Harbingers of Doom?

There was a short blurb in today's Tribune de Genève that mentioned a Swedish couple who have recently returned from what must have been the world's worst honeymoon.  Their honeymoon was plagued with not one, but with SIX, natural disasters.  I "googled" to find out whether the story had been featured elsewhere.  It certainly had.

The couple, Stefan and Erika Svanstrom, were married on 27 November 2010 in Sweden.  On 6 December, they set out on a long-awaited four-month honeymoon, accompanied by their infant daughter Elinor.  

Almost immediately, they were stranded at the airport in Munich, Germany by one of Europe's worst snowstorms.  Things did not improve from there.  After finally leaving Munich, the couple spent a couple storm-swept weeks in Southeast Asia.  Those storms were nothing compared to what awaited them in Australia.   In Cairns, they at least had the pleasure of a diving trip to the Great Barrier Reef before having to spend 24 hours on the cement floor of a shopping center with 2500 other people when Cyclone Tasha struck the area.  When they were able to continue their travels, they arrived in Brisbane at the height of flooding.

They just missed the bush fires that flared up as they were leaving Perth.  Having experienced three disasters in Australia, they headed for New Zealand in some relief.  That is, they were relieved until they arrived in Christchurch on the heels of the 6.3 magnitude earthquake that leveled most of the city.  Then they flew to Japan.  As they sat in a Tokyo McDonald's having a late lunch, Japan's largest earthquake ever occurred.

They arrived safely back in Sweden on 29 March.  It was almost an anticlimax to learn that Stefan Svanstrom is also a survivor of the Boxing Day tsunami that hit Southeast Asia in 2004.

Harbingers of doom are signs warning of bad things to come.  They are too often overused, as with doomsday cults predicting that the world is coming to an imminent and apocalyptic end.  I remember in the satirical cartoon strip Li'l Abner that there was a character with the unpronouncable name of Joe Btfsplk, who was the world's worst jinx.  Poor hapless Joe was well-meaning, but a small, dark rain cloud hovered perpetually over his head, and he brought disastrously bad luck to all in his vicinity.  Inevitably, most characters fled whenever they saw him approaching.

Mr and Mrs Svanstrom, I beg you!  Please do not ever decide to visit Switzerland!  Ever!  Please!