Once upon a time there was a scientists who studied specific groups of cookware. They were his demic (a distinct group).
One day he noticed that one of the pots in his house developed a hole. He kept it though because it was a rare pot.
He studied the hole in his pot. It grew bigger by the day. He recognised that it was a rare form of metal fatigue. A new, completely different type that was extremely virulent.
He went around to see one of his friends and took the pot to show him.
A week later he discovered that all the pots and pans in his kitchen had developed holes. He phoned up his friend and discovered that all his pots had also developed holes.
They checked with the people they had both visited and, sure enough, there kitchen cookware had also begun to spring leaks but no signs of problems in other metal containers.
It seemed that the metal fatigue was highly contagious – a new type of rust that only worked on a particular demic – cookware.
Realising the significance of this and the dreadful implications the scientist reported this new rusting of cookware to the authorities.
They were angry with him and had him sacked from his job and made to apologise for frightening people.
But the new rust spread to the whole city and then out to other cities, until in the end the authorities had to act. But it was too late. The rust had already spread to other countries.
In the end they decided to call it a pandemic.
(I think isolation must be getting to me!)
