"Ring Around the Rosie"
Whether we like it or not, we are vulnerable to the dangers of life including
infectious disease. With the spread of the SARS virus and others like it, it
is clear that globalization makes us even more vulnerable. Along with fluid
trade and information exchange, we must face the enhanced transmission of
diseases for which our immune systems may not have been prepared.
Can we protect ourselves from this onslaught? Must we resort to
inconveniences such as facemasks and avoiding Chinese restaurants? What about
prayer or simple incantations such as "Ring around the rosie?"
Is this all we have to protect ourselves from many viruses which surround us?
It has been said that around 1347, a now familiar nursery rhyme surfaced:
Ring around the Rosie.
A pocket full of posies.
Ashes, ashes.
We all fall down!!!
Europe was in the midst of The Black Plague. The "ring around a rosie" is
supposed to refer to the first symptom of the disease, a round red rash. "A
pocket full of posies" refers to the practice of carrying flowers to place
them around the infected person for protection. "Ashes" is supposed to imitate
the sneezing of the infected person. "We all fall down" portrays the numerous
dead resulting from the disease.
