They Stocked 16,500 WHAT?

Call them rubbers, raincoats, Trojans or condoms … they’re cheaper than diapers. But in the rigorous scientific setting of Antarctica, do you really need to be afraid of mommyhood or daddyhood?

Here on Earth, the closest analog to long-term isolation of groups in space is the South Pole, where about 200 researchers live year-round. Last month, before six months of winter darkness descended over Antarctica's McMurdo Station, the research base received a delivery of about 16,500 condoms. --space.com

Holy Barnyard Term! That’s maybe 110 home runs for every guy on base, even more if you figure some of them will not be unfaithful to their wives and honor their marriage vows. Or, to quote Jason Kring, of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Florida:

"There's an unspoken behavior there [at the polar base] where you take a spouse for the time you're there — you have an exclusive relationship with someone," Kring said. "It's understood that when you leave, that relationship is over."

I wonder what the wives (and husbands of the female scientists) think of all this? You have to feel betrayed, no matter what your spouse says. Can you really agree that your wife can get laid during her tour of duty, that your husband can have a “wife with privileges” and it’s over when it’s over? Someone should do a study: “16,500 Strains On A Marriage: Serving In Antarctica.”