So I’m posting this anonymously, just in case someone I know sees this. Anyways, I met a guy at work three days ago. He came into my workplace with his friends and asked me on a date shortly after. He is sooooooo handsome y’all. If I had to compare him to anyone, it’d be someone similar to Shawn Mendes and Noah Centineo mixed together. He’s tall, dark hair, brown eyes, and definitely gets looks everywhere he goes. I agreed, because why not? Fast forward - yesterday we went on a date. Simple dinner and a movie. Typical first date jitters, but overall, it went well. Today, he wanted to take me to dinner again. I agreed, and we went to eat. We then decided to go to the lake. While at the lake, the conversation got deeper and deeper. I ended up sharing some pretty personal things, and he did as well. He was comfortable enough to tell he he has HSV-2, aka herpes. I was definitely caught off guard, but I was impressed with his transparency. He told me he was taking medication for it, and hasn’t had a flare up in a year. He explained how he never thought it could happen to him, until it did. He got it from some girl he slept with. She knew she had it and didn’t tell him. He sued her and won. Nevertheless, when I got home, I sat and thought about it. Y’all, he is perfect in every way, minus the herpes. It was sitting heavily on my mind, so I decided to text him. Below is our conversation. What should I do? Give him a chance? Or find my non-STD having Prince Charming? He sort of switched up in the messages. Was I wrong for my wording? Ugh. So many thoughts going through my head right now.

SIDE NOTE: I’m not writing him off completely. To those of you telling me “it’s just herpes”, y’all must not get it. Say I give him a chance and go for it, but in the long run, we just do not work out. What am I leaving the relationship with? Herpes. Or maybe he cheats and gives it to someone else. What do I leave the relationship with? Herpes. And I’d have to tell any potential future partners about it every time. That might be okay with you, but not me. That would be humiliating. Yes, we connected last night, but I’ve connected with other people as well. Like I told him, I’m going to pray about it. I’ve never had any STDs, ever. So this would be a risk I’d have to be willing to take.

UPDATE #1: Leslie, thank you for defending my reasoning. I’m glad you have the same mindset as well. Aphrodite, Deedee, and Amy - I get it that everyone is entitled to their opinions, but you all must not read. Why should I make a life altering decision after having met this guy four days ago? DAYS. Not MONTHS, not YEARS, days. There are lots of other perfectly “nice” guys who I should give chances to as well. Guys who don’t have herpes. I didn’t think this post would be such a big deal. As for everyone else who’s offered words of encouragement, I spoke with him today, and we are going to remain friends. Thank you for your opinions.

UPDATE #2: Firstly, I did not think this post would get as much attention as it has. I’ve been working such long shifts every day since I made the original post and am still reading through the comments. Thank you all for your opinions. I’ve come to a decision. In the end, it just isn’t worth it to risk my health. Furthermore, when I texted him on Wednesday, he was short in his responses and seemed uninterested altogether, which is fine. For those of you saying he just wanted to get laid, I agree. I am also always on the look out for red flags, so for him to say he was falling for me... Idk.. I feel like he probably rushes things with girls and it is likely that he tells girls he talks to that he has herpes right off the bat to see if they’ll be okay with it, that way he can get laid if she consents to it. I could see it was hard for him to bring it up when he told me, but below is our conversation from Wednesday. We haven’t spoken since. Lastly, for those of you who are trying to criticize me for calling it a disease, he actually referred to it as that first. He specifically said “I have a disease.” Which led me to respond, “what kind of disease?” To which he responded, “HSV-2. Herpes.” Not enough? Here, I googled it for y’all as well. I realize herpes is considered “very common”. But I am not going to intentionally put my health at risk for someone I’ve known for a week (now). Also, to those of you who have shared bits of your story regarding HSV-1/2, thank you for your transparency! I truly appreciate reading all of yalls insight. Lastly, to those of you who were appalled at the fact I had to pray about it, I just wanted to let y’all know that GOD told me to WAIT on who HE has for me and to just be okay with being single, because the man HE has for me is going to blow my mind. Be blessed y’all. And stay hydrated out here.

Oh, and for those of you who are worried about why I have so many unread texts, it’s because I’ll typically sign up for text notifications for online stores like FashionNova, etc, and they send text messages when they’re having sales. Idk why I don’t open them. That and group chats, as well as other automated messages, lol! I used to get anxiety about it, but I don’t anymore.