The Condom That Wasn’t There

By Cliff Potts, CSO, and Editor-in-Chief of WPS News

Baybay City, Leyte, Philippines — May 25, 2026

There is a moment in many bar stories that people forget to talk about.

It happens sometime after the music, after the flirting, after the drinks, and usually after judgment has been thoroughly soaked in alcohol.

Someone says something like, “Don’t worry about it.”

Or worse:

“It’s fine.”

In sober daylight, that moment would raise alarms. But late at night, when people are drinking heavily and the room feels like a small private universe, those alarms often never go off.

The Condom Conversation That Never Happens

One of the quiet realities of drunken hookups is that the most important conversation rarely happens.

Protection.

Alcohol does something predictable to human decision-making. It weakens impulse control and shortens the distance between thought and action. Things that would normally require planning—like making sure protection is available—suddenly feel inconvenient, unnecessary, or awkward to bring up.

People assume things instead.

Someone assumes the other person is careful.

Someone assumes the other person was recently tested.

Someone assumes nothing bad will happen this one time.

Assumptions are not protection.

Alcohol and Risky Decisions

Medical research has shown for years that alcohol consumption is strongly associated with risky sexual behavior. The more intoxicated someone becomes, the less likely they are to insist on protection or think through long-term consequences.

It’s not because people are reckless by nature.

It’s because alcohol temporarily shuts down the brain’s caution system.

The part of the brain responsible for judgment and long-term thinking slows down. Meanwhile, the part that responds to excitement and reward keeps going full speed.

That imbalance is exactly why drunk decisions often feel perfectly reasonable in the moment—and completely irrational the next morning.

The Reality of STDs

Sexually transmitted infections are not rare events. They are common, widespread, and often invisible in the moment.

Many infections show no immediate symptoms. Someone can carry an infection for weeks, months, or even years without realizing it. That means the person across the room at the bar may honestly believe they are healthy.

Belief is not a medical test.

Chlamydia, gonorrhea, syphilis, herpes, HPV, and HIV all spread through encounters where protection is missing or used incorrectly. Alcohol increases the chance of those situations dramatically because it interferes with planning and communication.

One careless moment can create consequences that last far longer than a hangover.

The Myth of “It Won’t Happen to Me”

Another common feature of bar culture is the belief that bad outcomes happen to other people.

Most individuals assume they are cautious enough, lucky enough, or experienced enough to avoid serious consequences. They see their own choices as exceptions.

But infections don’t work that way.

They spread quietly through networks of people making the same assumptions at the same time.

A single night can connect two lives in ways neither person expected.

The Sober Question

There is a simple question worth asking before the drinks start flowing.

Would you make the same decision if you were sober?

If the answer is no, that’s not a romantic mystery. That’s alcohol rewriting your judgment in real time.

People often treat drunken hookups as harmless adventures. Most of the time, they are remembered later as funny stories.

But the risks attached to those stories are not imaginary. They are part of basic public health reality.

Ignoring them does not make them disappear.

Princess lifted her head from the rug and gave one of the puppies a quiet warning growl for chewing something that clearly did not belong to them.

A moment later she settled back down again.

Even the dog understands that some mistakes are easier to prevent than to fix later.