A Matter of Perspective

I went grocery shopping this afternoon and, once again, found myself swimming in a sea of pink. For awhile, I was getting caught up in the outrage of those who claim that companies are taking advantage of a terrible situation and are attempting to profit from it. There are, apparently, some that are doing that while contributing very little to the cause. However, it occurs to me, that it serves no useful purpose to throw out the baby with the bathwater, so to speak. There are companies that are doing a great deal to advance cancer research and cancer research is doing a great deal to increase the survival odds of people like me.

Did you know that the real push for cancer research did not even happen until the 1970s? As a result of these efforts, the odds of a cancer diagnosis not being synonymous with a death sentence today have greatly increased. I, for one, am very grateful for that. And, if the October sea of pink helps to advance that research and raise public awareness of it, I'm all for it.

Another thing that the Komen organization is trying to do is to reduce the sexism compunent in the breast cancer equation. Did you know that Richard Roundtree was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1993 and kept it a secret for 8 years.  Yet, that year, more than 1500 men died of breast cancer. Yes...it is predominately a female cancer, but men do get breast cancer, too. It is important that people realize this and don't ignore the fact. In the decade since Richard Roundtree came forward and admitted that he had breast cancer, the mortality rate for men with the disease has decreased by 25%.

There is good floating in that sea of pink. I know it can be annoying to see the pink packaging on everything from food products to batteries to toilet paper to home appliances, etc, etc. But the heart is in the right place...or maybe I should say the pink ribbon. More and more of us are surviving every year. And that is definitely a good thing.

Later.