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Green with Envy

Deadly flu laments rise of celebrity disease culture

What about me?
What about me?

At a press conference held last week at the County Coroner’s Office, a visibly agitated Flu made the case for increased media attention to the three reporters in attendance. “I killed 86 San Diegans this year - 86!” said Flu. “Way better than last year. One of my best, really. But does anyone notice? Does anyone get excited and start taking emergency precautions against my deadly power? No sir. They’re all too busy stocking up and hunkering down in preparation for coronavirus. How many San Diegans has coronavirus killed, again? Now I know how cancer must have felt when AIDS hit. Suddenly, there’s a hot new kid in town, and even if he hasn’t done much, it sure looks like he has, because all the cameras are on him. Dammit, I am the flu. One of the great killers of all time. In 1918, I killed more people than World War I. But just because I’ve been around, doing my thing, it’s like I’m not even worth paying attention to any more. It’s all ‘coronavirus this’ and ‘coronavirus that.’ They’re stripping the stores of toilet paper for this clown, and all I can get is moms buying some extra tissues. It’s a sad world when a century of solid work can be forgotten in a matter of weeks because some punk disease shows up and starts making headlines.”

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What about me?
What about me?

At a press conference held last week at the County Coroner’s Office, a visibly agitated Flu made the case for increased media attention to the three reporters in attendance. “I killed 86 San Diegans this year - 86!” said Flu. “Way better than last year. One of my best, really. But does anyone notice? Does anyone get excited and start taking emergency precautions against my deadly power? No sir. They’re all too busy stocking up and hunkering down in preparation for coronavirus. How many San Diegans has coronavirus killed, again? Now I know how cancer must have felt when AIDS hit. Suddenly, there’s a hot new kid in town, and even if he hasn’t done much, it sure looks like he has, because all the cameras are on him. Dammit, I am the flu. One of the great killers of all time. In 1918, I killed more people than World War I. But just because I’ve been around, doing my thing, it’s like I’m not even worth paying attention to any more. It’s all ‘coronavirus this’ and ‘coronavirus that.’ They’re stripping the stores of toilet paper for this clown, and all I can get is moms buying some extra tissues. It’s a sad world when a century of solid work can be forgotten in a matter of weeks because some punk disease shows up and starts making headlines.”

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