| | Ah, where to begin? Fair my blog, why have I abandoned thee? My life isn't all that crazy interesting, truth to tell. But I did want to share one of my travel experiences that I'm fairly sure will strike a common chord.
While I was waiting for my flight in Seattle, I heard an announcement. It said something to the effect that nobody was going to be allowed off the plane in Tokyo until all health surveys were collected and all temperatures taken. If someone was found to have a fever, they and all passengers seated within a six foot radius would be taken off and put into quarantine for 7 days! They advised anyone not feeling well to change their travel schedules. Isn't that some good advice!
I boarded the plane and endured a fairly pleasant (as such journeys go) 10 hour flight. When we landed, we were instructed to stay in our seats. That's when the Swine Flu Brigade boarded and started taking temperatures. Here's a shot:
That's dude with his laser body temperature-taking device. He shot everyone, and another dude came behind him, glanced at our surveys, and gave us yellow slips to present to customs saying we were presumed healthy. Here's another shot:
I apologize for the quality, I was trying not to be a jerk gaijin and be obtrusive with my amused photo taking. So I turned the flash off, and that makes the thing all blurry.
So, everything appeared to be proceeding apace. And then one of the dudes came and camped out beside the seat in front of me. He didn't move, he just stood there. That's when I noticed the masks on two of the women in the row in front of me. I didn't think anything of it at first; Japanese people wear those surgical masks as a matter of course, either to protect themselves or other people from illness. But when the dude was presented with red dot stickers and started applying them to seats, including MINE, I started to get worried. When a lady came through and instructed all passengers with red dots on their seats to remain behind while the rest of the passengers disembarked, I got more worried. We sat for another 1/2 hour or so...and then were told all passengers could deplane. Whew, I really felt like I dodged a bullet there! That said, I fully expect to get a call from the Japanese health department in a few days. These Nihon-jin, they don't mess around with the swine flu! |
| | Posted 5/22/2009 6:04 PM - 8 Views - 0 eProps - 0 comments
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