Flu.

I’m still figuring out what I’m going to write about on my Blog. I know I’d rather not use it to update people on what I’m up to – for some reason I already do that on Facebook and the like. So don’t worry, if anyone IS reading this, it hopefully won’t descend into some sort of online diary…not unless I really lack inspiration. But if it does, please tell me and I will sort it out.

At this time in my life I seem to spend a large amount of my time waiting. This is not because I’m lazy, and it’s not because I really enjoy waiting…but I often find myself either sitting in the back of a van for hours, or waiting around in empty venues etc. etc. – that coupled with the fact I seem to lie awake in bed for a fair while before getting to sleep these days. All this waiting gives me a lot of time to think about things, so I thought I might write them down. Someone out there might find them interesting or, god forbid, thought provoking. Or a few people might disagree with everything I say…and I think I’d quite enjoy that. Nothing like a good well rounded argument.

At this time I am waiting around due to illness, so I can do little more than complain, lie down and watch shit daytime television – which has put a bit of a dampener on the start of my week. This is somewhat ironic considering what I’m just about to tell you about:

A week ago I was sitting a on tube train heading somewhere in London, when 10 Italians got on the train and sat around me. Now, this in itself is not that strange, but what was quite odd is that they were all wearing surgical masks and frantically washing themselves with anti-bacterial hand wash. It was quite a strange sight, and I was not the only person who found this odd. As when I looked up, everyone who was not wearing a mask was staring at them. Now, a few things ran through my head while trying not to laugh. First of them was that these people obviously think they know something we don’t, secondly…was that thing some type of chemical disaster?…and if it was, maybe they should spread the word a bit so we can all be saved too. But lastly, it was about what these 10 visitors to our country have been told (and before anyone says anything, I can be pretty certain they were visitors, as they were all clutching Lonely Planet guides and cameras). Now, I might be wrong in thinking this way. Maybe they were very sensitive people who constantly need to wear masks wherever they go. Or maybe they are big Michael Jackson fans. But I think it’s got more to do with what people are told when traveling to Britain.

Earlier this year I had a the good fortune to spend a month traveling around Europe on tour with my band. Now, in this time I got to travel to many countries I had never been to before and meet loads of people. What often occurred to me when chatting to these people was how Britain seems to be perceived by many.

I only have any experience of being British when abroad, so it’s hard to know if I am right. But it seems that a lot of people take a real interest in the UK. Many of the people I spoke to had either visited the UK many times or it was the top of their list of places to go. I can understand why too. I’m not a very patriotic or nationalistic person, but I think Great Britain is an interesting place with a huge amount of history and lots to see and do – plus it’s all relatively close together. Bar the weather and and our fairly useless public transport system, it’s a good place. However, quite a few people I have spoken to who want to visit seem to be worried about what they are going to catch while over here, and some people had been told not to visit by parents and loved ones for this very reason. I think that is the reason the Italians were wearing masks.

It must be that most of the European press about visiting the UK is about how we are all carrying some type of disease and that we are the heart of some huge pandemic – yet I know no one who has suffered from any of it (bar Swine Flu, and I know a few – but it seems if you complain of a headache and a runny nose they say you have it – l’m a little dubious). Over the past few years we have had the human version of Foot & Mouth, Bird Flu, Swine Flu and SARS (remember that?)…and there are probably more. SARS was going to wipe us all out at one point, and those who were not killed by that were going to be finished off by bird flu. None of this happened. Now, I’m not saying that these things are lies, as people have died from them…but the amount of fear that was put over to the public was incredible. Surely that was not needed? Mass panic is never a good idea when we are all facing dead by some horrible microbe. We get freaked out enough by a petrol drought.

So what were all the big scare tactics about? I can’t help but wonder about the next big news story that is just to break – might be front page…then in comes a pandemic to divert all our attentions…and it gets pushed back to page 5 or 6 – maybe I am a bit too skeptical? Hmmmm.

I am currently ill though, so maybe those Italians have got the right idea after all.

I think I might go and read 1984 now, I feel in the mood. Then I’m going to go into business making anti-bacterial hand wash, I think I could make a fortune. I bet Cussons can’t wait for the next pandemic scare.