The Silver Lining

image via www.nytimes.com

Swine flu is hitting Buenos Aires in a big way and although some people seem unfazed about the whole ordeal, there are just as many people up in arms and railing against the government for having put the nation's health at risk.

The Argentine government has a history of thinking it knows better than everyone else, so when the Health Minister warned the Kirchners that there was not enough Tamiflu stockpiled in case of an emergency she was dismissed. Now, with the cases of swine flu mounting into the thousands, the death toll now at the third highest in the world behind the US and Mexico, and schools shutting down for 3-4 weeks minimum, the Health Minister was forced to resign and people are spitting mad.

Probably because, in addition to not taking the pandemic seriously enough to stockpile medications just in case, the government has also been suppressing facts and figures until after the Congressional elections were concluded in the hopes that their mismanagement of this situation wouldn't lead to their party being voted out. Fortuitously they lost anyway, so all that hard work of keeping people quiet came to nothing.

But there's a silver lining to every grey cloud, and for me it's this: I don't have to work on Saturday mornings anymore! And Graham doesn't have to work at all! And he still gets paid! Hooray for school closings!

UPDATE: Now my big, multinational company has cancelled all their English lessons until further notice. I think we're headed for a Mexico type shut down.