Ever Heard of "Hini"?

So, just lately, we've been hearing from news on TV time and again about the swine flu outbreak/pandemic. Now, more than ever, we're alarmed (well, not so much) because the virus is in our own country already, and as i heard, there've been more or less 15 reported cases so far..? I'm not so sure... but many or not, there are confirmed cases in Manila.

So you can't blame my grandma for worrying.. especially for us, her beloved grand kids.

Last night... when I was sitting here before the PC, I suddenly heard my cousins laughing. It turned out they were laughing at something gran had said. You see, as I mentioned, she was worried about the virus (that's reasonable to worry about) or what it could cause. So she warned the youngest of us not to get out of the house too often or too long (because that's what he does), saying he might get infected by "Hini." Or more appropriately, "HINI". At first they were wondering what she was meaning to say. But it didn't take long before they realized she meant the dreaded flu virus, A-H1N1. The swine flu virus. She thought it was Hini.

Funny name... everybody laughed.

There was a hint of wonder in her eyes while we the kids were laughing, although she was almost laughing too... she knows there's something funny and I could tell she could guess at that time it was about her. After being corrected and informed what the headline on the TV news really read, she... well, laughed as well. We're not so surprised at her inadvertent mistake. We're kind of used to them, but we still laughed at it though. Happy time.

But the flu is not a joke. And the threat and deaths it has caused is not funny at all.

But, well, come to think of it, I think HiNi could be a nice sub to the somewhat tounge-twisting, sometimes mind-boggling virus name. So, we should all always be careful and take precautions, since "an ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure." Let's all stop hini.

[Flash Update]
I was so wrong about the number of reported cases. Just saw the news and found out there are now 77 infected people! I suppose we're gonna need more than just an ounce of prevention now - maybe hundreds of liters.