What is it about doctors . . . ?

I have not yet had a doctor who had any difficulty talking to me about birth control. They raise the topic automatically when I go in for the annual check-up and pap smear. But doctors older than my generation do this suppressed freak-out when you express a desire to have a routine check for STDs.

First, they ask if you plan on getting pregnant. If I planned on getting pregnant, would I be asking about birth control? Then they ask if you had unprotected sex. No, I'm not stupid, I'm just also not foolproof. I scan my computer for virii even though I don't do dumb things. Why should my body be any different?

I finally told today's doctor to put down "STD exposure" under "reason," if that's what the insurance company needs to hear to make them happy. And this, boys and girls, is why you never ever have an HIV test done any way but anonymously.