All Pinked Out

You might be aware that October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. This is the time of year when merchants get on the pink bandwagon and sell lots of product.Every year some companies find a way to take advantage of good deeds – and this practice is known as “pink-washing”.  Hypocritical companies use those pink ribbons to tug at our heart strings, and much of it is objectionable. Here are a couple of examples from an article published by Non Profit News.

• Progresso soup produced pink ribbon can labels to enable its parent corp General Mills to donate to cancer research. Progresso reportedly uses and epoxy resin containing BPA to line its cans while Campbell soup moved away from using BPA.Research has linked BPA to cancer.
• Cosmetic companies and women – what a goldmine . Procter and Gamble which makes Cover Girl, Max Factor, and Pantene are reported to be unwilling to rid its products of parabens, formaldehyde phyhalates ,dwhich are carcinogens and toxins. (If you go to the website of Dr. David Suzuki  you can print a wallet sized card to carry in your purse which lists the  body and beauty products that you should avoid) http:www.DavidSuzuki.org/whatsinside
• If you are married to a sporting dog like Senor, then it is difficult to miss the pink theme at the NFL stadiums especially the pink worn by players and coaches. Many people do not take this effort seriously given that the NFL does not have a reputation for being terribly concerned about women, their bodies, or domestic violence.

One other thing to be aware of is that there are many scams during National Breast Cancer Month. Better Business Bureau advises people to research pink product claims before making a purchase or getting caught up in the hype. If a charity is legitimate then they will accept your donation at any time. In some cases companies will indicate that a portion of the proceeds from the sale of a pink ribbon product will go to support breast cancer programs, but put a “cap” on their maximum donation. Once the maximum amount has been met, the company may continue to sell the products with the pink ribbon without alerting customers that no additional funds will be donated to breast cancer organizations.

And Jennifer Aniston designing a Pink Warrior T shirt that is being sold at the Ford Motor Company website?If I buy one there I apparently will be making a great contribution to those who are fighting against breast cancer. All the money will be sent to those who need it. Um….

Because I am a hypocrite I purchased a Breast Cancer T shirt on line at Amazon. It was cheap and I thought that it was cute , and I have absolutely no idea if Breast Cancer or the BC patients benefit in any way. Only me for now as it makes me smile when I look at it. The shirt  is white and on the front in pink letters it declares:

SURVIVOR

It Came – We fought

I WON

On the health front, my hair is still a bit iffy even though I am trying to follow all of the first year regrowth rules. My brain remains a bit off kilter (but this could be because of my advanced age) . Just now, sitting at the desk, I opened the drawer and saw that there was some lip balm that I could use (dry skin still plagues you even a year after chemo) and to my surprise it was Lepage glue. Yum.

October 29th is the 1st anniversary of my last round of chemo. We are going to the Keg to mark the occasion. Thanks to those who provided gift cards. It is going to be a carb and calorie blowout.

And as a final note. October 13th was also a no bra day. The event has obviously passed, but you can make a note of it in your 2017 calendar. Two days per year. July 9th and October 13th. Let the girls go.