Last Saturday, I was doing my homework in the kitchen at our home in San Diego. I did it and was ready to go back to work when I got a text message from my dad. My dad was at work but had called us to talk to me. He wanted to know if I was coming to visit. I told him I was and he asked me if I’d take a look at his newest addition to our home.
My dad has been getting ready to build our new home for a few months now and I was so excited about getting to take a look (and I mean as an actual look) at his work. It was so neat to see how the walls were going to look and the ceiling and the lights. Also, I was looking forward to seeing his house for myself, so I asked him if he thought I could come over and get a tour. He said ok.
I’m sure I’m making my dad a little nervous, but it’s very cool that he’s interested in the way I see things. The thing that really got me excited was how he brought up the idea to build a new addition next to our house. I’m sure we all saw his house, but the new addition is still in the draft stage and I’m sure his father will be getting his input on it.
I told him that his father would be the one to make sure his addition is done right, and I said that he would probably want to put the new addition in the same location as the old addition. He said that there was nothing to worry about, because his father would be very open and honest about the process. I explained that I wasn’t sure yet if we’d still need that addition, but he seemed excited about the idea.
Hopefully it’s just an idea that is in the middle of revision (and that will turn out to be the case). But my guess is that it’s not. It’s not just that it seems like a bad idea.
I mean… the idea itself is good. Its good that someone is going to run the risk of contracting and spreading an STD. And it would be the same story if it were an addition, because if it were an addition to the same thing it would be a bad idea. Its not just an idea, its a new thing. And that new thing would have to be in the same place, and if I had to bet I would bet that it’s not.
I’m not sure that I buy this. I mean, we have an epidemic in the United States (and probably all over the world) because of the way that we’ve managed to spread Hiv to other people. We’ve become a nation where we’re willing to risk the lives of others in order to help ourselves. If this is the case, then you have to wonder whether we’re willing to risk the lives of our own family members.
It is definitely a possibility considering that we had 11 cases of Hiv in our home in August of 2009. As it turns out, as we were cleaning up one of our two-family homes after a party, someone came up from behind and started to pee on my bathroom floor. This was around 10am when I first saw the pee. Luckily I was working so I was able to get up and clean it up before anyone else had a chance to see it.
At the time we assumed it was just a one-time thing. This year we learned that Hiv was passed on to many of our family members, including our children. As we were cleaning up our home, I noticed that our kitchen floor was completely covered in pee. We had a party with about 20 people in it, so all of the guests had a chance to see the floor.
It’s important to remember that while the majority of people can’t see pee on their floor, the more sensitive among us can. This has the very real possibility of exposing others to HIV.