October's Daily Encounters with "pink stuff"

Hello ladies!  We were discussing this thread on another cancer forum, and I see that CARPET PADDING has not been added to your list yet.   No kidding!  I install carpet for a living, and the mill simply replaced the padding that used to be red, with this pink padding.   I thought it was a joke when I loaded it on my truck, and upon unrolling it, I saw this... all over the padding.   Wow!  It is pretty though, but the customers don't even know they are getting it.

Thank you all, for the laughs - and tears!

Florencedollar - thank you for sharing. I think I would have ruined that padding by throwing up all over it, so it's lucky I don't work in the field. I am also wondering if Susan Komen for the Cure is going to sue those people for "stealing" its patented "For the cure" words. I'd love to be in the court gallery shouting, "there IS not cure!"

That Lady Smith and Wesson is priceless. Published it myself last year. There is a picture of a pink Uzi somewhere as well.

Marie - that poster is one I didn't laugh at, but it's not your fault. It is good to know what is out there so we can know what to complain against.  I'd like those fools to know that breast cancer gave me nice breasts but it's not about the breasts. It's about the bones, liver, lung and brain.

The symbol of breast cancer should simply be the human anatomy ravaged by cancer. And the same should be the case for ALL cancers.

I like these threads and conversations we have. They are cathartic and a nice way to express things we can share with so few people. The biggest benefit I have derived from this cancer support forum is to be able to exchange ideas about how you perceive your illness and how you have to cling to your identity while society wants to rip it away from you and recast you as a poor little pink victim instead of just you, but with bc.

Pink October is an attempt to steal our identities by branding us as breast cancer "she-roes" so that a few people will make money and many more people will feel better about themselves because they are tithing to the cause (even if they ignore the plight of their terminally ill neighbor with lung cancer). The research goes on all year.

Thanks to the pink movement, I have been embarrassed to tell people that I have had breast cancer. I don't want to be connected to this ridiculous propaganda. I still want to be me.

Anyway, this turned into a rant and I just wanted to say thanks for the laughs. Keep the pictures and stories coming!

I was LOL over the carpet padding!

Ok, let's talk about this: the Save the TaTas movement. I resent it. The implication is that once our breasts are gone, we're no longer worthwhile. That if we lose our breasts we're nothing. That the TaTas are the only thing worth saving.

Florence

CARPET PADDING - LOL.  I'm gullible, but I would NOT have believed that one unless you posted a picture.  I guess now, I really WILL believe anythiing.  So grateful to have you all here to laugh with, otherwise I'd be crying along....

IS IT NOVEMBER YET????????  STOP ASKING ME TO CLICK, please, just STOP!

Cycle-path, I'm sorry it took me so long to get back to you.  I was celebrating the Canadian Thanksgiving!

You wondered how much money goes from each sale to breast cancer research.  That would vary depending on the promotion, but a grocery store in my area is selling chocolates for breast cancer and donating half the proceeds to the breast cancer foundation. That's pretty good, but even a smaller amount would add up if a lot of people buy the product. I don't see that as exploitation; I see it as a win-win situation where everybody is getting something.  In some cases breast cancer research may not be getting as much as it should be, but nobody is actually losing.  I agree with you that 5 cents on each 10 dollars wouldn't be sufficient.

And yes, the gun picture that you showed is exploitative.  A product that is supporting research on a disease like breast cancer should be appropriate, or at least relatively harmless. 

cycle-path, I agree with you about the "Save the Ta-Tas" -- as if boobs are the most important thing about bc.  I want to yell at these people, "IT'S CANCER, FOLKS!"  It's NOT cute!  I also dislike the "Feel your boobies" slogan.  Sheesh!  I think these slogans are demeaning ... and frankly, before bc, I'd just ignore them because of it.

I also agree that it's exploitative and cynical -- "pinkwashing" for sure.  I was in Wal-Mart the other day buying batteries and they were PINK!  I thought that was pretty dumb ... until I saw the hilarious photos on this thread!  Thanks for the laugh!

BTW, I may have to change my profile photo ... just happened to be one I had on my computer -- it's a photo I took a few years ago of my cat and roses from my garden.  Didn't even "get" that the roses were pink until a few weeks ago. 

That poster is the most disgusting exploitation of Breast Cancer I have ever seen. Those people behind that deserve to be publicly humiliated. Uggggghhhhhh.

Amontro, I am an AVID scrapbooker and have scrapbooked every vacation, holiday and every highlight of my kids' lives, but I just can't begin to imagine what a "BC journey" scrapbook would look like. I was so tempted to send an email to my Creative Memories consultant saying "Seriously...you've got to be kidding!" Maybe I will...if no-one tells them they'll never know how ridiculous it really is!



More items spotted in the supermarket this afternoon: Country Harvest Harvest-of-Hope bread, Rubbermaid pink "Take-alongs" containers.

I have my first mammo since the surgery next week.  I'm stressing out about it so much!  And all the pink stuff in my face everyday is not helping.  I really hate thinking about breast cancer every single day.  Will my mammo be clear?  Is the cancer to come back?  When is it going to come back?  Will it be worse next time?  Will it spread?  Can't this pink stuff just get out of my face so I can forget about cancer for one day?!?

I can't even buy groceries or go to work without being asked for a donation.  Sometimes, I want to just say "Oh, no thanks!  I've already spent about $5,000 out of pocket this year on breast cancer, my credit cards are max'd out now, so I'm all tapped out!"  It's no one's fault.  I'm just grouchy & stressed out about the upcoming mammo.

I did help raise some money for the cause.  I hope it will help someone.  Cancer sucks.  I hate pink right now, but I'm glad others have the strength to talk about it right now.  I'm glad I can just vent here.

I do have to defend the carpet padding...   even though it seemed ridiculous.. I went to Mohawks website and found this... to date, they have donated more than 3.7 million dollars towards research towards a cure for breast cancer.  I cannot figure out how to insert the link, but if you google, Mohawk Smart Cushion Susan Kohan breast cancer, you can find the website and read about it.

 Obviously, it is a smart business move on there part, but still, any bit of money donated towards research, is a good thing, right?

 Still, it was odd to see it all over the carpet padding.. haha..

 BTW, one of my best friends is a BC survivor, and she cannot wait to use the reply, "I already donated one of my breasts" when she is asked to give a donation.  

 Also, my little sister, at age 46, with no family history, and no obvious symptoms before the ER visit that we assumed was appendicitis, is one year out from her stage 4 colon cancer diagnosis... and after a roller coaster year, with major colon and liver surgery, she is showing no evidence of the disease.

I am of the belief that if we find a cure for one cancer... and it might be BC, with all of the publicity, we will be on the road to a cure for the rest of them.

Take care, and best wishes to us all...

Bigsis