the grass is always greener

this is a little off-color, i'm sorry.

you know how in the past people with tuberculosis were sent to live in sanitoriums where their treatment was basically to hang out in the fresh air and sunshine and eat healthy food? not a bad treatment, really, even if it didn't work... and lepers were sent to live in colonies, which if you believe simpsons episodes (which is where i get much of my historical and medical knowledge) are tropical islands where people relax on the beach? so this weekend mb and i couldn't help but notice all these valtrex commercials where this guy announces that he has herpes but that with the magic of valtrex, he won't let it ruin his life. and there he is with an attractive woman at his side, hiking in the mountains with a gorgeous skyline as the backdrop. therefore, mb and i conclude that only people with socially stigmatizing diseases get to live fun lives. mb further concludes that he might like having herpes. i am trying to explain that he might not actually enjoy herpes, and furthermore, that i might not enjoy his having herpes. but every time i start to make my point about pain and ulcers, the commercial comes on again with the mountains and my case is lost.