I remember it well. It was in 2007, November, I think, when the company that produced The Today Sponge–that nifty, over-the-counter, buy-without-a-prescription, keep-in-your-bag-and-use-when-you-wish-in-your-own-body-and-not-on-his birth-control device —went bankrupt. Gone was the possibility of relying on yourself (and not on your prospective lover who might or might not have condoms with him) for birth control. Gone was the hormone-free option; the one that didn’t require daily ingestion; the one that didn’t require fitting by a gynecologist and filling with goo. I remember it because never in the history of the heavens can I recall so many phone calls from the women of the earth, outraged that their favorite product was banished from the shelves. Bad enough a favorite bra gets discontinued, or the best-ever hair-color product (remember Clairol’s Light Golden Blonde Loving Care? I do. It’s gone. Can’t even get it in the heavens. Tried once to find it in Germany, but even then, couldn’t get the LIGHT golden blonde….but I’ll stop.)
Well, sponge-lovers, the Today Sponge is back. On the shelves at CVS, Walgreens, Longs. You can now, like Elaine on Seinfeld, hoard your sponges however you wish, deciding who is “spongeworthy” and who isn’t-and, blissfully, if he is deemed spongeworthy, it will cost you only $3 to get it out of your bag.
But as it is cause for rejoicing, so is it cause for caution. Beware, my sexy earth darlings: The sponge has its limitations. It does not protect you from sexually transmitted diseases. And it has a disheartening failure rate of about 10 percent-but then, some studies say the condom has an equal failure rate. Neither totally protects from AIDS.
Nevertheless, The Sponge is a terrific hedge against an unwanted pregnancy because of its convenience and its easy fit. I’m very happy it’s back!
