Where Do I Like It? In the Doctor's Office, Where I Get My Yearly Breast Exam

It's baaaa-ack. It's more annoying than the vuvuzela and crazier than most of the drivel coming out of the mouth of the Tea Party — I mean GOP — candidate for governor in my home state of Maine. What is it? It's the Facebook Status Update approach to Breast Cancer Awareness!

You remember the last go-round: Women, post the color of your bra as your status. The guys won't know what we're talking about! That at least had a somewhat superficial connection to breast cancer. This time, that vague link is gone. Now we are to put as our status the spot where we drop our purse upon returning home, preceded by the words "I like it." "I like it on the hall table!" "I like it on the floor!" Tee-hee-hee aren't we clever.

My goodness. The garish neon pink accessories assaulting my eyeballs Monday night as I watched my beloved Pats demolish the Dolphins do more to raise awareness about Breast Cancer Awareness Month than these inane Facebook ploys. At least the NFL players also sport the Pink Ribbon decal on their helmets, even if it does clash with their garish pink cleats (though as an aside, they might consider sporting the purple Domestic Violence Awareness ribbon).

But what's a well meaning person to do? How about some honest-to-goodness effective activism. Here in Maine, you can now get an "Early Detection Saves Lives" Breast Cancer Awareness license plate when you register your car. The money goes to the Maine CDC Breast Cancer Fund. Check with the DMV to see if your state has a similar program. Make your daily clicks at The Breast Cancer Site to help donate free mammograms to women in need or make a financial contribution to a worthy organization. You could find one right here on Change.org. And if you absolutely must show your activist bonafides via mass social networking, you could make that ubiquitous pink ribbon your Facebook or Twitter picture.

Ladies, how about doing your monthly self examinations (here's the how-to from the American Cancer Society), going to the health center once a year for a check up, and, if you are of the appropriate age/risk group, getting your mammograms? Encourage all the women in your life to take these actions. Guys, I know you want to help out too. Offer to babysit your nieces and nephews so your sister can go to the doctor for her checkup. Take mama out to lunch after she gets her mammogram, and generally be the supportive, caring men-folk that I know you are.

Skip the titillating status updates and get your ta-tas checked out instead. They'll thank you, and so will I, for not having to read that you like it on the counter.

Photo credit: wikimedia commons