Cruise Right On Past Facts Into Fiction

My parents and I have been discussing the recent health crisis and its impact on cruise ships. I went on a cruise in December.

Me: “If what they are saying is true, it only took one person to infect hundreds on the Ruby Princess.”

Mum: “My friends didn’t get sick; they were lucky.”

Me: “They were on the Ruby?”

Mum: “No, they went on a cruise just after you went; the flu was really bad on their cruise.”

Me: “Yeah, that’s why I had a flu shot.”

Mum: “They had the flu before they left but they were all right because they had antibiotics. They only had a cough for the first day, but then they heard their neighbours coughing a couple of days later.”

Me: “So, they gave their neighbours the flu?”

Mum: “No, they were all right. They had antibiotics.”

Me: “Antibiotics don’t work that way. They got on that ship while they were infectious with the flu.”

Mum: “They were on antibiotics. They were really lucky because, out of twenty family members who they travelled with, they were the only ones who didn’t get sick.”

Me: “That’s because they infected everyone else.”

Mum: “No, the flu was running through the ship; lots of people got it. They were on antibiotics.”

Me: “They don’t work that way; they—”

Dad: *Cutting me off* “Save your breath, [My Name]. You know your mother and her idiot friends are never wrong. After I got sick on a cruise, I won’t go on any more.”

Mum: “You had food poisoning because you ate something in New Zealand.”

Dad: “Whatever you say. That food poisoning ran riot through people who didn’t even get off in New Zealand.”