Condoning condones

by Cindy Tovar

You’re heading to a wedding and you’re hoping to meet someone to wake up to tomorrow morning.  As you get ready, you look inside your drawer – No condoms.  You look in your wallet – No money.  Frustrated, you toss your wallet across the room.  What now?

Then you remember that new app you recently downloaded – the one that tells you where to get free condoms in NYC – and the storm clouds part as you breathe a sigh of relief.

Great idea, isn’t it?  For people who use condoms on a regular basis, this app comes in quite handy. However, what about those who don’t always do the right thing? Will this app really change their actions just because they’re being led to condoms that are accessible and free?  If you put broccoli in front of a child every night for dinner, will that make him want to eat it more?

I don’t think so.

We all know the reasons why we should wear a condom. So, why aren’t we?

Let’s hear the excuses:

• “It doesn’t feel as good with a condom”- I won’t lie. There is a difference between wearing it and not wearing it. But if you don’t wear it, I promise you, genital warts will make it much less pleasurable.
• “We were in the heat of the moment and didn’t want to spoil it” – Passionate encounters may be sexy, but STD’s aren’t. How about using an edible condom to start, and then switch to the real thing?
• “I was drunk” – Alcohol leads to bad decisions. If you’re finding yourself in this situation often, you may have an underlying problem leading you to act in irresponsible ways, and you need help. Or, you may just need to appoint a friend to hand you a condom on the way out, followed by vicious threats of what they’ll do to you if you don’t use it.
• “I trust him/her” - Looks are deceiving. Everyone has secrets.  Don’t be a fool.
• “I want to show him how I feel/I want to feel closer to him” – This one is mostly for the ladies. I’ve heard this before, even done it once or twice myself in my single days, but it’s really not smart. For the majority of men, they will not be touched that you decide to not use a condom with them. They may get very happy, but they are most likely not attaching the sentiments to the act, so please: we must stop doing this as a declaration of our love because they won’t get the message!

For every excuse not to use a condom, the threat of STD’s and unwanted pregnancy should outweigh them all.  But even with these heavy consequences hanging over our heads, some of us still don’t listen.  What will it take?  A moment of pleasure isn’t worth any one of the bad things that could happen, but unfortunately, some people won’t stop until they get burned.

To learn more about Cindy, visit Dagny’s Dichotomy.

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Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are solely those
of the author and should not be understood to be shared by Being Latino, Inc.

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