Whatever the context, background, etc., the HIV outbreak was a very major game changer for all of us. I doubt that anyone would want to seriously deny this.

On a more mundane side, being a member of a closely knit coterie of college dudes and few working guys belonging to the same peer group really meant not just lots of sex with the guys you knew, (or well, sorta knew) but also a lot of unplanned, spontaneous sexcapades. We are talking here about the pre-cell phone age, too...

With dudes acutely lacking both knowledge and experience in specific matters of hygiene, AND with life being a bit less organized, and a bit more spontaneous, too, accidents of less savory nature were bound to happen.

No one really used to panic or even comment much about those. Everyone pretty much understood that such 'accidents', well, came with the territory. By this very same token, most guys actually agreed that the condoms came in very handy...

No doubt that everybody started using the condoms first and foremost because of the Big Bug as it used to be called. But as it is so often the case in life, other, frequently very mundane aspects of life entered into the equation, too, cementing the only hitherto known survival strategy.

Looking back to this time and age, I believe that it really was the time when we all learned to dance like kites on the rim of a volcano...

KD

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