OMG. Herpes.

It has come to my attention that an estimated one in six people in America is living with some form of herpes or another. That boggles my pickled, little brain. Do people not realize just how huge a number that is? Huge. Herpes is a life-long, highly-communicable virus that has a varying degree of physical and social discomfort. We're talking serious here, people—serious like a blister, sister.

I am a massage therapist by day. It is my job to touch people. People's faces, people's butts, people's everything, minus the naughty bits. (I am not one of those massage therapists who touch the naughty bits... I am not a narcissist and I am definitely not anti-prostitution for those who are willing participants, but if somebody expects to get their jingles jangled for roughly a dollar a minute, they'd better go take their fat wad of singles and find a red light special. Ba dump bump ching).

Although, I admit, I have not been at my profession for very long--practicing only two years, in that time I have massaged hundreds, hundreds, of people. And every single one of them has had to fill out a general intake form regarding her or his health. If one in six people supposedly have herpes (you know... that thing that's pretty darn contagious and lasts a lifetime) why then is there all of this denial? I shouldn't disclose what number of clients have actually fessed up to having herpes, but let's just say it's nowhere near one in six.

As a massage therapist, I doubt I am ignorant in saying the only real ways I know of to protect myself from the spread of disease via my clients is to change my sheets between every client (I do), disinfect my work areas (I do), refrain from touching my face while working on someone (I do), rubber gloving when I have any sort of cut or scrape on my hands (I do... Well... Okay I don't. Nobody is going to pay me for a bunch of latex-caused strawberry burns...), and washing my hands Benjamen “Hawk Eye” Pierce-style (I do. I really, really do). Am I alone when I think these precautions leave something to be desired? Massaging people with Purell probably isn't feasible...

I do worry about my own health... I worry about contracting herpes, and being doubly upset because I wasn't even having fun while contracting it. I do not, however, blame the people who omit their conditions on my form. Herpes, as well as many other common ailments, have become such a cultural taboo that it embarrasses people to the point of nondisclosure, ever when their nondisclosure could very well mean spreading the disease. Certainly, I will be upset, fuming, the day I inevitably find out I have contracted something from one of my clients, but I can only curse under my breath and blame society for being a bunch of grossed-out twelve year olds who will sensationalize and obsess over sex, but will not admit to any of the realities of having it.

So, it has become an issue of whether or not I want to continue with my profession. I like my job. I work inside of a fun, laid-back hair salon. The owner happens to be one of my best friends. And although I don't make much money doing what I do (HUGE discrepancy between what I earn and what people think massage therapists typically make...), I get by fine. It's just... I have always looked at massage as something to pay the bills while I try to keep my creative projects in the air. I really would like to travel and write. It takes funds to do such things. I am not a lazy mooch by nature, so I work. But is it worth it to me to contract a life-long disease for the sake of an amount of money that barely pays my bills when I could be doing just about anything else? My answer is changing to no. There was a naive time (last year...) when I felt a little more invincible that I do now. I love my job. But I no longer feel like it's worth taking a blister for. I will definitely miss it when I have the financial ability to leave. I will miss my clients, my coworkers, the salon itself. I just hope I can find my way before I become a victim of nondisclosure.