Thank you all for your public and private responses.

Jillian - my wife - went to the dinner. She didn't have any wine as she was
driving but the food was good.

The woman whose son had swine flu came and sat next to her. Jillian said "I'm
sorry but given the circumstances, I'd rather not sit next to you" but when
someone else put on her coat and said she was going home, the mother burst into
tears. No one other than Jillian had known the situation until Jillian spoke
out.

You know you are in trouble when you are relying on yours truly to soothe
ruffled feather but everyone is friends again.

I found it interesting that no one questioned whether the mother's son did
actually have swine flu - he did but was fully recovered by the time of the
dinner. His Facebook posting was removed by 7.00 the following morning. The
mother is a dentist and, by the time of the dinner, had been cleared to return
to work although still on Tamiflu.

regards and good health to you all

Nick


--- In discussbusinesscontinuity@yahoogroups.com, "ngrsimms" <nicksimms@...>
wrote:
>
> True situation.
>
> My wife - a Fellow of the BCI - and a group of girl friends were due to get
together last night for dinner at a local restaurant, as they do on a regular
basis.
>
> One of the likely attendees - you never know who is actually going to appear
until they arrive - is the mother of a child at a school that is closed due to
swine flu. The child's Facebook status has stated for at least a week that s/he
has been diagnosed by the Health Protection Agency (HPA)as having swine flu and
that the whole family has been issued with Tamiflu. You have known this woman
for 20 years; she and your husband are distantly related; and the child is a
good friend of one of your children (which is why you know about the child's
Facebook status).
>
> Your 82-year old father-in-law (i.e. my father) has just come out of hospital
after major surgery and various members of your immediate family, including your
16-year old son who is in the middle of public (GCSE) exams, suffer from asthma.
At least four of the other women in the 20 or so who are invited, including the
organiser, have elderly relatives either in hospital or recuperating from major
surgery.
>
> What would you do?
>
> Would your answer be different if you knew the friend was a medical
practitioner?
>
> Needless to say, the discussion in our household last night before the dinner
was quite lively but I wanted to see what other people thought.
>
> Best wishes
>
>
> Nick Simms
>
> nicksimms@...
>