Monday, August 31, 2009

Day 700 - Poll Results & New Poll


Last week, I asked who you thought Emma looked most like: Crazy Grandpa, Auntie Anne (pretzel maven), Lisa, myself, or the Angry Little Asian Girl. It was pretty close, but forty-five percent of you voted that Emma looks most like Lisa. And right behind with thirty-six percent was Auntie Anne (pretzel maven).

I can't tell you how glad I am the results skewed in favor of Lisa over my sister. I had flashes of Chinatown in my head when Auntie Anne (pretzel maven) was ahead in the polls. But what I think this poll cemented for me is that people will see who they know in the face of your child. Lisa's family will think Andrew looks like someone on their side of the family, and my family will think Emma looks like someone on their side of the family, and my many mistresses will think both kids look like someone on their side of the family.

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Since I have been out of work for a few weeks, I have had more time to read and watch the news. I'm not a big news person, but it's nice to read the newspaper in the morning for a few minutes while the kids are eating versus skimming photos in Maxim. I have always found the immediacy and influence of the media to be more a pro than a con, but I do find it irritating when the news has to be simplified and dramatized. And this brings me to the H1N1 virus.

I've been keeping tabs on this whole H1N1 (aka swine flu) virus, and I've come to the personal conclusion that people are freaking out too much. First of all, why did we stop calling it the swine flu? Have we really crossed the line and insulted pigs too much? And now that we're calling it the H1N1 virus, will vowels get upset because they have not been properly represented? From everything I've read, the bottom line is that more people will get the flu this season, but there's no reason to freak out because as of now the symptoms are pretty much par on course with your typical flu. Statistically speaking, if they are assuming 90,000 people will die from this flu strain in the US, then based on the US population of 304 million, you have a .0002 chance of dying from it. And for comparison sakes that is the exact same chance I had in high school getting a date for the Senior Prom.

We are going to give Andrew and Emma their annual flu shots this month, but I'm wondering whether or not we should give them the shot for the H1N1 virus too. I know in the past there have been some problems with vaccinations, and is that a risk worth taking? What do you think?

1 comment:

kevin said...

Speaking about who Emma looks like ... Why is there a pic of Emma with Auntie Susan? Oh wait, that's Pizza