitamins now.

SARS got its fair share of press earlier this week and it got to me, too. All the news was bad: "WHO: SARS is here to stay", "Killer bug is next global threat", and nothing seemed to be getting better. This thing was not going to blow away like I thought.

SARS paranoia started to set in. Coming back to the apartment after a quick trip outside for food, I touch a glass on my way to the bathroom to wash my hands with antibacterial soap. I think to myself: that's the SARS glass. I better make sure to wash it thoroughly in the sink once I get out of the bathroom.

I'm eating at McDonald's and get a straw from the straw dispenser. There's already a straw in the dispenser though, waiting for me -- but THIS straw might have been sneezed on by an infected person. I hide the infected straw and press the button for a fresher one.

Sophie's aunt calls from her apartment, where she's been holed up for the last couple of weeks: "Sophie. I just heard from a reliable source that the Hong Kong government is investigating that SARS might be a biological warfare attack. Just see in a few weeks when it's in all the newspapers." She hangs up.

Speaking of Sophie's aunt, she's the one who told us that the Amoy Gardens outbreak may have been caused by contaminated waste water in the drinking supply. Even though there's a water filter built into the faucet, we've been drinking only boiled or bottled water since then.

There's a place a couple blocks away where you can rent a music practice room for $5/hour, but I'm to scared to go now -- what if some germy kid there coughs on his hands, then plays the piano? All those keys ... eugh ... so grimy ...

Posted by cce at April 10, 2003 05:51 PM | TrackBack