Just recently I wrote a light hearted note on “Things I don’t understand” and although there were points of genuine seeking mixed in with humorous observations personal opinions and just outright absurdity observance of everyday life and media events particularly the grousing of bloggers and TV media personalities compels me to publish yet another chapter of “Things I don’t understand”.
Back round
In the late 1800’s and early 1900’s the country was in the grips of a National tuberculosis epidemic and one in 500 people in the United States were thought to have TB in one form or another when globally an estimated 2.1 million people died of the disease annually. The majority of the country’s population during the 1900’s was largely rural, the automobile traveled at an average speed of 8 miles per hour (on a side note the gas mileage was about 35 MPG), the cost of the most popular form of travel railroads was dependant on how far you went but an average ticket ran around $10.00. A trip to the United States from Europe was of course by ocean liner and took an average of seven days and the cost of a third class ticket was about $35.00. Consequently there was relatively little travel over great distances in the early 20th century yet this was a time of devastating illness and mortality in the United States. Being born in 1955 I remember my parents, grand parents, grade school teachers and various other adults and even older children telling me to “Cover your mouth when you cough” or sneeze. I was never really sure why, my mother told me it “was impolite not to do so” but thinking back to my childhood and remembering seeing sidewalk bricks with “Don’t Spit” impressed in them I suspect it was common sense remnants from the not too distant TB epidemic. To my knowledge every kid and an occasional young adult would get the “Cover your mouth!” warning from bystanders when they inconsiderately coughed or sneezed without adequate precautions.
In March of 1996 the World Health Organization concluded that: “More people died from tuberculosis in 1995 than in any other year in history. According to the report, nearly 3 million people died from TB in 1995, surpassing the worst years of the epidemic around 1900. Other studies cited the increase of global and regional transportation, the urbanization of the US population and lack of precautionary and medical prophylaxis for the rapid resurgence of this once nearly extinct disease.
http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/1996/19960322.h2903.html
Present day circa 2007
Anyone who has watched the news in the past few weeks may have seen a nationally covered story of Andrew Speaker, a 31 year old divorce lawyer from Atlanta, Georgia was diagnosed with tuberculosis in January of 2007 during an unrelated visit with his doctor for a fall.
*May 11, 2007, Speaker is advised to “Postpone his plans to go to Europe” for his wedding, however on the next day
*May 12th 2007, Speaker and his fiancée are on a transatlantic flight to Paris
*May 14th 2007, Speaker and his fiancée fly from France to Greece.
*May 16th 2007, Speaker and his fiancée fly from Athens to the Greek Iles of Santorini where they are wed.
*May 18th 2007, Speaker is contacted by the CDC and again advised not to travel as his TB is the more dangerous drug resistant form.
*May 21st 2007, Speaker flies to Rome where he is again contacted by the CDC and advised not to travel, specifically by commercial airlines due to the nature of his disease. This young, educated legal professional aware of his contagious nature and the danger to others should he inadvertently infect them asks the CDC to pay for the estimated one hundred thousand dollar cost for him to arrange for private transportation from Europe to the United States. When the CDC is not immediately forthcoming with the funds Speaker travels from Italy to Czechoslovakia.
*May 24th 2007, Speaker who later admits to being “panicked” boards another international flight this time from the Czech Republic to Canada an intentional tactic to avoid the United States No Entry list where his name appears. In Canada he presumably rents a car and drives into the United States.
*May 25th 2007, Speaker checks himself into a hospital in New York.
After traveling on probably more but no fewer than three commercial airlines from The US to France to Greece to the Greek Isles to Italy to Czechoslovakia to Canada, after exposing from 50 to 300 people on commercial flights per plane (lets be kind and estimate the number of persons he exposed to his extremely contagious drug resistant disease to 1,000 men women and children),
Add to that the people who he came into contact with him and cleaned up after him in is hotels (he had to stay somewhere), cab drivers and subsequent passengers in the same cab, waiters, waitresses and patrons in restaurants and café’s and the travelers in airport terminals, restrooms and other areas I haven’t thought of. The number of people exposed and possibly infected by this man could be astronomical!
I saw Andrew Speaker’s televised apology the other day where he claimed he “didn’t realize how dangerous it would be for him to travel” – BUNK! The man is a lawyer, and in as low regard as I hold most lawyers I realize that there is a good deal of education one must undertake before even entering Law School, but all this aside, when he was informed he might have TB in January 2007 why is it that he didn’t get the testing that was recommended or at least seek confirmation from a second opinion.
You can check the facts on this particular piece of news; admittedly I have no first hand knowledge of the events or circumstances surrounding Andrew Speaker’s diagnosis or dossier but I do have an opinion.
When you are in public remember that is polite and sound health advice to cover your mouth when you cough or sneeze.
For those of you with a cheek full of “chaw”, “snuff”, “chew” or whatever it’s called, please remember that it’s not only rude but unhealthful to spit in public.
And parents, perhaps its time we remember our lessons in etiquette and pass them on to our children. It couldn’t hurt and it just may make the world a better place.
*Source: http://www.abcnews.go.com/US/Story?id=3235763&page=1
Website for the Speaker Law Firm in Atlanta: predictabily "Temporarily Unavailable"
http://atlantadivorce.poweradvocates.com/about.html
