My mother will tell you that I walk around with my head in the clouds, and this is probably true.

Half the time I’m in my own little world, lost deep in thought, pondering who knows what.

This usually means that I miss out on a lot of what is going on around me, especially when it comes to current events.

Don’t worry, I realize that this is fairly pathetic, given the fact that I’m a journalism major, but that’s just the way it is.

And this is precisely why I thought nothing of the swine flu at first. After all, how could it affect me? As a vegetarian, I don’t eat pork.

So I had to laugh at myself when I woke up one day and read the paper, only to find out it is not spread through the consumption of pork.

Seriously, what planet have I been living on?

When I read that it had been classified as a phase 5 pandemic, I automatically recalled the bubonic plague and the influenza epidemic of 1918-19, which wiped out thousands in their respective days, including my great-granddad when my grandmother was nine months old.

There was widespread panic back then, just as there is now, and it’s easy for me to get caught up in the hysteria, considering I’ve inherited worrywart tendencies from both sides.

One of my friends, however, is way more cynical.

“It’s just the new disease of the week, like West Nile virus or avian flu,” she said over the phone the other night. “The media likes to blow these things all out of proportion.”

I can see her point; there does seem to be some new threat to humanity every other month or so, but the fact that people are dying brings it home for me.

Tragedies, on a major scale, always do.

Hurricanes, tsunamis and events like 9/11 all too often remind me of the myriad wars, epidemics and natural disasters that have only served to claim the lives of millions over the centuries, saturating the earth’s history in a culture of death.

And all too often, the media is known for playing up the scares, all in the name of drumming up business.

Maybe this is why I find myself tuning out the news.

And while I do believe the public has the right to be aware of these events as they occur, my friend’s skepticism is really starting to make sense.

“I mean, do you know how many epidemics there are, how many people are dying all over the world?” she asked me. “What makes this flu so special? Why doesn’t the media focus on all the others?”

Her words echoed in my head long after the conversation had ended. She definitely has a point there.

So not all hope is lost for the souls who are praying that my cynicism improves.

My exasperation reached the breaking point while at Mass last Sunday; our pastor announced that no one was to shake hands during peace because of the swine flu.

And not only that, wine was not going to be served.

So I will finally admit, this is getting ridiculous.