Day Thirteen

Friday I participated in a remote at the West End Mall. The A-Team had a remote for AIDS and HIV Awareness Day there, and I politely drove Janee over to where it was located. The Mall at West End is not an upscale mall by any stretch of the imagination and the patrons seem to follow suit. There were some very nice stores there, and Charlene works there, but other than that, the Mall at West End left a bad impression on me. However, the event itself seemed to be a huge success. People actually came out and got tested and others came out to get information. I myself was educated. It has been brought to my attention that African Americans have staggering rates of STD's, especially in the city of Atlanta. From what the woman that was coordinating a table at the event was telling me, Atlanta ranks somewhere in the top 5 in just about every statistical STD category! I know, it's sickening, but it is good to be informed and more so gives you more incentive to be protected. One knows not if these are scare tactics to encourage people to practice safe sex, but I'd rather not take my chances. I was also made aware of these instruments called dental dams, which are something used for oral sex. I will spare you with the details, but I did not even know such a thing existed to prevent STDs. I think ignorance is bliss, which is the main reason why reportedly so many people, are falling victim to STDs. I consider myself educated to some extent, but even I did not know of dental dams and how they can help prevent STDs. It was by far the most informative remote I had went on thus far and the conversation Ravi, a promotions manager at HOT1079 and intern Siera were having made it even more worthwhile. Something that occurred before I arrived had apparently gotten Siera really rallied up, and she was going off on a tongue lashing about educating young females about sex. Ravi and the other fellas there thought that young girls do not need to talk about sex at such a young age and would undoubtedly approach someone when questions about sex arose in their minds. It makes sense. When kids are curious about something they usually aren't afraid to ask. I.e. " Mommy where do babies come from?" The age-old question every three to four year old kid asks. Siera was highly and I repeat HIGHLY opposed. She felt that it should be the parent's responsibility to initiate the conversation about sex as early as five to seven years of age. I will defer my opinion to select sides in the argument, but it has come to my attention that Siera is an advocate for young girls everywhere. She seemed really adamant about empowering young girls and though her ideals may be somewhat extremist, they were admirable. It is hard to find someone to stand up for what they believe so defiantly even when it seems everyone around them is opposed. It all comes full circle that the cost of ignorance is way more expensive than the cost of education. And I guess it is Siera's philosophy to pay that cost earlier than later. You can decide how you feel but it was a very interesting conversation nonetheless. This conversation would spiral into direct action. Siera found it to be her civic duty to mentor some loud, brash young ladies at West End Mall. She was very subtle and got results and there is something about Siera that make people listen to her. The girls took heed very nicely to Siera when the rest of us were placing bets on the table on how quickly they would definitely rebel and possibly assault her. Siera stepped into the fire and took control and though it may have been a bit unnecessary, impressive nonetheless. I got to the AIDS and HIV Seminar late and I could tell that everyone there was so tired of the topic and Siera was the only one still holding on for dear life. It was evident that someone somewhere along the conversation had struck a nerve with her that led to this untapped fountain of why she needed to tell young girls to protect themselves at such a young age. It was bothering her and she talked to everyone in sight about the subject. Another fellow who held a high arching position in HIV and AIDs advocacy programs came onto the HOT1079 platform. He was a regular it seemed by how everyone knew him. Siera saw this as an opening and asked him his opinion on when was the right time to tell kids about the dangers of unprotected sex. Sure enough his ideals aligned with Siera's to her satisfaction of course, though no one at the table cared any longer. Siera if not anything else is headstrong and I can see that being both a strength and weakness. On one end of the spectrum it is admirable and her intentions mean well, yet on the other it can become as painful as beating a dead mule. At some point you just become numb to it, and shut off any attention.