Date: Wed, 10 Sep 2003 22:23:26 -0400 (EDT) From: "Keith F. Lynch" <kfl at KeithLynch.net> To: WSFA members <WSFAlist at KeithLynch.net> Subject: [WSFA] Unclean! Unclean! Reply-To: WSFA members <WSFAlist at keithlynch.net> I went to donate blood this evening here in Virginia. They rapidly asked me the usual questions. As always, I automatically answered each one "no". No, I have not exchanged drugs for sex with someone who received a dura matter transplant in the Congo since 1977, nor have I received a tattoo from a drug-addicted leper with a family history of CJD who takes tegison and finasteride. But wait, what's this? Why yes, I have been to Toronto. Why yes, in the past two weeks. My answer was greeted with apparent skepticism, as if I'd claimed to have survived being buried up to the neck in radioactive anthrax spores at ground zero while two skyscrapers dropped on me. The nurse asked me several times exactly when I arrived there and left, as if hoping to catch me in a contradiction. She then spent several minutes pawing through a loose-leaf notebook, then went to consult with her supervisor, then spent several more minutes leafing through the same notebook, then asked me if I had been exposed to anyone at risk, then leafed some more, then went out again, then came back and gave me a deferral letter. It's strange how one can't help but take even the most obviously bogus judgments slightly seriously. I *have* had difficultly breathing recently, haven't I, asked a little voice in the back of my head. Well, I did briefly choke on a pistachio that went down the wrong way. But that was *before* Torcon. Maybe that means I'm saddled with an especially virulent strain of SARS, one which has effects even before the original exposure. Also, haven't I been sleeping more than usual since returning? Since that's not one of the usual symptoms, I must have been hit with a potent strain indeed! And to think that not only did I bring this dread infection across the previously impenetrable barrier of Toronto's city limits, but I've also ridden both the New York and DC subways. No doubt the plague has spread to millions of Americans by now, thanks to me. Oh why did I ever listed to the Torcon committee when they claimed their city was clean? Sure, it *looked* clean. But had it been heated to at least 250 Fahrenheit for at least 2 hours? I don't think so. It hasn't escaped my notice that they use *Celsius* there. -- Keith "unclean" Lynch -- Keith F. Lynch - kfl at keithlynch.net - http://keithlynch.net/ I always welcome replies to my e-mail, postings, and web pages, but unsolicited bulk e-mail (spam) is not acceptable. Please do not send me HTML, "rich text," or attachments, as all such email is discarded unread.