Swine Flu Piggy

I'm taking a flight to San Diego tonight, and already I've had several people look at me aghast. "But flying!" they say. "The germs! What if someone coughs next to you on the plane? What about the swine flu?"

Of course, Joe Biden's comments yesterday about "a confined aircraft where one person sneezes....that goes all the way through the aircraft" haven't helped my case, but I'm certainly not panicking. Not in the least, in fact. Here's what I plan to do:

 

1. Give Lady Macbeth a run for her money with my handwashing.

I'm pretty vigilant already about washing my hands frequently when traveling, but now I'm going to do two things: hum Twinkle Twinkle Little Star (twice to be safe!) while I do it, and bring along a travel-sized bottle of hand sanitizer for backup. The brand doesn't matter as long as it has an alcohol content of at least 50 percent to make it effective against viruses.

2. Keep the air vent over my seat on low and point it so that the airflow is just in front of my face.

Apparently, this helps to prevent any infectious droplets---should someone else in my vicinity cough or sneeze---from landing near my eyes, nose, or mouth.

3. Cancel my trip if I start feeling lousy.

Sure, I'm absolutely fine right now---knock on wood---but if I start feeling any of the symptoms of swine flu before or during my trip, I'm going to play it safe and not get on that plane. Why risk infecting other people?

4. Not freak out about it.

Hey, the President said it best: "this is a cause for deep concern, but not panic." Chances are, if you follow the steps above, you'll be absolutely fine---even on a plane.