There's an ad by the orthodontist

On our bus stop: Age Is Not A Condom

The girls find that the funniest thing, though they have no idea why that ad campaign might be necessary. I tried explaining that STD transmission rates among the older population are going up, and that safe sex wasn't as emphasized when that demographic was young, and they were immensely skeptical of the latter part. They're sure I must be wrong or making it up - after all, it's not *my* generation we're talking about!

So we're reading A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, and we got to the part where the book coyly explains that Sissy worked in a factory that made a few rubber toys but mostly condoms. After dissecting that passage and trying to figure out what, exactly, the factory really made, and then figuring it out, they flat-out didn't believe me when I said that sale of contraceptives used to be illegal in most of the country. "What, did they want people to get sick!?"

The past really is another country.

Sorta related link: For men, the importance of safe sex may depend on how hot their partner is

Also: The Enduring Unpopularity of the Female Condom