Movie: Contagion

dear pipsqueaks,

*spoiler alert: the following post talks about a movie that’s currently playing in theatres. Don’t read this yet unless u’ve already seen it or u don’t plan to watch it.

Such a movie makes u wonder about so many things. Patient zero. How does something so easily preventable snowball into a worldwide epidemic? U’d think we’d know better by now eh? I mean, really, they’ve been teaching us all these tips since, oh maybe, preschool! Don’t put stuff in ur mouth; don’t touch random things; wash ur hands before u eat; stay home when ur sick...all those years of nagging, u don’t think it’d kick in by the time u’ve entered the real world? Nope. People just don’t care enough. Yes, u’ve got the most important things to do, ya-da-ya-da blah blah. But think about it this way, the whole thing could hv been prevented if the genius chef would’ve bothered to wash his hands.

Now, anyone who’s educated to some extend, would know that raw food has a high percentage of being contaminated if it isn’t handled properly. That’s why we have standards for people who prepare food, n honestly, if u don’t know, u should find out. Ignorance is not an excuse…not when the people u serve are the ones that are gonna be paying the price. But of course, this doesn’t only apply to food. It applies to all services that have the potential to cause health problems. That’s why it’s important to be in the know, people! Being stupid is not an option when people’s lives are at stake here!

See, if u asked my sister, she’d tell u, i’m overly obsessed with being clean (as if that’s really a bad thing). I don’t like people in my room, in fact, I don’t like people touching my stuff. Period. No offense but I’m proud to be as sanitized as possible. I clean my apartment every weekend; I change into my indoor clothes when I’m at home; I wash my hands wherever there’s a sink; I wipe down my desk when someone touches it (random people coming to fix my comp, etc.). it may be borderline dirt-phobic, but whatever! If anything, I’d last longer than most people in such an epidemic.

U could say the movie’s just trying to spread some phobia, but not long ago, we were just defending the human race against SARS n H1N1. not that half the world even felt remotely threatened, but it happened! It just goes to show how weak we are against something that’s so seemly absent in ur lives. Can u imagine a tiny, tiny strand of bacteria wiping out every single human being on the face of the earth? I mean, it’s totally possible, but also totally preventable.

Back to elementary guys n gals:

1. wash ur hands whenever u get a chance- especially if ur coming in from public area
2. change out of ur “outdoor clothes” when ur indoors: imagine all the bacteria on ur pants from being in contact with the bus seat, which was pre-occupied by a man who had been sitting on a park bench all day that was slept by a hobo the night before who sleeps wherever he can?)- the chain can go n on, or be as simple as one contact. But don’t forget, one is all it takes.
3. stay home when ur sick: do everyone a favour n stay home instead of spreading ur germs. Think of all the bad karma ur gonna get if u did n more likely than not, u’ll be wishing someone else (who is sick) to stay home. So why start the vicious cycle? Anyways, ur body will be thanking u for taking a break. That’s probably why ur sick in the first place: a sign of ur body crying for help.

There are tons of other precautions one can take, n really, once u get into the habit of keeping clean, it isn’t that bad. May be tedious at first, but u’ll be thanking urself in the long run.

No one likes to be around sick people, so don’t be selfish.