October 06, 2004
LiveStrong
Have you noticed people wearing what appears to be a stiff yellow rubber band around their wrists, and wondered what they were? I did for a little while this summer, until I ran into the explanation a few weeks ago.
The Lance Armstrong Foundation started a educational resources center for cancer survivors, called Live Strong.** The site and the main LAF site have tons of information for cancer patients and survivors. And Lance Armstrong himself is pretty inspirational when you consider what he's done. If you know someone who's been through or is going through cancer, you know the c-word has a devastating effect on the life of the person and their family. The yellow wristband is a reminder to simply live strong. It takes a major physical, mental, emotional effort to get through cancer. The band reminds everyone of what it takes to get through that and hopefully to remember that every day. The bands cost $1 each, and are sold in packs of 10, 100 or 1200. Proceeds from the sales go to the LAF.
The idea picked up big over the summer, and it's almost become an 'item' to have, however lame that might sound. Because demand is so high, at the moment they are backordered for 3-4 weeks from the LAF site. The demand has also driven sales to Ebay, and some people are trying to profit off the demand, although a few say they are donating the proceeds of the auction to the LAF, which is good.
In any case, I think it's a good way to remind yourself of how important life is and how insignificant most everyday problems really are. I might sport one myself sometime, if I can get one without having to pay a scalper.
** Beware this page redirects you if you aren't using Netscape 7.1 or IE, which doesn't include Firefox or new versions of Mozilla. Very very bad. But it's a good site with a very good cause, so you have to forgive it.
Edit (10/31): The page now supports Firefox just fine...
Posted by ramk at October 6, 2004 12:29 AMi used to think that such gimmicky feel good things were quite useless and superficial, and in many urban suburbanits in the us, it very well is.
but the us aint everywhere. there is real shitty misery out there, even lurking in corners of our own country, corners where happy-addicts refuse to think.
they dont look to stylin, but if someone can wear it, and still function as a normal human being in the face of misery adversity or death, good for them. i would wear a tea cozy on my head if i could face life without fear. misery, adversity, and death are as much a part of life as joy, birth, and ease. they're just not as bearable. in such situations you see human beings who forget that they are not animals.
i was at the train station here in kunming on the busiest travel date of the year. i saw chinese people packed a hundred at a time into a 10 foot corridor. at the head, stood many dirty peasants (complete with straw hat and straw basket strapped to their back0 trying to get home. most were ticketless. all adults. all throwing tantrums. screaming, crying, let me in! i want in! they didnt have the cash, but desperation got the best of them. the crowd behind them screamed into a loud din, as we were pushed tighter and tighter. the peasants had to push their way back out through this mess with tight grimaced faces, as the station agents had not planned a side exit. i'm never riding the hard seat here again.
Posted by: jackson at October 7, 2004 10:12 PM