The positives:

• You now have a better understanding of STIs and health issues

• You got lucky and got da herp instead of HIV (but even HIV isn't a death sentence anymore as long as you can afford the expensive antiretrovirals, and it's not a death sentence for your dating life either - there are HIV positive dating sites for crying out loud)

• Almost everybody gets the herp. Especially HSV1. Something like 80% of people in North America get it, usually in childhood (toddlers are filthy). It doesn't even really make sense to classify it as an STI because it can be transmitted nonsexually almost as easily as a cold.

It won't take someone "kind and understanding", you don't have three eyes. It just takes someone with a very baseline level of sexual health education. Which sadly is lacking in many parts of the USA.

Here is your workflow for meeting new partners:

• Meet

• Establish mutual interest

• Get to the part where you're probably going to make out

• Stop for a second and tell them that you're very interested in them but you also want them to be able to make the most informed choices they can about their own health because you're not a douchebag (this will earn you respect because people like people who give a shit).

• Say that you have herpes, then mention the last time you had an outbreak and about how often you seem to get them. This varies from individual to individual based on immune system (I contracted HSV1 10+ years ago and only had four outbreaks this entire time, my immune system is pretty cash).

• Let them make the decision to proceed/abort. If they abort, DO NOT TAKE IT PERSONALLY. You did the right thing, took the high road, and informed them instead of exposing them. This makes you a GOOD PERSON WHO IS WORTH LOVE and, yes, sex.

Eventually, you will find people who hear that you have herpes and laugh, because seriously, that shit doesn't matter.

Now if you had HIV your dating life might get a little interesting, but there would still be plenty of candidates.