Fear-inducing advice forcing people away from outside

• Keep windows and doors closed as much as possible to prevent pollen from blowing into your home and car.
• Avoid going outside between 5 a.m. and 10 a.m., when pollen counts are highest.
• Don't hang dry your clothing outside, as pollen can be transferred to your clothes and into your home that way.
• Shower and wash your hair before bed so you don't spend the night covered in allergens.
• Exercise indoors during the pollen season.
• Wear a paper mask while gardening to protect yourself from flower and weed pollens. 

This was sent to me in an e-mail today from a website specializing in healthy living.  The e-mail was about seasonal allergies and these were the only practical advice they gave.  Based on this, if you suffer from hayfever and asthma you should never go outside, just stay inside and don't get any fresh air, and definitely not in the mornings. No wonder there are kids who never go outside with this kind of fear-mongering.  It is like pollen are EVIL things.  If you are seriously allergic I understand the issue, but this was sent as a general information e-mail to anybody with even slight allergies.  "Wear a paper mask while gardening", don't save energy and don't help the world become more sustainable by avoid using the dryer in the summer for the laundry... and run the air conditioning all the time inside your house or car with the windows closed...  I e-mailed them and wondered why they gave such unhealthy, energy-gouging and unsustainable advice to everybody.  A Culture of Fear, indeed.... 

A linguistic note as well - pollen is pollen in plural, not pollens, and flowers can be weeds and vice versa, but I think that is too botanical for the unnatural e-mail writer from Sparkpeople.com. The information on their website is a bit more toned down, but still fear-inducing.  I can just see millions of moms keeping their kids inside for fear of pollen, possibly in an air environment that is even worse for other reasons.

Now just remember, there are evil things out there.... animals and flowers and fresh air and such.