I thought I was going to die

[joft]

At work last night I had a delivery to this nasty run-down house in a poor area... business as usual. But, when I got up to the front door I noticed a big red sticker with a black skull on it. It said the place was quarantined because someone there had some disease which I couldn't remember the name of because it was a long 2-worded latin name that I've never even remotely heard of before. It said the disease wasn't fatal but it was highly contagious and dangerous. I was thinking "Fuck this! I'm leaving!" but something made me knock on the door anyway...

Some 20-30ish girl answered and signed the receipt (credit card) and took the pizza, and when she talked her voice was very hoarse and raspy, almost a whisper. I wanted to ask her if I should be concerned but I knew she wouldn't have given a useful answer anyway, she either obviously didn't care about my safety or thought she wasn't contagious enough to infect someone by handing them a receipt.

When I got back to the store I told the manager about it and he said that he delivered to that place back when he was still a driver, and that other guys have delivered there, and apparently none of them have gotten infected. So, I wasn't really sincerely worried about it, but I was anxious. Especially because I couldn't even remember what the fucking thing was called. I was kind of pissed off that the lady knows she's quarantined and still orders pizza.

I wished I had written down the name of the disease. The sign also said something about avoiding touching surfaces while working in that area...? When I got home I tried googling for quarantine notices to see if any of them matched but I couldn't find anything. Then I tried calling the nearest CDC center and the lady who answered the phone was a bitch and said "sir nobody here can help you with that, call the department of public health or something" and hung up.

After some more googling I found another phone number and this lady was nice and did everything she could to try to help me. Unfortunately they had no database or couldn't tell me if they did or whatever, and said they couldn't help me anymore unless I had the name of the disease. She said I should go back and write it down, and then immediately check in to the emergency room. She even mentioned federal laws that might have been violated by breaking the quarantine.

This got me a little more worried. I decided I would go back and find out the name of the disease because the place wasn't far from my apartment. I told my girlfriend in IM not to come over because I wasn't safe, and drove back there with a pencil and an envelope to write on. When I first saw the sign I had only glanced at it before knocking on the door, which is why I'd forgotten all of the details. Upon reading it again, I began to actually suspect that it may have been a joke... See for yourself:


http://img128.imageshack.us/img128/138/ennuitz9.jpg

[Booin]

Well, Ennuis means boredom. So.. they have contagious, non-fatal boredom disease?

I think the sticker was something sent out in magazines as a joke to get off work.

[Tyche]

Id drive a mini cooper. They looked cool in that one movie with charlize theron.

[pirahna1]

It's an ad for BMW Mini Coopers

[joft]

yes you're right. when I got there the second time and actually read the sign instead of glancing at it, I realized it was dubious. the clues were: cartoonish graphic, "ennui" (I knew it meant boredom), the name of the disease being unnecessarily long, and the "Center for Contagious Disease" which sounds like a ripoff of the CDC. in addition, a real quarantine is only used in the case of someone who is believed to have been exposed to something and only lasts for the duration of incubation until they can be sure whether or not the exposed people have it. and the other drivers at my work gave me the impression that it's been there for years at least, which didn't make sense.

I was only fooled at first because I didn't read it carefully, and because of the apparently coincidental (or prank) symptoms of the woman who answered the door.

[poland]

owned, lol

[Natallon]

dam i would have been freaked out too

[Exoduso]

lol wow... you should go back to that house and punch that woman in the face.

[Axil]

I deliver pizzas too it sucks

[Devek]

Viral marketing taken to a whole new level.

[dekamii]

lol....i'd freak out too if i only glanced at the sign. it's kinda like one of those situation where you know it's danger and you just wanna get the hell out, is that why you didn't bother reading the rest?

for your future reference with your delivering job, you should check this out
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biohazard_ ... azard_sign
for a skull with crossbones, it means the area is toxic. im pretty sure there is a law where all biohazard signs are require use those symbols in the wiki link.

oh..if the lady did pull a prank on you, you should just put the sign like right next to her door!

[miokomioko]

No official health organization would make a warning icon of a gas mask + crossbones. . . lol.

[Kytele]

lol wow... you should go back to that house and punch that woman in the face.

What he said.

[Septimus]

Viral marketing taken to a whole new level.

I am waiting for the day when multi-billion dollar corporate conglomerates unleash a new viral campaign- they unleash a deadly virus onto the population and the only way to cure it is to buy their energy drink or gum or whatever. Sadly, it will happen eventually... >_>

[Hellboy]

holy shit its a joft