The Pendulum

The Pendulum

How many times does it have to swing
before it starts to keep towards the middle?

I can remember when everyone
nationwide was in a frizzy over the
Anthrax scare. I was still working. And
there was talk of making it mandatory
for us to have the shots. We protested.

Luckily we had an In-service Director,
who was smarter than the Administration
at that time. Also she had gone to Seattle
for a district health meeting on it.

Her wise words stick with me to this day.
First of all, we in Sandpoint we are on the low
end of the food chain of terrorist attacks. We
had nothing here, where they could do a great
bodily harm. So it made us unappealing.

Second, she talked about the Pendulum,
and how it swings from left to right. Going
back and forth until it finally sways in the
middle. She said that most things that come
up with great stories of horror will swing such
as the pendulum does.

What has come to mind over the years since,
is the Anthrax that she talked about... as it turn
out it caused more side effects than the good it
did. Also there was the bird flu. If the government
had its way, we all would have HAD to have
the bird flu shot. Only trouble was they didn't have
enough to do everyone. I had made up my mind
that I was NOT going to have the shot. Reasoning
was... 64 people had died. Yes, there were many
in Japan or China or both who were sick with it.
BUT ONLY 64 had died. Do you have any idea how
many people die each year from the common cold
and its side effects? Thousands. How many died
from the yearly flu? Thousands.. and the government
wanted me to get a shot because 64 died? No, not
me. I will wait for the pendulum to finish swinging.