5 Things My Mom Couldn’t Have Warned Me About as a Child

Now I realize the zika virus wouldn't affect me since I'm not pregnant, but I still have the mind set that I shouldn't (if at all possible) be bit by a mosquito.  Of course, the first scare was the West Nile Virus....now this.  I'm not even going to get into the Ebola scare!  Btw, this is the exact mosquito that I was sharing bathroom space this morning, the first of the season for me.  I proudly displayed his carcass on the toilet tank for all to see!

I use to LOVE to travel.  My mom taught me how to read the terminals to see what gate to go to for our next flight when we traveled to Albuquerque, NM, Mazatlan and California.  That's back when they served a real meal on the flight on real china plates with real silverware.  You didn't have to pay for carry-ons (in fact there wasn't even a limit) and people could smoke tobacco on the plane.  Now you can check your flight from your smart phone, you need to think ahead and bring food with you and you are given plastic ware to save on weight in the plane.  She couldn't have known of big changes like what you can bring ON the plane with you.  Just a small amount of liquid and your make-up needs to be in a zip-loc bag, separate from your purse.  You're destine to stand in line for a security check from the TSA, take off jackets, shoes (now you need to make sure your underwear are clean and you don't have holes in your socks) and take your computer out of it's bag.  The last time I traveled I had to stand in the x-ray machine and put my arms up.  Oh well, when will I ever see the person who saw more of me than he probably wanted to?

When I was young there was theft, but not to the caliber there is now and usually if they took something that belonged to you, it was tangible.  Wow, to think someone would want to be me?!?!?!  But, that's not how it works, they are mostly looking for what's in your bank accounts. (again, wow to think someone would work so hard for what's in my bank account).  It really isn't a laughing matter though, what a violation of privacy and one's self-being?  To think someone can literally take over your life and suddenly you're left to prove to people that YOU are the real YOU!  Of course, it's much easier today because of the technology we are pretty much forced to use for everything from banking to signing up for a credit card to paying our bills.  That didn't exist when I was young and probably wouldn't even have been fathomed until the progression of technology took us there.  What's next?

My mom told me not to share combs (lice), don't share food (you might catch a cold) and don't share shoes or clothes (crabs and athlete's foot).  Mom never mentioned anything about catching the flu from birds and pigs, but then again, it didn't exist back then.  The bird flu, also known as the Avian influenza.  It doesn't usually affect humans, but it puts the thought in our minds that we can catch some sort of illness from them.  The swine flu is much like the bird flu where it doesn't affect humans, but we still hesitantly reach for our bacon.  However, there IS a new swine flu virus that does allow it to spread from person to person whether or not you've had contact with pigs.

First of all, lettuce in a bag wasn't available when my mom was teaching me the ways of life.  In fact, I only remember heads of iceberg lettuce being available (I use romaine now).  It amazes me that we didn't have more Listeria years ago.  With today's rules, regulations and technology you would think we'd have that "in the bag" (pun intended).  Of course I'm not picking on lettuce, there are other products that have sickened people and even some restaurants have been hit.  The restaurant's name is then associated with getting people sick and while sometimes it is there fault with cleanliness issues, sometimes it's in the product that has been delivered to them and unknowingly served.