If you were to pick up a condom in NYC...

I love NPR, as might be apparent from my "inspired"/plagiarised blog name. But what I love the most about NPR (and KUOW) are those irrelevant, irreverent, inconsequential stories that just make my day and often re-instill my faith in America, the world and the human kind as a whole. A recent such story was about a contest held in New York city to redesign the cover for condoms that the city gives out generously and freely to its denizens. Although the finalists included such interesting designs as a dirty NYC subway hurtling down towards a tunnel, the top honor went to a design that was incredibly simple and yet incredibly symbolic (and literally too!). It was the symbol on the power button of most digital gadgets - a circle with a tiny (pssssssssss) tick going through it at the top center. The symbolism kept hitting me in waves - from sex is about power and control to the existential question of are we gradually perceiving ourselves as digital?