Swine Flu

So the world has been amuck in the swine flu as of late. At work, when I read the papers, there is mention of pigs all over the place. This has caused me to think of two things. The first is to ask what the difference is between an epidemic and a pandemic. The answer is that an epidemic just spreads quickly outside of it's regular locality. A pandemic is a worldwide epidemic.

The second thought I've had is how the swine flu is simple proof of my feeling that pigs are only good for bacon. My road to this conclusion came through the ownership of my own pig. When I was in high school, I walked into seminary one day, and my teacher, who was moving and knew that I worked at a ranch, asked if I wanted his pig. The only though that went through my adolescent head was, "it would be funny to say I have a pig." So I agreed to get it, and my mom and I went and picked it up. That was the beginning of an era of regret. We tried letting it co-habitate with the dogs. It intimidated the dogs to the degree that they just avoided it. So we gave it it's own place. It was mean to us. It got out a number of times (it's name was Sophie) and the only benefit I got from it was using it for funny things like dropping it (in a dog cage) on a friends doorstep as a birthday prank, and stuff like that. I think someone suggested that we set it loose in the woods and dress up like indians and hunt it with bows and arrows. We never did. Mostly, we just took it the left overs, and waited... The wait finally ended one day in the winter when I realized that Sophie wasn't moving. I took a stick and tried to get a reaction out of her, but to no avail. I walked into my house and said rather non-chalantly, "Mom, what do you do with a dead pig?" She responded equally apathetically, "I don't know. I'll call someone." And that was the end of Sophie, the pot-bellie pig--also know as the Shawn's folly. Pigs are good for nothing but bacon.