I have never fully subscribed to the school that points out others "making too much" of something. Despite my observations on the utter uselessness of Twitter - not to mention a fairly robust if really just recreationally cynical nature - in a situation like this, what can one make of Don Martin's first paragraph this morning:

It’s likely beyond containment now, but to describe the Mexican swine flu outbreak as a potential re-run of the Spanish influenza pandemic seems, subject to change without notice, wildly alarmist.

Look, while I may be a lawyer for parts of the day there is no warmth in my heart for the use of "subject to change without notice". Either there is cause to be careful or there is not. And when is there actually not cause to be careful? As far as I can tell the good advice might cost a family 50 to 100 bucks for the hand sanitizer, batteries, three or five days of canned food and (if you have an infant) pedialyte that you might like to stick on the basement shelf. Is that panic? Is that worth one solitary tut let alone a tut-tut? Perhaps laying in that third bottle of gin might be a step too far but that is a personal issue.

Of course, the real problem is the need to stay apart from others. I spent Monday in downtown Toronto and can't imagine how you keep people from bumping into each other. But I don't have to imagine as the local public health folk learned so much from SARS. Remember those few folk who insisted on going to work when they were sick back then? That is where a little public education might fit. Not the scoffery of Martin's "son, things used to be really bad" illustration of the 1918 bridge players who were dead the next day. What better moment for TV and radio public service announcements that when called upon your duty is to stay home and put up your feet just in case.

There must be a large and sensible spot between Twitter panic and Martin's no big deal. Prepare your sofa. Get in snacks. Reacquaint yourself with the AM dial. Buy jammies.