Uh...What is ALL THAT down there???

GROSS!!! One of the few times I'm NOT 110% proud to be a New Yorker. According to a study last year, more than 1 in 4 New Yorkers have HERPES. Not the innocent mouth one you get from kissing your parents and sharing a soda with your BFF. I mean the YUCKY one that pops up all over your junk. The ones that make your ish a Hot Zone with that ill burn.

Son. You nasty.



Scariest part of that study though, more than 80% of the people infected don't even know they have The Herps. This goes for a lot of other STIs, too, like HIV. Which is why I give every guy at the clubs the side eye. Do YOU have something?!

Son. You don't even KNOW you're nasty.

Like the father-in-law said in The Hangover,
"What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. Except herpes. That shit stays with you."

8th grade health class was really scary. First, that was when I learned exactly WHERE things are supposed to go to make a baby. (Yes, I didn't fully understand 'til 13. Much more innocent times then.) Second, the pictures the teacher showed us of gonorrhea, genital warts, etc. REALLY F'd me up in the head. That stuff was NASTY. I won't post those pics up here but holla at the links. (O geez. I almost threw up looking them up.) And folks, Crabs are actually pubic lice. If you have them, it means you are DIRTY.

Ok. So what do you do if people don't even know they have any STIs (sexually transmitted infections) until the symptoms start coming in?

CONDOMS, people. WRAP it up. THEN get down.

As appealing as raw doggin' it can be, I have to REALLY trust the person and I would have to be ready for that baby. Ain't love a person like that yet.

TRUST is more than being ok with hearing "O baby, I'm clean." I need to see the test results. Yes. PLEASE GET TESTED. Symptoms aren't always apparent so get tested regularly. And don't skimp when you go in. If you tryna ball, go for the works. Get the blood work done. Get ya swab on. This goes for all the gents AND the ladies. No one is immune.

People, condoms don't work 100% of the time. They break. Some jizz can jump the wall even if they don't break. So if you're not ready to infect someone with your seed or if you don't want to be infected with someone's seed, then take some extra precautions. NO. I do NOT mean double cap Jimmy. That makes the condom tear. I mean, use other methods of birth control in conjunction with a condom. Spermicide. The Pill. The Shot. The Patch. Get vaccinated. There are others as well.

For those of you think "O well I don't let them hit. I just go down on them." News to you: STIs don't stay down there. You can gonorrhea up your face. Genital warts can appear on your face, too, and pretty much anywhere else if that's where the infested genitals touched. Condoms. Dental Dams. Be safe, folks. Some things out there can really mess you up for life.

And if you find yourself with something, there is a sure fire thing that helps stop the spread. It's called the RESPONSIBILITY PILL. Take it. It means, call up people you messed around with and let them know that you have something and they should get tested, too. Difficult calls, I'm sure. But, it's the right thing to do.

Personal choice: I need to see RECENT STI test results before anyone can put it on me.