I’m just back from Cancun, Mexico, and despite dire warnings and precautions from lots of well meaning friends and acquaintances, Mexico held no fear for me.
First off, let me address the swine flu issue, and why that didn’t concern me.
- As an adult in good health, with no immune system issues nor other special health concerns, I am not in a high risk category for picking up any kind of bug – whether here at home or in another country.
- When I’m working, I come in contact with hundreds of people a day (and their trash), so I’m exposed to lots and lots of germs, even in the best of circumstances.
- I wash my hands with soap and water, and use hand sanitizer when that’s compromised.
- I don’t walk barefoot on the plane (EEEEEEW – that’s just gross), and never eat anything that’s dropped on the floor.
- Common sense reigns supreme, and after working on a plane for so many years, I’d like to think that I have it figured out.
There weren’t a lot of people on the plane going to Cancun. Not a lot at all. A couple had masks on.
After arrival in Cancun, we went through customs and immigrations, and it was like a ghost town. Other than the people on my flight, and remember, there weren’t many of them, there was no one in line. Officials and workers were mostly masked, and went about doing their jobs. There was no one in the shops, no one in the taxi line, no cars in the pick up zone. It felt surreal, like I had walked into a parallel universe.
The hotel was equally empty. No one in the lobby and only one person in the bar. A quick walk around the pool and I counted 7 people, and back in the lobby bar another party of 4 had gathered for a beverage. There were a handful of tables in the cafe that were taken.
This picture of the pool and beach area was taken from my balcony. If you look very, very closely you can see one person swimming in the pool, and a few others nearby. There are lots and lots of empty chaise lounges, and those are usually full of tanning bodies.
I had a chance to chat with some of the people who were working in the pool area. Most speak English fairly well. They are devastated by everything going on, and are obviously worried about their jobs and how they will take care of their families. (Sound familiar?) Businesses are cutting back on hours open and services offered, and that means cutting back in personal. These are hard working, kind, thoughtful, and frightened people who were bending over backwards to make sure that everyone who was there had a wonderful experience.
I think this is fear is going to last for awhile. And that’s a real shame. I’m not one for putting myself at unnecessary risks, but for most people, travel to Mexico doesn’t present much more of a risk than hanging out at your local mall. I’ll be back there next week, soaking up the sun and hospitality of what’s become a tropical ghost town.
Are you traveling to Mexico? Or has the swine flu caused you to re-think your travel plans? Or maybe you’re avoiding traveling altogether? Please sound off in the comments and let me know where you stand on the issue.
Photo credit: personal collection
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My brother got infected with H1N1 or Swine Flu in Mexico. He got a mild fever and luckily he did not die.
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Mary Jo Manzanares Reply:
January 2nd, 2010 at 3:25 pm
Glad to hear that it was just a mild case!
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If you look at the pandemic of 1977, when H1N1 or Swine Flu re-emerged after a 20 year absence, there is no shift in age-related mortality pattern. The 1977 “pandemic” is, of course, not considered a true pandemic by experts today, for reasons that are not entierely consistent. It certainly was an antigenic shift and not an antigenic drift. As far as I have been able to follow the current events, the most significant factor seems to have been that most people, who were severely affected, were people with other medical conditions.
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