You see them everywhere around town, with their red eyes and runny noses. Your hear them around you as they try to unblock the nasal congestion that is driving them to insanity. These poor people suffer from pollen allergy and, at this time of the year, just want to curl up and die, as the tree pollen assaults their noses, throats and airways. According to statistics 2 million Swedes suffer from pollen allergy, mostly related to the treachorous birch trees. These lovely trees that signal the arrival of the spring, also torture more than a quarter of the population.
Apparently, not since 2006 has the pollen assault been as bad as it has this year. So much so that the chemist shops are rapidly running out of allergy medicines and there is apparently none left to order.
So what should these poor people do? Stay inside is the cruel advice from the government.
But if 2 million people stayed indoors, then there would be nobody left to fuel the Swedish economy through work and consumption. Wouldn’t it be better just to produce more medicine? It would boost production, boost the economy and boost the poor sufferers who collapse under the anslaught of thesepollen invaders.
Watching the Swedes 