Viewpoint by Montreal Spencer/south news editor

Swine flu is talked about in the news, but it doesn’t hit hard until it hits home.

My mother called me the other day to say my sister had swine flu and the doctors were giving her Tamiflu. But all I could think was how it would affect me.

How selfish am I? About the average amount, but that still isn’t cool.

Doctors didn’t confirm that she had the swine flu yet because the blood work hasn’t come back, but they’re treating her as if she has it.

I told my mama I can’t afford to get the flu right now.

“Who can?” she said with disgust in her voice and hung up on me.

It still didn’t faze me. I just knew I did not want to go over there and contract the germs.

A CampusCruiser e-mail said health officials are treating every case of the flu as the H1N1 or swine flu, and if you think you have the flu, you should stay home.

I began telling friends my sister had the swine flu. People sprayed Lysol in my direction, but someone said that’s not really funny because a child recently died from it.

Recently, several mothers lost their children who had the swine flu. No parents want their child to go before them, and the thought makes me sad.

However, the regular flu is just as severe as the H1N1 flu, and both should be treated with caution.

Later when I went to my mother’s, my sister was quarantined in her room. My mother was disinfecting the whole house.

My sister opened the door of her room as I walked into the hall. I put a hand over my face to avoid her.

It made her sad, and I really began to think about it differently on a deeper level. What if something were to happen to my sister?

Then I began to empathize with her and imagine if I were in her shoes.

It’s like she got shunned by society or put on punishment for being bad and sent to her room for a minimum of four days. But she hadn’t done anything but get sick.

I’ve been washing my hands double­-time, wearing an ear loop mask and keeping my hands away from my face because I know I could be next.

But, honestly, I wish it were me instead of her. I hope she gets better soon and that doctors find a way to contain this sickness before it becomes an epidemic.