Down with pink
This month I am boycotting the color pink. In fact, I am boycotting anything that comes close to resembling pink so fuchsia, you’re out too. You can also toss in the singer, Pink because I am sure she loves what is going on. I won’t wear my Pink cycling jersey that pays homage to the Giro because I do not want people driving past me waving and thanking me for supporting “The Cause.” The jersey can wait for November to roll around.
October used to be one of my favorite months. The days shorten and the leaves turns numerous colors but never pink. The weather cools off and there is Halloween to celebrate at month’s end. Oktoberfest is a great excuse to eat too many brats and sample as many beers as you can. However, all of this is now secondary to bringing attention to breast cancer. Why?
It used to be when October arrived you saw lots of orange, brown, and black. Now, it’s just pink. Go to a grocery store and your favorite brands of food are colored with pink labels.Turn on a Sunday football game and the players are wearing pink wrist bands, shoes, and chin straps. Heck, even my morning paper is printed on pink paper.
Somehow we have allowed breast cancer research to steal an entire month and paint our nation pink. I’m surprised the White House is not painted pink this month or Congress does not require all government buildings to fly a pink, white and blue flag donning 50 pink ribbons instead of stars.
Go to any store and try buying a product in its original label instead of pink. Women will look at you as if you are Satan. The female clerk at the checkout stand will remind you when you buy pink labeled items part of your money goes to breast cancer research, hoping to shame you into submission.
Don’t even start with me, I will not be broken. It’s not because I oppose finding a cure to breast cancer. I hope and pray we find one although I also believe big pharma will keep it from those who need it. I also hope and pray we find a cure to colon cancer (my mother), rectal cancer (also my mother), prostate cancer (my father), stomach cancer (my grandfather) and all other cancers for that matter.
One of the biggest supporters of a pink October is the National Football League. They devote an entire month trying to sell pink NFL replica jerseys, wrist bands, and anything else they can stamp NFL on because it helps them expand their fan base to women. You probably don’t know that 90 percent of the money they make from their pink sales ends up in the NFL coffers while a mere ten percent finds its way to the cause they claim to so strongly support.
You say I am cynical. Then why hasn’t the NFL selected another month, say September, and another color, perhaps blue, to devote to finding a cure to childhood leukemia? I say this because the NFL knows children do not have the money to purchase NFL jerseys, season tickets, or cable television game day packages. Who cares if a few kids die when women can provide an increase to NFL profit margins?
Am I the only one who notices that if an NFL player tries to wear pink any other month he gets fined thousands of dollars for being out of uniform? Why is it okay to wear pink cleats one month but not another? Is breast cancer the only cancer worth drawing attention and funds too?
Join me in my pink boycott this month. Wear yellow, blue, green, brown, orange, or any other color. Boycott the NFL and any other sport that dons Pink throughout October.
Listen to any musical artist except Pink (you may have to do without Pink Floyd too although they were around long before pink Octobers). Most of all, remember, none of us are exempt from any of a number of cancers and we should be working toward finding cures to all and not just one.
Jim is a life long resident of California and retired school teacher with 30 years in public education. Jim earned his BA in History from CSU Chico in 1981 and his MA in Education from Azusa Pacific University in 1994. He is also the author of Teaching The Teacher: Lessons Learned From Teaching. Jim considers himself an equal opportunity pain in the ass to any political party, group, or individual who looks to profit off of hypocrisy. When he is not pointing out the conflicting words and actions of our leaders, the NFL commissioner, or humans in general, he can be found riding his bike for hours on end while pondering his next article. Jim recently moved to Camarillo, CA after being convinced to join the witness protection program.