Standing in line with a thousand other people this morning for my Swine Flu (It’s Not Just for Pigs AnymoreTM) shot, I was struck by how, if only the public health system had been as advanced during the time of “The Stand,” Las Vegas would not have been destroyed by the Trashcan Man’s atom bomb, Nick Andros wouldn’t have been beat up by those Shilo hillbillies, and our dreams wouldn’t to this day be dominated by black women and darker men.
Ultimately I chose to leave the line lest it consume my day (which it would have), and I trust that the H1N1 Virus will pass me over, as my blood is 98 percent alcohol at this point.
Side note: the late artist Richard Brautigam created the paperback cover of Stephen King’s “The Stand,” which I bought for $1.95 in 1980. What’s odd is that I remain 19 years old.