Ouch My Head Hurts!

Disasters that didn't happen:

There is an article at Tech Central Station that really struck a nerve in me (and I don't mean in a good way).

It was about the avian flu and disasters in general. You can make you own judgements about the article, but one section really ticked me off.

“After all, our recent history is full of doomy media sensations that never amounted to much. Remember global cooling? Or swine flu? Or Y2K? Even the recent SARS breakout proved to be dangerous but not devastating. “

I think the general public needs to realize that the reason previous “doomy media sensations” didn't amount to much is that professionals working in those fields sacrificed health, sanity, life and limb to ensure that nothing happens.

I helped vaccinate people against Swine flu when I was in high school. We did just about everybody in the town. So of course they didn't get sick.

I was involved in insuring our critical systems were Y2K compliant. They were definitely not, and replacing them by the deadline damn near killed me. My health hasn't been the same since. If people like myself hadn't fixed a plethora of problems, things would have gotten really ugly.

SARS is a highly contagious and deadly virus. There was an outbreak in North America. If not for the diligence and dedication of health professionals it could have easily spread and been the 21 century equivalent of the 1918 pandemic.

There is a reason the death toll from the last two years of hurricanes hasn't numbered in the tens of thousand and it starts with a bunch of much maligned people called federal employees. These are people who (in spite of the anti-government belligerence of the current administration) work long hours and make considerable sacrifice to ensure you know a hurricane is coming.

People need to stop laughing at the disasters that didn't happen, an thank god that someone is out there watching their back.