I’m a septuagenarian who has survived riding a bicycle with no helmet, drinking out of a garden hose, playing in the mud, and suffering from the chicken pox, measles, and the mumps.   However, this week I morphed into Chicken Little.

I had scheduled a trip to North Carolina to see my youngest and her husband.  Unfortunately, I had chosen the cattle-car airline, AKA Southwest.  Suddenly, I was deluged with corona virus information.  Hundreds of speculative articles blasted the internet news, newspapers, magazines, and radio and television.  My anxiety level rose; I couldn’t sleep for several nights.  Tuesday night my mind went into overdrive.  What would happen if?

On Wednesday, I read a Time magazine article which quoted the chair of Global Health at NYU, Dr. Adamson.  The elderly are more susceptible to contracting COVID 19. (Am I elderly?  Some days.)  Ask to have your airline seat moved if one of your seat mates is coughing. (Really?  Where do I move in a full cattle car?) If you are diagnosed with corona virus, you will be quarantined for 14 days, if not hospitalized.  (OMG!  Who will take care of my dogs?  What if I die?  Will my four-legged friends be adopted or sentenced to death?)

Adamson made my decision clear:  If you don’t have to fly, don’t.  I cancelled my flight.  Chicken Little made a decision, and she slept soundly.