Insurgentes, Mexico City in the grip of swine flu
After much consideration, I decided to suspend my usual journey and, instead, talk to the street vendors and see how the Swine Flu is affecting their businesses and friends out on the street. I came to this decision because I don't want to be Typhoid Mary passing out cards and shaking hands with everyone one in town, not safe for me or my participants.
So, I headed out under the midday sun, my mind on the "pandemic" and how it must be effecting street vendors who come into contact with so many people everyday. They have limited access to healthcare and, for economic reasons, probably don't have the option of just staying home. I rounded the corner to the main street in my little barrio and was shocked to see all the stores closed. The streets were eerily quiet, no cars, no people, nothing.
Well, almost nothing. Up a few blocks, at the corner near the supermarket, a few people were eating lunch under the white plastic tarps that cover the makeshift restaurants they put up on weekends. Under the awning of the supermarket, two people were eating tacos at folding tables and watching the TV perched on a metal stand at the end of the open air dining room. They had blue surgical masks covering half their faces, but which they pulled down as they ate. As I passed the TV, I heard the announcer say, "thousands sick, 81 dead..." The people eating seemed strangely serene, in their masks, watching catastrophic news reports in an open air street restaurant, as the cooks laughed and talked, no masks covering their faces.
When I reached Insurgentes, I was shocked. No more than 5 cars waited at the light. I looked up and down the street thinking, ‘Wow, it's like some an Armageddon inspired movie! No people, no cars... this is serious!' So I took some pictures of the empty roads, which I'll post as soon as I get them back from being developed. On some perverse level I felt excited by the lack of people, the quiet streets and an end of the world feeling under the cheerful afternoon sun.
A little farther along Insurgentes, I saw a man closing up his taco stand, next to a half dozen other stands, their wooden flaps already tightly shut. I approached his stall and said, my brow crinkling in concern, "The city is dead today, huh?"
He smiled and said, "Well, yeah, it's Sunday."
I felt very, very dumb in that moment. It was not some pandemic-driven shutting down of the city, but just your average quiet Sunday. In my excitement and paranoia over the Swine Flu, I'd forgotten it was Sunday. And in the good catholic country of Mexico, Sunday is truly a day of rest. It was just a normal Sunday, slightly quieter than usual, but nothing to panic about.
Quickly getting over my embarrassment, I laughed and gave him a big smile, "I was thinking it was because of ‘la gripe'!" He returned my smile in full force, "Ah, yes. La gripe." He nodded his head, still smiling, "Yes, maybe it's a little quieter than normal."
With a little wave, I left his stand and continued on my way, certain that I would not find my vendor friends at their usual corners. Even they get the day off for Sunday. Only a few restaurants stay open on the day of rest, and the 7-11 stores, which keep American hours.
As I approached an area with restaurants, parks and a big mall, I saw more and more people out for their Sunday stroll. Half of them wore blue, white or green masks, despite the fresh air and lovely breeze. And of those, many had pulled them down to their chins exposing nose and mouth. One guy had his mask dangling beneath his chin as he smoked a cigarette. The irony of this made me laugh out loud. Even in some of the cars, people had their faces covered. But on the crowded buses only a quarter of the passengers had on protection.
I got the sense that people have no idea what constitutes safety. Fear is really a curious thing. In a city where there are 22,000 car wrecks a year, people seem to throw their luck to the fates and often don't even use or have seat belts. But along comes a flu and everyone goes into panic and starts wearing surgical masks like some kind of security blanket. However, there is no data to support that wearing a surgical mask is effective against influenza, and a false sense of security, along with a misused mask, may actually add to the problem.
I'm not saying that people should stop wearing the masks entirely. They can protect you somewhat from a direct sneeze or cough, but should be partnered with other safety practices and a good dose of common sense. Ie. If you are in the car with your family and none of you has the flu, you probably don't all need to don surgical masks.
My day started with a panic driven sense of doom and ended with questioning perceptions of safety. This project started with me questioning safety in my own life. I still believe that safety comes from trusting your neighbors. However, I'll add to that, community safety comes from covering your nose when you sneeze and washing your hands afterward.
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