Cleatus and his fixations

Today I was instant messaging with Cleatus and all he could talk about was him worrying about having herpes. All morning long. At some point I offered that perhaps it would be worse to be one of those kids who has been rescued from the cult but will now have to integrate into "normal" society. At that point, he said we should post about it. I have nothing to add but here is what Cleatus wrote:


About 45 million Americans have acquired genital herpes at some time in their lives. An estimated 1.6 million Americans become infected with the virus each year, said Dr. James R. Allen, president and chief executive of the American Social Health Association, a private group in Durham, N.C., that works to prevent sexually transmitted diseases. In 2000, some 19 million sexually transmitted infections occurred in the United States, the highest rate of any industrialized country.

This news bit crossed my radar this week. I have since spent at least 8 hours researching herpes. What I have learned: a) you can get it from having protected sex; b) you might not even know you have it; c) there is no cure; and d) to get tested, you need a Qtip down your wang.

Don't get me wrong, I think cults are very scary. But since reading all this stuff, I can't stop thinking I have herpes. I have never had blisters, or anything else - but every little itch i'm like "oh snap, i caught the clap". There are enough symptoms that you can think you have it from essentially anything. Finally, I read a "how you tell your partner you have herpes" post and it was one of the hardest things I have ever had to read.

Its like the SNL skits with Ditka v. God - trick question, Ditka is god. Herpes v. Cult - trick question, herpes took over the cult in '02.