YOU'RE ALL GOING TO DIE

Disclaimer: This is a rant. It's a doozie. If you're not in the mood, I don't blame you. Go get some ice cream and stop by tomorrow, when I'm funny again. Or at least not all preachy.

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Once again, the Media reminding me why it’s on my List of Hate (right in between WalMart and Republicans, in case you were looking).

Maybe it’s because I spent all morning with the dregs of society in my local Social Security Office trying to get my married name on my social security card so I can get a new drivers license so I can open a joint savings account with my husband so we can cash the checks we got from the wedding (and the knee bone is connected to the thigh bone)…

But I’m feeling all hatey and shouty and would like to state once again for the record that the Media can BLOW ME for scaring the crap out of people for no good reason.

Point of reference: The H1N1 Flu (because we can’t call it Swine Flu anymore because dumb, gullible, ignorant people stopped buying pork when it was called that. Those poor pork farmers. They didn't stand a chance...)

It would appear that the Media is having a slow news month. I totally get it – Iraq is old news, reporting on Afghanistan gets people all confused and bewildered, and healthcare reform is drowning in the muck and mire we like to call “The Senate.”

So what do you do when you have nothing else to report on? Find a slightly concerning story and blow it out of the water.
Make it big.
Make it dangerous.
And scare the ever-living daylights out of anyone who might be listening/reading/watching by telling them IT WILL HAPPEN TO THEM unless they tune in at 6:00 to get insider information about how they can protect themselves and their families from this menace of apocalyptical proportions.

And that’s exactly what’s happening with this H1N1 pandemic.
While it is a cause for concern, it’s CERTAINLY not anything that people should be losing sleep over. And yet the Media, in its desire to get good ratings, would have you believe that the H1N1 virus will kill you, your children, and probably your dog too.

And that’s just mean, man.

This all started when I was reading a friend’s blog (you know who you are. Hey there! How’s life? Let’s do shots!). She was discussing the H1N1 virus, talking about how it was so hard to get the right information, and understandably upset, as she has children and wanted to know if she should vaccinate them and where she could get it. So first off, yeah, it’s a shame that is SO FREAKING HARD to get accurate, up to date information on these kinds of things, as The Media are no help whatsoever (and usually perpetuate more alarmist propaganda than actual facts).

So I left a comment, noting that despite what the Media are saying, the H1N1 virus is not really any more dangerous than the normal influenza virus (although it IS more often affecting children than the elderly, which is abnormal), and recommended that she should vaccinate if she felt comfortable doing so, but not lose any sleep over it, because even if her kids DID contract it, as long as they have no underlying conditions, they’ll probably be fine.

Excepting, of course, for the daytime TV they will inevitably watch while home from school, which can be…erm…educational…to say the least.
Heh.

But then this other person leaves a comment on her blog saying,

“Lily, worst case scenario is far worse than that and that is why it is so scary. If this flu only made us sick for a few days and only required some bedrest and fluids, no one would be talking it about it like this. In fact, it is a far worse flu than most of the other flu's out there - and the severity of it can multiply quickly, causing serious and sometimes irreversable respiratory damage. My oldest son had pneumonia last year and this is why I'm especially worried and concerned - he's also in kindergarten this year. So yeah, I'm scared.”

And I’m not posting this out of malice or trying to indicate that this person is stupid or anything like that, because with all this Media hype, I can totally understand how she would get this impression.

Especially with articles like this one out there stating that the president declared an H1N1 emergency. Because if you were reading that headline, wouldn’t you be scared too?

And then the article throws out this paragraph:

“Since the H1N1 flu pandemic began in April, millions of people in the United States have been infected, at least 20,000 have been hospitalized and more than 1,000 have died, said Dr. Thomas Frieden, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.”

And without any other facts to put this information into context, it kind of feels like the end of the world, doesn't it?

But it’s not.
Because the flu – you know, the one that goes around EVERY YEAR – is even more deadly.

fluFacts.com says:
"In the U.S., an estimated 25–50 million cases of the flu are currently reported each year — leading to 150,000 hospitalizations and 30,000–40,000 deaths yearly."

So now that you have this information, doesn’t that statistic about H1N1 – that it has hospitalized 20,000 people and killed 1,000 – seem a little less scary? Even a WHOLE LOT less scary?

Yes it does.

But most Media outlets fail to provide this information. Because they want you to be scared. Because scared people KEEP READING/LISTENING/WATCHING to get more information, even if the information they are getting isn’t accurately represented.

The bottom line?
To everyone out there who is wigging about the H1N1 virus and is considering moving their family to the bomb shelter out back until this whole thing blows over, I’ll repeat what I told this friend when she first posted her concerns:

Dear [awesome blogger whom I adore]

Don't panic.
H1N1 is the FLU. Nothing more, nothing less. Yes, people are dying from it, but people ALWAYS die from the flu. Every year. It's nothing unusual. And YES some children are dying from it, but most of these kids have underlying health issues.

So, you have nothing more to fear from this flu than from any other. Make sure your kids are healthy, vaccinate them (if you can find it, and god help you, because there is a SERIOUS shortage, at least in the US), and hope for the best.

Worst case scenario?Your kids will get the flu. They'll feel sick for a couple of days and you'll have to give them lots of juice and let them watch daytime TV, and then they'll get better.
Okay?
Okay.
:-)

AND THAT, people, is why you shouldn’t blindly trust the Media.
Ever.

Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go sit in the shower for a couple of hours in the fetal position because I am TRAUMATIZED from my visit to the Social Security Office this morning.
Seriously.
I think I have post-traumatic stress.
And possible herpes.