Originally Posted by
Dan Druff
It's sad that some people still think this, when enough time has passed to where we have clarity on the matter.
The swine flu was so mild that it's estimated that a ton of people had it and showed zero symptoms. It also killed more like the regular flu -- very predictable as to who would die from it. If you weren't very old, very young, or very sick, you didn't have to worry about it.
How many people did you know with the swine flu in 2009? And of those, how many died or had terrible symptoms from it?
Despite living in Vegas at the time and knowing tons of poker players (those probably most likely to get a highly contagious disease), I knew zero point zero who knew they had it. That's how mild it was.
You can't just look at death figures, or even hospitalization figures. You have to look at how many people over 40 end up having the most miserable experience of their lives when they have it, and that seems to be most of them. From what I've seen, there are the mid-30s guys like Sloppy Joe and David "Doc" Sands who experience it mildly, and then we have the over-40 guys who go through hell.
I've spoken directly with several people over 40 who had it. All had absolutely terrible experiences, and a few of them actually said they felt like they were going to die at one point. These were all people with no major health issues prior to getting it.
You know what I haven't heard yet? Someone I know who is over 40, got it, and said, "Hey, this was no worse than the flu!"
Instead, I hear about 2-3 weeks of the worst fatigue ever (you can't walk down the stairs), the worst body pains/aches ever, a persistent cough which makes your chest feel like it's going to explode, and a fever which sits there and won't break. Some also develop breathing problems where it gets tougher and tougher to breathe without feeling like you're drowning, and you start to fear that you're going to be dead or on a ventilator soon.
These aren't just 85-year-olds or one-off stories I read about on CNN. These are real people I know, and some are a few years younger than me.
Remember Steve-O (Steve Ruddock) from this forum? He just had an experience like this.
A few things can be true at once:
1) This is a horrible thing which you don't want to get if you're over 40
2) Trump has made mistakes in handling this, partially because he's just not good at shit like this
3) The Democrats are exaggerating Trump's mistakes and exploiting it for political purposes
Just because Democrats use this to attack Trump doesn't mean that it's not really a serious matter. You should watch out, Pooh, because you're over 40 and have had anxiety before, and the last thing someone with anxiety wants is breathing issues. Trust me on that one especially.