Well, I don’t feel obligated to do a Flu post. But I wanted to just say a little something about me and how I react to stuff.

I’ve always been a little bit of a clown, and I always seem to try and find humor in things, even bad things. So if you’ve seen some of my posts on Twitter or Facebook you might be thinking that I’m making fun of the flu and that I think it’s a big joke.

No, the flu is not a joke. Last time I had the flu I seriously thought that dying would be preferrable to the misery I went through. And that was just the so called “normal” flu. However a bunch of the reactions I have seen are hilarious because they are so… ignorant.

I do think we need to pay attention (how can you not? It’s everywhere) to this bug for a few reasons:

1) It’s new. Biologically speaking, this is such a new strain of flu that we haven’t any immunity to it, that’s why it’s spreading so easily. Whether it’s a “killer” or not it should be obvious by now that this thing is spreading like wildfire.

2) Flu bugs mutate. Yeah.

3) “36,000 people die of the flu every year.” Yes, on average (it’s actually between 17 and 50 thousand, mostly very young or very old). But the dead in Mexico are healthy adults, mostly. Study is needed to figure out what is going on. Study by scientists, not your average twitter user or talk show host.

4) “I wash my hands and cover my mouth when I cough.” Good for you! That’s great. Now what do you do if your kid or spouse or boss or customer or parent comes down with it because maybe they aren’t as good at washing their hands? Again, it’s good to be aware of what is out there. Just like driving – I like to think I’m a safe driver, mostly, but damn there are some idiots out there, and if I’m not careful one of them will probably end me.

5) Politicians don’t know what the hell they are talking about, or are serving their own interests, or both. Take anything from a politician as suspect. The main thing they want to do is get re-elected (prolong their life, same goal a flu virus has).

6) Closing schools seems like an over-reaction, at this point, we’ll see if it actually does any good. Meanwhile I’ll hope they don’t close our schools because I’m allergic to hearing “I’m bored” in triplicate.

7) This is not a “media conspiracy” to keep us from worrying about bank bailouts or taxes or the Yankees or whatever it is you think they are trying to hide. Because face it there are plenty of reporters to cover everything. Except that big asteroid that will be here in 14 hours and six minutes. Never mind that.

So, there it is. I joke because yes, there is a lot of stupid stuff out there about this flu bug. That does not mean we should be ignorant of what’s going on, because it could affect us – even if it’s only because our kids will be out of school for a couple of weeks or that cruise you were planning isn’t going to stop in Mexico. Like everything else (and I’ve said it before) – educate yourself, don’t count on BS like CNN or Fox or your neighbor or congressman or especially me to tell you everything.

Let’s be careful out there.