Doug was freaked out.
Global warming was going to melt his face (right after it killed all the polar bears and drowned the Maldives). It was a maxim that terrorists or free-roaming gun-nuts boarded his bus and either blew it up, or shot him with a semi-automatic. And if those disasters didn’t strike, it was only a matter of time before he was felled by SWINE FLU!!
He could read it right there in the headlines. It was on the radio. The TV. It was inevitable. Doug was going to catch SWINE FLU and die. He wasn’t on the priority list, and then it would be too late.
Then a happy thought struck him. None of that had happened. And wasn’t there some kind of Bird Flu scare just a couple of years ago? He never caught that …
What if there was some sort of inverse relationship to disaster and the amount of fear churned up by the media: the more ink and airtime devoted, the less likely there would be a disaster?
It was a reassuring thought, and for the first time in many months, Doug didn’t feel freaked out. He felt safe. That was probably why he didn’t look before crossing the road to catch his transfer.
And that was when the bus struck him.
Hmmm…you weren`t listening to CBC radio this morning, by any chance? 😉
I guess he forgot to “look both ways”.
Love. It. Keep writing!