Flu Fears Curb Life's Rituals

Justin Pierson
Post #6

This article was found at NYTimes.com. From workplace potlucks, beer-pong, to how we greet each other H1N1 has changed how we interact. At the workplace people have been advised not to bring food for co-workers to share in fear that may lead to the spread of H1N1. Schools have encouraged children to wash their hands more frequently. Colleges have advised students to refrain from playing communal drinking games such as beer-pong for the fear of spreading the highly contagious virus. Even Catholic churches have stopped the ritual of sharing the sacrimental glass of wine for this may also lead to the spread of the virus. Workplaces, schools, yes even churches have started to keep sanitizing solutions handy to ensure hands are clean and free of bacteria. We have come to learn how important it is to wash our hands as frequently as possible, some even avoid physical contact, hand shaking and hugging, in order to avoid the contagious virus. With Halloween coming up it is also important that only individually wrapped candy is consumed in order to keep children safe from sickness.

The H1N1 virus has recently changed how we interact with each other. Sometimes spoken other times unspoken we have changed how we interact for fear of becoming sick. This shows that it is not only the police, the government, and each other who influence how we interact; a virus can also be controlling. This brings to mind the idea of tacit coordination, although many warnings about the virus have been clear and spoken the way we deal with one another is unspoken, tacit. From avoiding hand shaking to secretly applying hand sanitizer once we have shaken hands with someone the virus has completely changed how we greet one another and how we interact in general. The virus has changed how we live our lives so next time someone reaches out to shake your hand you may ask yourself, when was the last time they washed their hands or where have their hands been? To view this article visit this website:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/18/health/18flu.html?_r=2&hp