Here at Barley Services our highest priority is the well-being of our customers. Since everybody else, everywhere we turn, is announcing the virtual shutdown of civilization because of flu season, we figure we’d better let you know what we’re doing to save humanity in the coming weeks.
Not one thing.
Life goes on at Barley Services. If you need service, you get service. If I die from the Wuhan Virus, I’ll post a notice here so you’ll know not to bother calling.
As I write, one person in 10,000 in Shelby County has been diagnosed with WuFlu. Surely others are infected, but show no symptoms yet. It will get bad, I’m sure. This stuff will kill you (if you’re in a high-risk group). So will ordinary flu. So will cars.
Numbers are of the essence. In the 2017-2018 flu season, how many Americans do you suppose the flu killed? The answer is 80,000. Did you care? I didn’t. I just went to work anyway. A quick check of my calendar from those months shows no gaps. But 80,000 sure sounds like a lot, especially compared to the 544 deaths in the USA from WuFlu as of this evening.
In Italy, 75% of the WuFlu deaths are of people above 70 years of age. NONE are of people below 30 years of age. Numbers are of the essence.
I know that WuFlu is more contagious than regular flu, is more dangerous because it attacks the lungs directly, and can overwhelm the hospitals. Anything that interrupts its onward march will reduce the number of people it kills.
But hey! I know how to save more lives than all of this total shutdown will save. Just drop the speed limit everywhere to 30 mph. Automobile wrecks kill 40,000 Americans per year, including children. If no one goes over 30 mph, nearly all of those lives will be saved.
Why don’t we lower the speed limit to 30 mph and save those 40,000 lives? Answer that question and you’ll know why this current shutdown needs to end.
At Barley Services, we’ve ended it without even beginning it. I and/or my loved ones may die from this virus, or another sickness, or a car wreck. Bury us and carry on. Death is a part of life. I know where I’m going when I die, and you can know that for yourself, too.
