Today's Swine Flu Tidings

It's MAY, headed toward the end of the usual annual flu season. Today multilingual "Cover Your Cough" signs appeared in the lobby of RantWoman's building. RantWoman thinks but did not check that they may have been printed up from some online source. They are bright and colorful and hard to miss. Except for English, RantWoman does not read any of the languages featured in her building; it's just that she can tell it's the same artwork. RantWoman did not check the braille bulletin board to see whether it also includes such exhortations.

RantWoman thinks this is fine advice, a fine reminder; she also thinks people are likely to get inured to this the same way they get inured to almost anything else that is constantly present.

A college friend, emailing from Paris said her flight there included the usual runny-nosed kid running up and down the aisles. Arrival required no particular precautions except the collection and promised short-term retention of locator information in case anyone gets sick.