School has been canceled for the rest of the week due to sickness. Instead of using this time to end the spread of the germs, everyone is going to get sicker. All the teenagers will be at the mall, having sleepovers with friends and sharing their germs with everyone. Small children will go to offices and make every adult in the building sick. The elderly will, well, my grandmother got the flu last year and never recovered. When her immune system was down she got other things and eventually it was too much for her body to fight. In theory, when there is so much illness that the schools can’t keep teachers in the classrooms, everyone in town should stay home. Sick? Stay home and quit spreading your germs. Healthy? Stay home to remain healthy. More than anything, people who are about to come down with something and just don’t know it, you only think you are healthy. Stay home. Call in to work sick. Don’t go to your sports practices, club meetings and dates. Stay home. Hungry? Eat at home. Do you really want to eat food prepared by someone who is infected and doesn’t know it yet? Stay home. Lock your business doors. Stay home. Of course, if there’s snow in the forecast, you should panic and go buy milk. Knoxville is more afraid of dry cereal and snowflakes than they are of spreading the flu.