Pink, schmink

Something has been nibbling away at my sensibilities for awhile- namely the Lance Armstrong "Live Strong" bracelets, the "Red" campaign which encompasses diverse stuff like Gap teeshirts and pretty red iPods, but most especially all the damn pink stuff for sale that gives the impression you are really contributing to a cause. There are pink Kitchen-Aid mixers, pink underpants, pink magnetic ribbons for the back of your car, and jars at cash registers with hand lettered signs about donations going to 'breast cancer'. Sure they are. I have sort of done a silent one woman campaign against all this stuff until I was reading the Threading Water blog:

"October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Stop mindlessly contributing to pink ribbon campaigns and take the time to find out where the money is going and how much of your spending is enhancing the sponsoring company’s bottom line. "

Hoa! Perfect. Here is the Breast Cancer Action link to check out some of these projects, and also a link to donate if you choose. But you don't get anything from it but a warm and fuzzy feeling that ALL your money is going there, not to some corporation taking advantage of a need. Sorry Bono, sorry all you rappers helping a farm somewhere, this goes for you too. There is another suggestion too- call in to your local hospital and find out about volunteer placement to drive patients to treatments, or make meals to deliver or any number of so many things that can help out.

This all stems from losing my best friend a few years back. She battled this hideous disease for about 10 years and never once complained or felt sorry for herself. I live an hour away and didn't do enough and will always feel badly. Her local friends took over and made sure she lacked for nothing. They organized themselves to be there when she returned from treatment, to make sure her two teen aged sons were cared for and tracked and talked to, to vacuum and clean out the refrigerator, to water the plants and pick up an occasional new nightgown. They brought her favorite warm muffins in the morning when she had no appetite, they cleaned out the cat litter, they picked up and dropped off her family at the airport when they came to visit. And they listened carefully to her because Linda had a hard time asking for help. I was so grateful that she had this strong network that simply took over in her worst times without question. We should all be so fortunate as to have these kind of friends.

OK, so go write a check so no one else has to go through this- you might not get that new pink rototiller, but you can get that any time. I heard on NPR yesterday that breast cancer diagnosis is down an unexplained 3%, as well as several other cancers. This is excellent news but let's make it 30% instead.

(Of course I may feel entirely different about all this consumer gear when they start offering rust colored items...)