Phoenix, Arizona in the times of contagion


It's May 20, 2020 as I write this, and if you're reading it right now you know that it's a time of contagion, all over the world. And all of this has got me to thinking about how people respond to the concept of contagion, and viruses.

In 1918, it was called the "Spanish Flu" and it killed a LOT of people. If you're a history buff, you know about it. And my first thought is that the idea of something so tiny that even the most powerful microscopes at the time couldn't see it, must have seemed just about impossible for many people to wrap their heads around. And to be fair to these people, if you showed me a virus under an electronic microscope, I would still have no idea what I was looking at!

But there was something deadly, and invisible, out there, which could spread from a touch, and even a breath. And then, as now, it's a matter of faith in people who do understand it, doctors and scientists.

And speaking for myself, as much as I like to do independent research, there would be no way that I could ever begin to understand how viruses work. So today I'm one of those people who wears a mask if I go into a pubic building, and I wash my hands, and practice social distancing.

In 1918 there would have been a lot of people who would just laugh at the thought of germs, the way that many doctors who performed surgery, or delivered babies, in the 1800s did. Who would believe in something that was invisible?

I've had the flu (no, not the Spanish Flu or COVID-19!) and it was miserable. I've been very sick in my day, including pneumonia, and I'm one of those people who trusts doctors. But I'm also old enough, and hopefully wise enough, to know that nothing is 100%, there's always a chance of contagion.

Let's be careful out there, everyone, and make COVID-19 just history, just like the Spanish Flu!
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