Meanwhile, in Germany...

[Dave W]

Man dies in Germany after blowing up condom machine

An apparent robbery attempt? Would there have been that much money in there?

[Pilgrim]

Maybe all three had hot dates? 

[mc2NY]

Gremans.......always 10 pounds of gun powder, when an ounch will do 

[uwe]

What else is new? In my younger days, I blew up condoms all the time - leaving a potentially fertile trail of devastation behind me. 

[Dave W]

It appears to be a stand by the side of a road. That's something you won't see here. Maybe Germans are more spontaneous than Americans. 

OTOH since the town is near the Dutch border, maybe it's the Dutch who are spontaneous.

[uwe]

In a culture of moral decay like ours, you can buy condoms (openly displayed)

- in supermarkets, often right in front of the cashier where the "eat immediate" candy bars are,

- from machines in men's and women's restrooms in restaurants, gas stations, multiplexes, etc,

- in pharmacies and drug stores,

- in over-night gas stations,

- sex shops and "condomerias",

- per mail order or

- from machines at the side of the road, sometime in combination with cigarette packs.

Whether that explains Germany's low birth rates I dunno!

[uwe]

Yet there is an argument for even more condom machines in Germany: They potentially save lives.

True story: Quite recently in the northern part of Germany, two members of the Ahmadiyya*** [Muslim(ish)] Community - man and wife, parents - were sentenced to life for murder of their young adult daughter. It was a Romeo and Juliet scenario, she loved an Ahmadiyya young man her age, but he came from a better-to-do family and the Ahmadiyyas generally have arranged marriages of the sect members to keep their community nice and tight. The parents from both sides intervene and forbid.

Yet Romeo and Juliet still meet, you can't keep them apart. The head of the sect (who is resident in London), perhaps wisely, declares: "If we can't keep them apart, they must marry!" But the wealthier family of Romeo refuses the marriage and thereby humilates the poorer family of Juliet. Still, Romeo and Juliet continue to meet.

Juliet wants to buy condoms, but ashamed of the process of paying for them at the cashier (and, of course, as an Ahmadiyya girl she is not allowed to frequent discos where you might find a condom machine in the girls' restroom) she steals a pack of condoms instead. And gets inevitably caught, the not exactly street-wise Ahmadiyyas make bad shoplifters.The shop files a criminal complaint with the police, a police letter goes to her home, the parents open it and the father is enraged about (i) the theft, (ii) the condoms and (iii) that she still sees Romeo. Arguments are exchanged, some domestic violence and that night he suffocates his sleeping daughter in bed while his wife is watching from the door frame. "To cleanse themselves from the humilation they feared in the Ahmadiyya Community, the only social network they had and were brought up in!" their criminal defense counsel later on pleaded. It didn't help, the (thoughtful) court slapped the maximum penalty on the parents (whose lives, I have no doubt, were ruined one way or another, even in the Ahmadiyya Community which was quick to point out how they did not condone at all what had tragically happened).

All because there wasn't a condom machine close to where she lived. How little things can sometimes matter greatly.



***No, the Ahmadiyyas are not Islamists, in fact they are severely prosecuted in most Islamic countries (especially in Pakistan, where most of them are from) because they are seen as heretics who believe that there was another prophet (incidentally the founder of their religion) after Muhammad. They are docile and gentle on the outside, advocating a non-violent Islam, yet - as sects tend to be - draconian with lots of peer pressure within their own community. Sort of Islamic Jehova's Witnesses, all smiles outside, but if you want to leave, well, you better not ... 

[TBird1958]

Hmmmm........ I've never actually had sex outdoors - Time for a New Year's resolution. 

[uwe]

Wot?!!! Even a man as boring as I has! In hindsight: Love of nature is one thing, itchy twigs, abrasive sand and insects are another. File together with virginity under "overrated".

[Pilgrim]

Wot?!!! Even a man as boring as I has! In hindsight: Love of nature is one thing, itchy twigs, abrasive sand and insects are another. File together with virginity under "overrated".

Blankets are very handy things. They can prevent chafing.

[uwe]

Not always at hand one a blanket has.

[TBird1958]

Detritus in certain cavities is hurty!

I get cold easily as well, so it'll have to be a summertime adventure. 

[Granny Gremlin]

Not always at hand one a blanket has.

This is one reason to always have your towel.

[Dave W]

When I was growing up, condom machines were only found in restrooms at gas stations and seedy bars and taverns -- not that I was old enough to enter the latter.

A story I heard second hand involved a guy who supposedly paid his way through college back then by installing condom machines in the restrooms of college bars in a certain Texas town. More money was deposited in the men's room machines but the ladies' room machines were more profitable b/c he actually had to put condoms in the men's room machines. If the men's room machines were out, the men would complain to the management. The women never did.

[Highlander]

This is one reason to always have your towel.

... and don't forget at least 6 pints and a packet of peanuts...