Korea is in the grips of a MERS scare. Middle Eastern Respiratory Syndrome. A SYNDROME no less; no wonder people are scared. I remember when we used to have Camel Flu’s and Respiratory Viruses. Now it’s a syndrome, and it is killing people. Killing indiscriminately. Not just the filthy and depraved. I’ve heard it can even kill mathematicians.

We walk about coughing into our elbows, washing our hands at every turn, and wearing masks. You’ve seen the pictures on the news. Streets full of Koreans walking around in surgical masks.

They say it doesn’t do much when you are walking through the street. Wear it in a subway, sure, or in a classroom, or when you are yelling at the umpire, but the virus doesn’t fly through the streets. So why are there streets full of Koreans wearing masks? And more to the point, why am I wearing a mask in the street?

Perhaps we wear it so our children see us wearing it. So they are more likely to keep it on when they get to school. We generate an environment of positive masking. But really, I wear it because it makes me look bad-ass. Ninja bad-ass. All Dudikoff up in that.