Condom Accommodations

There are two times I remember being in condom accommodations.

Chiang Rai, Thailand: This photo is the happy waving welcome condom at Cabbages and Condoms. The colorful mini-condoms point the way to the resort, restaurant, mini-mart, and restroom. There was a lovely condom family waving along the road, and I regret not having a picture of them--mom and pop condom with little Chanakam and her older brother Aroon, the little condom children still growing up. (OK, so they didn't have names, but they could have.) Cabbages and Condoms is a lovely project that supports rural development--literacy training, HIV/AIDs education, and environmental protection, so it's a good place to stay.

Manila, Philippines: I checked into a guest house in Manila, and the caretaker said, "You're in the condom room." "Excuse me, what room?" "The condom room, up the stairs and to the left." And so I went up, and sure enough, there was a sign on the door that said "Condom Room." I should say that the guest house was generally for medical aid workers, so it may have made more sense to them. I pushed the door open, and sure enough, the room was decorated with, you guessed it, condom-related stuff. There was a how-to-use-a-condom poster on the wall. And a pair of emergency boxer shorts with lots of pockets filled with condoms. And a wooden ash tray with a big condomless penis. And, I settled into the room for a week, and whenever I came in, I had to announce in a loud voice that I needed the key to the condom room.