Who would you ask in a crisis?

In the year 2011 when the next flu pandemic breaks out in South Africa we will be ready. I have already decided who I will have on call, just on case. I will make sure that in case of an emergency I will have on call all the writers in the town, city or country. Now you may think that this is a bit funny, perhaps you are even wondering what the writers could do in the case of an emergency. But if you think about it, it is actually quite logical.

If the city or country you are in suddenly gets taken down by a very malicious and very deadly virus, such as a new and very potent strain of the influenza virus, what will you do? And I am talking about worst case scenario here, if there are many casualties.

Well you need writers to be able to doc**ent the catastrophe. Well, writers or artists. I think that it would be more relevant to have writers as they are more adept and it would be quicker. If you had to phone someone in a hurry and describe something to them, a writer could take notes while you are talking and then fill in the details later, while an artist usually has to have something to work with, like a picture or something like that.

This principle that I have outlined here is also based on research. Most indigenous peoples use writing, or at least some type of hieroglyphics, to portray important information in a sustainable and long-lasting method. This can be seen with Bushman cave-wall drawings that are still visible today. This was an early type of writing and portrayed many different types of information, such as where and when to hunt and what type of animals are best. This was then written in and left for the next tribe to come across. They would then know exactly where and when to hunt and gather and would survive fruitfully.

Back to the future, so to speak, and we find ourselves in the year 2011 with the pandemic looming closer. I would contact a wh*** lot of journalists and writers and get them to describe exactly what and where the pandemic started, what the symptoms are and how it could possibly be stopped. I would then get them to take that vital information to as many sources as possible and make sure that the wh*** world knew exactly what was going on in our town/city/country.

This would then help to get as many doctors, emergency staff and volunteers as possible in order to try and help as many people as possible. And in the worst case, if there are no survivors, or if there is no cure. At least we will have told our story to the world so perhaps it could be stopped in the future.