Consider Spanish flu, German measles, the China virus and German cockroaches.
A roach story from some Germans:
The family of five relocated to New Orleans. They lived in an aging almost-mansion close to St. Charles Avenue. Some huge roaches inevitably ended up in the house. Mostly they darted along on surfaces, roach-like, but they also used their big wings to fly across rooms.
The Germans were impressed. Roaches in general were a strange phenomenon. Not knowing what to call the big ones, they dubbed them “American flyers.”
But what about the Spanish flu? Per Wikipedia and other sources, the disease wasn’t worse in Spain, but reporters there could write about it.
Hanaba Welch
Out of the frying pan into the fire.
An e-friend of mine moved from Texas just ahead of the recent record-breaking cold. Bill and his wife, Jo Lynn, got the last flight out of Austin before the bone-chiller froze the Lone Star State, Dalhart to South Padre. Where did they go?
Alaska! And I don’t mean Juneau. The couple moved to Barrow, Alaska, right on the Arctic Ocean, where the temperature was 51 below the week before they arrived and the nearest tree is 200 miles south. Poor tree.
The kicker (I’m quoting Jo Lynn):
“You know things are bad when you hear men in the Post Office of Barrow, Alaska, talking about the terrible conditions in Texas!!!”