Can We Talk About Ebola?

Of course, I don't want to offend anyone. Ebola is a very serious disease. Very. It's not a laughing matter at all.

But, I have to laugh a little because Ebola is one of my worst fears. I have had this terrible fear of catching Ebola for like the last almost 20 years. (Similar to my fear of developing narcolepsy while driving.) And people have laughed. But now there is a very real possibility.

And before you tell me how hard it is to catch Ebola, let me explain to you how easy it is.

It's spread by contact with bodily fluids (blood, sweat, tears, saliva, mucus, sex juice) from someone who is symptomatically sick with the disease. The fluid has to enter your body in order for you to have a chance to contract it. That seems like there are so many conditions that it would be nearly impossible to contract Ebola, doesn't it?

Does it? Because let me tell you, from working with the public, I know. The world is rampant with all that stuff! (Well, hopefully not the sex juice. But all that other stuff.) Just at work--I have wiped blood, sweat, saliva, and boogers off of tables. I have had to flush toilets that were unflushed. I have had to empty trash cans that have been peed in. (Who does that?) I have been coughed on, sneezed at, and I don't even want to think about what people have on their money.

That's all it takes. Don't believe me? Have kids? Have they ever gotten pinkeye? The flu? A cold? How do you think they got those?

Of course, the CDC is quick to point out that the person has to actually be sick with Ebola before they can spread the disease. Well, then. Let me ask you--how many times have you gone to work when you were sick? You go because you don't have any sick days left or because you just need the money or because it's just a little fever, I'll be fine. I've done that. You know you have. How many of your co-workers have done that, too?

Holy crap. It's only a matter of time.