Thursday Launch

This time last year we were all in the grip of the SARS scare. People were afraid to eat out, take public transport, go to the movies, etc. Concerts were cancelled, schools closed for weeks, shopping centres were like ghost towns and taxis cruised around looking desperately for custom.

Coincidentally, I am reading a book about the plague in London in 1665. It's called "At the Sign of the Sugared Plum" by Mary Hooper. Have a look at the Bloomsbury website for more details.

OK, so it's a children's book, but it doesn't mean it's not well written. Some of the things they did with the idea that it would prevent them from getting the plague were just plain nonsensical. In our enlightened times, we wouldn't be so ... unenlightened, would we? Or would we?? ... some of the supermarkets here last year were all out of vinegar because people thought it would ward off the virus. People in Korea were touting kimchi as a cure, others thought kiwifruit would do the trick.

Personally, I was worried about our three cats being rounded up and taken mewing pitifully to the slaughterhouse because SARS had been linked with people eating civet cats in Hong Kong. Never mind that the civet cat is not even remotely related to the domestic cat (actually it is one of the mongoose family).

Well, thankfully, all that is past tense and let's hope it stays in its box and never comes out to scare us all another day.