He flew from America's shores in search of a new beginning for his fair city: maybe a contract with some generous Chinese benefactor, or some sustainable building advice at a conference he was to attend in Australia. But New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin's hopes were dashed when he found himself on a flight from New Jersey, seated dangerously near a person with symptoms that pointed toward swine flu.
So when his plane landed in China, the mayor, his wife, and a bodyguard were hustled off to a boring hotel where they spent three agonizingly dull days in quarantine.
New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin says he would have never expected to be held in quarantine in China amid swine flu concerns.
Nagin told The Associated Press Wednesday night that it was surreal to be approached by people in ''full hazmat gear'' and taken by ambulance to a hotel.
[...] Nagin said the room in which he and his wife stayed ''wasn't anything luxury'' but nice, and quiet.
We should never forget the mayor's heroic service to America, sitting in an unluxurious hotel room for 72 hours when he didn't have the swine flu or anything. And thank goodness he didn't, because who knows how long he would have been stuck in China. Maybe forever!
The mayor has been released and has moved on to Australia, where he'll go to a conference on climate change and sustainable building. Then he will go home, barring any outbreaks on his plane back.
World-renowned luxury hotelier Sara K. Smith writes for NBC and Wonkette.
