Thank you media hysteria.

I wouldn't call myself 'holistic' or one of those people who don't believe in the marvels of modern medicine, but I do think that the U.S. is a little nutty when it comes to doctors. The slightest sniffle and some parents have that kid in the waiting room at the docs office before you can say "ACHOO!" And what is the result of that??? Well... a $100 bill, spreading a cold virus to umpteen more people, and if the doctor is an idiot, or a woos... a prescription for an anti-biotic even though they can't kill viruses but people feel better just because they are taking that horse pill. If the doctor doesn't fall into that category, you have just paid $100 for someone to tell you to push fluids and tylenol or advil. I could have told you that and would gladly take your $100.

So... unless my kids are REALLY sick... they see the doctor once a year for their well-child check and that's about it.

No with this year's flu hysteria... it's EVEN WORSE!! I heard people were lined up all the way around the Bangor Auditorium for flu shots this morning. Let's stop and think about this.... it's cold and flu season... so in your media-driven HYSTERIA... you choose to spend the morning in a huge petri-dish crowd of people carrying who-knows-what-viruses... to get a shot that a. you don't even know will work and b. has not been tested for more than a couple months so you don't even know what the future side-effects will be. That's a bug bucket o'smart right there, I tell ya.

Anyhoo... I SO digressed. The point of my blog today was to tell you all about how Sean has a cold. He has a sore throat, maybe a little fever, a snotty nose, and a cough at night. He has had colds before, obviously. But never before when he has had a cold have I kicked Rick out of bed so that Sean can sleep with me because on 60 minutes they profiled that 17 year old healthy football player in intensive care within 12 hours of showing symptoms (or somthing like that, don't quote me on those details). Also never with a cold has Rick felt the need to call home every few hours to see how "the little man" is doing. I hate that. I hate that the media locks onto something like a dog with a bone and shakes it until the masses are huddled in fear in the corners. Terrorism... Swine flu... Pirates.... Global Warming.... Mexicans.... the chances of me dying by falling down my stairs is probably 200000% more likely than because of any of those "threats." But... Hysteria Sells I guess.