The Fine Line Between the Swine and a Punch Line

“Hey, don’t drink my soda! You’re gonna give me Swine Flu,” a girl says this with a smirk to her friend, who in return laughs at this not-so-funny remark. Similarly, a boy makes fun of the absence of his cold-ridden friend, “Nah, man, he’s not ditching. Kid’s got the Swine [laughs].”

This scene is all too common in high schools around the country. Outranking the “That’s what she said” tagline, Swine flu has become the new, hip punch line of crude jokes that packs more than a punch: death. Already 36 people have fallen to this disease statewide, and yet, teens still use references to it in daily speech like it’s the hottest commodity. (That sort of disrespect really testifies to what they say about our generation…) Sadly, I can’t claim innocence; I’ve done it, too—but I am a teen, after all.

What makes it so alluring to talk about Swine Flu in such tactless terms? Is it really that funny, that entertaining? Or, do we do it out of fear, because we’re scared of it? Could it be our attempt to make it less real, less threatening? For example, do you hear teens talking about H1N1? No—you don’t, and that’s because Swine Flu’s more proper name makes it seem more serious, which it is. And despite our attempts to convince ourselves otherwise, Swine Flu—H1N1, call it whatever you’d like—is not some imaginary, storybook dark magic that inflicts evil on the evil people of the world; it’s tangible, it’s real, and it’s here. I advise you to shut your mouth, wash your hands, and understand that Swine Flu is a real disease with real consequences. So, out of respect for the people who have unfortunately been affected, stop the jokes and come up with something that actually deserves a laugh.

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