If you were too busy hiding from the swine flu in your nuclear bomb shelter this weekend, you might be unaware that it is officially summer.
Life already feels about a thousand times more worth it in the 90+ degree weather. And it should, since a flu similar to that of the Spanish Flu Pandemic of 1918 has already killed over a hundred in Mexico and started showing up around the United States. The scariest thing about both of these pandemics being that most of the victims are healthy young adults, who are usually the last demographic to die from this type of illness.
Friends have been contacting me from Mexico city, worried about a collapse of basic infastructure as the government’s heavy hand comes down hard on public transportation and private property. Notably that,
“In Mexico City, home to some 20 million people, the mayor said Sunday that “all activities” could be indefinitely suspended if the virus keeps spreading — including the public transportation system.”
and
“…government in Mexico issued an ominous decree on Saturday, saying it reserves the right to hold and quarantine anyone, enter and search any public or private establishment, and more or less do whatever it deems necessary to stop the virus from spreading.”
(from Daniel Hernandez)
In Brooklyn though, those starved for the greatest time of year are out in force. Unlike in Mexico City, things have been running as they should on the first summer days. McCarren Park has literally overflowed with sunbathing hipsters, little kids playing with kites and riding bikes, and families all happily bumping heads together. Pale skin and tattoos are out to have a good time in the first summery days they have seen this year.
*Added a photo
<3
[...] Things have been a little depressing for me this winter. It’s not that I don’t have lots of fun. But I’ve been poor and unemployed, and frankly rather plagued with [...]
[...] standoff. It will be interesting to see what happens to all this student activism now that school’s out. Will naive first-year New York transplants become embittered or stay angry and continue to [...]