Listen to this Reading:

Kyle Tolle reading ‘Ohio State University is Obsessed with Swine Flu’

A few days ago, OSU sent out three emails to every one about someone maybe having swine flu on campus.  New emails have been consistently showing up in my inbox since then.  They’re basically updates any time someone new is either suspected to have it, probably has it, or definitely has it.

I’m tired of these emails.

Why should I get an email every time someone gets sick?  Yes, I know how to cough into my sleeve so as to avoid getting myself and others sick.  I know to stay away from someone sick.  I’m not stupid.  These emails make me feel that OSU believes the students have no common sense.  Such advice as “Make sure to wash your hands” doesn’t really add anything to my knowledgebase…

Today, after getting what has to be the 4th or 5th email regarding Swine Flu from OSU, I decided to reply.

Do you send out an email for every person who gets the flu each year? No. So why is this any different?  I really don’t want to get an email 3x a day telling me about someone else getting sick because they were either in the wrong place, or didn’t follow common sense about health and wellness.  Will you soon be sending out messages when someone has the sniffles?

These emails are sent from the Emergency Management email address of OSU. I have no idea if the email address is monitored, so it’s likely the email didn’t ever reach anyone. But it still felt good to send.  Is someone getting sick with the flu honestly occasion to break out the Emergency Management system? Their use of the “H1N1 flu” makes things sound much more dire, because it’s cryptic and therefore SCARY!  I really wish they would have sent an email last winter when someone slipped on ice and hurt themselves so they could tell me to be careful because ice is slippery and falling down means you could hurt something. I couldn’t have guessed that myself.

What are your thoughts? I’m particularly interested in hearing from Ohio State students who have received these same emails. Anyone else who has been inundated with the swine flu media barrage is welcome to comment!  Shoot, even if you’ve not even heard about the swine flu, you can say so!  I have honestly not heard that much about it, mainly because I don’t watch the news, but the little I have heard is really annoying. Scare tactics for the lose.  Can we punch the government for inciting a riot over this illness?!