World AIDS Day, 2002…

I almost didn’t realize that today is December 1st (4 days off of work will do that to you) and it is World AIDS Day: Link and Think. There are a lot of great articles and stories linked at MetaFilter – give them some of your attention.

Of note to me is an opinion article on AIDS a century from now. “Without intervention, a billion could die amid many wrecked economies”. Did you realize that over half of the global population with AIDS lives in Africa?

What scares me is that the Average American kids (or adults for that matter) are becoming reckless again these days. I doubt that the average American teen is practicing safe sex – especially not when you hear in the news about kids having group sex parties, one girl having sex with 10 guys in a night, girls that want to get pregnant and have babies while they are in their teens. And I know adults that aren’t any better about making sure they use protection.

It’s sort of like the old Smokey the Bear commercials – remember them? “Only you can prevent forest fires”. Well, it’s true for this too – only YOU can prevent AIDS. Protect yourself. Protect your current partner. Protect any future partner you might have. Do it for all of us.

I wrote quite passionately about this last year, and my feelings haven’t changed. You can read my two posts here and here.

The first post goes in to my feelings on AIDS, the fears that I used to have, the things that I have personally been through. I wrote it on December 1st last year for Link & Think. I can’t even summarize it, the feelings are too strong.

The second post goes in to a turning point I experienced two years ago. “It was a turning point in my own life. It was when I stopped and looked around and realized that I didn’t want to be in her shoes. It was when the point hit home for me. It was when I realized that there is a reason we are taught all of our lives to “wait until you are married” … because every consequence of sex is one that will effect you for the rest of your life. Sure, you can have sex without consequences, you can get lucky … but it doesn’t always work that way.”

Before you go to bed with someone, have sex with someone … whatever it may be – THINK. Is the pricetag worth the pleasure? Are you willing to pay the price?