DianaCity Cleanliness and lamb power
April 6th 2008 08:15
Driving south today to bring the kids back to the city, to school and me to,um, to school as well actually, was painful, at leat for the kids. They adore their farm and 'hate' the city.
Last night we sat around the campfire for the last time, my friend Aggie and her two kids,also from a farm but closer to the city, and the children talked about how their 'city' friends are so obsessed with hand-washing. Particularly after being in contact with animals. If ever we have taken in lambs n stuff to primary school this has been the case.
What is it, this obsession with cleanliness??
Also how their city friends don't have the stamina to keep up when they come up for a weekend visit: they can't run and play all day in the creek or stay out mustering for all hours. The tv or couch beckons and they tire easliy.
Watching the fliming of the '1959' class for the Cave movie the other day I noted how all the kids they had chosen wre skinny little things. I commented on this to one of the crew, who said that back then kids were thin, they ran around much more and obesity was not such a problem. Therefore casting had to look hard to find thin extras (adults as well) with which to people their film.
All very interesting.
Anyway on the way home we stopped at our usual cafe and park and my eldest girl went and sat down to feed the gutsy greedy Rose. Within seconds she was swamped by mothers and toddlers who wanted to 'see the lamb' and hardly gave poor Matty any space at all. People were snapping photos n stuff and I actually felt they were being a bit rude and intrusive.
I rescued Matty and took her away for some hot chips.
We all feel a bit sorry for our collie pup Bootling, recently the target of much oohing and aahing, who strains eagerly forward to be patted, only to be by-passed as everyone makes a bee-line for Rose.
That's life I guess. A fleeting chance of being attractive then usurped as soon as something or someone better somes along.
How was your Sunday????
Last night we sat around the campfire for the last time, my friend Aggie and her two kids,also from a farm but closer to the city, and the children talked about how their 'city' friends are so obsessed with hand-washing. Particularly after being in contact with animals. If ever we have taken in lambs n stuff to primary school this has been the case.
What is it, this obsession with cleanliness??
Also how their city friends don't have the stamina to keep up when they come up for a weekend visit: they can't run and play all day in the creek or stay out mustering for all hours. The tv or couch beckons and they tire easliy.
Watching the fliming of the '1959' class for the Cave movie the other day I noted how all the kids they had chosen wre skinny little things. I commented on this to one of the crew, who said that back then kids were thin, they ran around much more and obesity was not such a problem. Therefore casting had to look hard to find thin extras (adults as well) with which to people their film.
All very interesting.
Anyway on the way home we stopped at our usual cafe and park and my eldest girl went and sat down to feed the gutsy greedy Rose. Within seconds she was swamped by mothers and toddlers who wanted to 'see the lamb' and hardly gave poor Matty any space at all. People were snapping photos n stuff and I actually felt they were being a bit rude and intrusive.
I rescued Matty and took her away for some hot chips.
We all feel a bit sorry for our collie pup Bootling, recently the target of much oohing and aahing, who strains eagerly forward to be patted, only to be by-passed as everyone makes a bee-line for Rose.
That's life I guess. A fleeting chance of being attractive then usurped as soon as something or someone better somes along.
How was your Sunday????
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Comment by Hygeia
We'll all be obsessed with cleanliness when the pandemic hits. 25% will be off work. Up to 10% will die. It's coming. Next year, the year after. It's coming.
Comment by Demos
Should we sound the alarm for a worldwide epidemic that might not occur? There is no choice with the avian flu emerging from Asia. Last year's news that an Indonesian man tested positive for the bird flu that has already killed more than 50 people in Southeast Asia was just the latest chilling news about the disease. Should it develop certain genetic changes, international health experts warn, bird flu could spark a global pandemic, infecting as much of a quarter of the world's population and killing as many as 180 million to 360 million people - at least seven times the number of AIDS deaths, all within a matter of weeks.
This is utterly different from ordinary flu, which kills between 1 million and 2 million people worldwide in a typical year. In the worst previous catastrophic pandemic, in 1918, more than 20 million died from the Spanish Flu.
A pandemic could well bring global, national and regional economies to an abrupt halt in a world that relies on the speed and distribution of so many products. It could also lead many countries to impose useless but highly destructive quarantines that would disrupt trade, travel and production - something that has never happened with AIDS, malaria or tuberculosis. At home, many venues of human contact - schools, movie theaters, transportation hubs and businesses - would have to be shuttered.
Imagine the chaos. These killer viruses simply can't be isolated in any part of the world. If avian flu were allowed to develop into a pandemic, it would be a direct threat to our health, security and prosperity.
The use of face masks, gloves, and yes - obsession with cleanliness - will help slow the pandemic down, when (not if) it arrives.