Ear Worms Are For Everybody

The other night, as my family enjoyed an after-dinner conversation, the subject of failed vasectomies came up for some reason or another. My teenage son had no idea what “being snipped” meant and we had to explain the procedure to him. I was aghast at his ignorance. I didn’t sign four years worth of Family Life permission slips to have him not know all the ways of avoiding families. It seems the public schools in my areas focus largely on the methods most likely to actually be used by high school students: condoms, birth control pills, and joining the math club.

My son at least had taken away the message that condoms are the best choice since they prevent STDs. I then started waxing nostalgic that back in my day, it was called VD or venereal disease. VD back then was also easily treatable, so the emphasis was on prompt detection and treatment instead of prevention. I started humming the jingle to a very popular public service announcement that played continuously on the base AFRTS station:

VD -- is for everybody
Not just for the few
Anyone can share VD
With someone nice as you.

VD -- is for everybody
Darlin' have no doubt
That anyone can get VD
That's what it's all about

For those of you not old enough to remember Laverne and Shirley as first run television, the accompanying video was a soft focus montage of a wide cross section of the general public that could get VD including a little baby, a grandmother, and a token minority. In all, it’s a good message that anybody can get VD, but I am a little skeeved about the transmission vector for the horse.



My son then went over to his girlfriend’s house for the evening to “watch a movie” or “study accounting” or whatever the kids are calling it these days. When he came home, I had the YouTube video cued up on his computer just to drive the message home. The downside of this Teachable Moment is that I have had that damn jingle stuck in my head as a tune cootie for three days now. Everybody sing along:

VD is for everybody
Not just for the few…