Joke's on you

Are you kidding me?

Nigerians are finding a new way to glamorize HIV. Oh, not the AIDS-causing HIV. HIV - the acronym that says: “H is for happiness and joy forever with an I: Incomparable love that will never V: Vanish until death do us part. I love you.”

Apparently, it was in a book targeted at text-sending fiends in Nigeria. A book so popular that several people are getting texts saying, “I swear, I will make sure I give you HIV."

I don't know about you, but forget acronyms or so-called new ways to say I love you. I'd much rather just hear those three little words - no matter how simple or cliched they might be. I don't want you to say that you want to give me HIV. No matter what you mean for those letters to stand for, HIV equals AIDS in my book and I don't approve of people trying to change that meaning. Especially given in a country where HIV/AIDS is so very prevalent, and its hard enough to just properly educate people about it. Sure, the author claims he's helping tongue-tied lovers find new expressive ways to declare their romantic intentions, but he's also obscuring what HIV really is.

Did you know that in South Africa - the rural parts at the very least - HIV+ men believe that if they have sex with a virgin, they'll be cured? You won't believe how many young girls I saw at the hospitals, who were tricked into thinking that they were doing a good deed, and raped. By their uncle. Or their "respected" neighbor. I saw girls as young as four come in to the hospital due to internal bleeding. It was absolutely disgusting. The worst part is, because it is so rampant, the social workers can't do anything.

And now, you're telling me that there's a book out there. A book telling Nigerians that HIV doesn't stand for a terrible and deadly infection. No, it says that HIV is just another way to say "I love you."

HIV is not a joke, and it's upsetting that this man is making a profit by telling impressionable young adults that threatening to give someone HIV is just a fantastic way to tell someone you love them.

That's the real joke.

Honestly, if you want a novel way to tell people you love them, go back to the old pager code of 1-4-3. Make what's old, new again. But don't equate HIV with love.