Is this a good time to update my friends about my battle with diarrhea when the President announces concerns about leaks from the White House about where troops are deployed?

Is this a good time to mail flyers about my agency's next Prevention workshop when all unsolicited mail looks suspicious?

Is this a good time to be concerned with such cosmetic calamities as too little body fat in my face (lipoatrophy), or too much fat where it's not supposed to be (lipodystrophy) when all the chat on the Internet is about air strikes in Afghanistan?

Is this a good time to ask my HIV specialist to refill my Viagra prescription when the whole world is asking, "Got Cipro?"

Is this a good time to expect people to care that I lost 22 T-cells when all the news is about B1 and B2 bombers?

Is this a good time to ask people to donate money for a possible AIDS vaccine years away when everyone's looking for bomb shelters and gas masks?

Is this a good time to order my tickets for AIDS day at Dodgers' stadium when the Yankees are playing to full houses in New York?

Is this a good time to tell my doctor about my shrinking libido when everyone's talking about shrinking productivity and smaller profits?

Is this a good time to call for a response to the State of Emergency declaration on HIV/AIDS in the Latino community -- way back when on December 12, 2000 -- if everyone's answering to bioterrorism?

Is this a good time to talk about the Church's call against condom use when all radio call-in shows are talking Islam?

Is this a good time to complain about my daily search for KS lesions when so many people are hunting for anthrax spores?

Is this a good time to assemble Genotypic and Phenotypic Resistance Teams to understand my resistance test when the world is focused on the American Special Forces Team?

Is this a good time to ask for money to attend the next HIV/AIDS conference when our country is in a recession?

Is this a good time to renew my memberships to the local sex clubs when all servicemen have been called up for actual military service?

Is this a bad time for AIDS?

Ruben Acosta is the HIV Positive Prevention Coordinator at LA Shanti. He can be reached via e-mail at txjivetalk@aol.com

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