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Have you ever thought about the odd behaviors people adopt in different situations? Here’s a short list of things I’ve been thinking about. I am sure you can add others.
How are you? Yes, I know that doesn’t sound like strange behavior but consider what happens in the office. Every time you pass someone in the hall—even if you’re half-running and obviously not about to stop and chat—your co-workers will ask “How are you?” and get surprised if you proceed to tell them. What’s more, the next time they see you, even if it’s five seconds later they will ask the same question. As if anything had changed since you last saw them. Maybe that’s why it’s a bit of a surprise to find out that my co-workers did care how I was….
May I help you? Every time I walk into the shop I get this question and a smile. The first time it’s OK but after three times when you have assured the nice salesperson that really you don’t need any help and are “just looking” it would be nice if they would take the hint and leave you alone. But they don’t. Maybe that’s part of their job description, I don’t know.
Sneezing is not Leprosy. Really. Even with the outbreak of the swine flu, a sneezing or coughing fit can be caused by all sorts of things that have nothing to do with the flu, let alone swine flu. In my case, I often get the sniffles due to air conditioning and even a fan set on the high setting makes my husband’s throat sore. In neither case is this the swine flu. And yet, I have noticed that ever since the swine flu outbreak, people have been backing away from folks who dare sneeze or cough in public. As though they’re lepers.
Swine Flu Parties. Which brings me to the other weird phenomenon associated with the swine flu: swine flu parties. This is the rage in the UK apparently although British and now American health officials think it a rotten idea. People have decided that exposing themselves to what most think is still a mild form of the H1N1 virus will immunize them against the much more lethal form that is expected to hit with the school year. Kind of like getting immunized against chicken pox but without the needles. But American and British health officials warn that we really don’t yet know enough about the swine flu and that deliberately exposing oneself to the virus could thus be a deadly idea.
These are just some of the odd behaviors I have been noticing (and in the case of the swine flu parties) reading about. I am sure you can think of others. The nice thing about these eccentricities is that (in my opinion at least) they make people and thus life much more interesting.
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