This is, indeed, scary!
At the moment, more than half of the contributors to the poll have admitted that they have had BBFS or, at least, been offered it.
I find this quite frightening based on the following assumptions I have made and the conclusions that derive from them. Of course, the assumptions may be false, but I happen to believe that they are fairly close to the truth.
Assumptions:
(1) The poll respondents are being honest. Since this is an annonymous poll, there is no reason to lie.
(2) The SPs who offered (or provided) BBFS are (or were) in circulation for (on average) at least one year and saw multiple clients.
(3) The clients who requested (or received) BBFS were also (on average) in circulation for at least one year and had multiple sex partners (SPs and otherwise) during that time.
(4) While not all the "offers" of BBFS in this poll resulted in the activity happening, it is safe to assume that:
(a) An SP that makes the offer has made it before (or since) and it is not always declined (why else offer it?).
(b) A client that requests BBFS will eventually find an SP that agrees.
Therefore, each of the votes in the above poll (except those that answered option #1 - Never) represents at least one case of BBFS having happened.
(5) Though BBFS is an especially high risk activity for the transmission of STDs (including HIV Aids) it is not the only risk available. Any BB activity including DATY, BJ, and even kissing represents a risk of disease transmission.
Conclusions:
These conclusions are only general since we don't have any actual numbers to work with. But when I think about the scenarios that follow from the information and assumptions above and I get quite worried.
Each of the BBFS SPs has seen (or continues to see) many clients during her career. Though she may only offer BBFS occasionally, she probably offers some other BB service or kissing to (some) other clients. Over time, she is spreading her risk to many people.
Each of the BBFS clients has seen (or continues to see) many SPs and though he may not receive BBFS often, he will seek it out when he can and also partake in DATY, BBBJ, or other BB services when he finds them available. Thus, over time, he is spreading his risk to many people.
Over time, many SPs and Clients who both don't look for or offer BBFS end up being with partners who have, or who have been with partners who have. The risk just keeps on spreading.
Before you know it, a good percentage of this hobby could be in danger!
Since we don't have the actual numbers, it's not possible to build a mathematical model for the actual risk. But it's lets remember that AIDS is not a the common cold! You only need to get it once to die from it and before you even know you have it, you have the opportunity to share it with anyone who engages in any BB service with you!
I'm not asking everyone to get out of the hobby. However, let's not forget that there are real risks asociated with this game. For those of you who have wives, husbands, Boyfriends, or Girlfriends, you are not just putting yourself (and the hobby population) at risk, you are also putting your close family and friends in danger.
Perhaps we have the right to take our chances in this hobby. I guess the SPs are also accepting this risk when they agree to work in this field. However, I draw the line at exposing innocent bystanders. That's one reason why, as I've said before, I don't hobby when I'm in a relationship. As I get tested regularly for other reasons, I also know that I have been safe, and lucky, so far.
Zog.