Today I was invited to attend a brunch sponsored by the Triangle chapter of the American Cancer Society. I was there with a member of the Curves (for Women) team (not as a member of the Curves team since I’m a guy, and people at Curves really seem to dislike guys for some reason). Anyway, this was to thank volunteers and sponsors for participating in a walk that happened last October and to start generating interest for this year’s walk.
Anyway, it was an okay event. My two big issues with it dealt with the problem and the solution of breast cancer. I’m sure there are a lot of factors that cause cancer, but years after having been a devotee of the Atkins weight, I haven’t been able to shake the link between cancer and sugar. The menu was the highest carb menu I’ve ever seen in one sitting. Additionally, the focus of the ACS’ lobbying effort seemed to suggest that there is not enough funding for all women in Medicare and Medicaid to get the requisite preventative care. I immediately thought there might have been some disruption in the knowledge transfer or communication cycle between health care providers and their patients, but I didn’t have enough information to know if this type of problem was examined in the ACS’ analysis. While I’m sure some additional funding could help select individuals, I’m never a big fan of thinking the government is a magic pill for anything.
After the event, I straightened up my area and walked toward the door. The person I was with had to use the restroom, so I decided to talk to someone who came in late that I hadn’t seen for a few years while I waited. As I came up and said “Hey, Marissa!” I could tell she was really not feeling me. She came back hesitantly with a “Hey,” *looks at my name tag* “Johnny.” This is the possible reaction that I always thought I was going to receive throughout high school when I walked up to a girl to ask her out. Luckily, I was getting it at a time when I wasn’t trying to pick anybody up. Maybe Marissa gets this all the time from stoner-looking guys, since she is kind of cute. Maybe there are guys like in “Wedding Crashers” that crash breast cancer events. There was a disproportionate number of women present, even though men can also get breast cancer (but is much rarer). And technically, this was also an event for cervical cancer, as well, which obviously guys can’t get. Anyway I was rescued from this moment of funwardness by my date. We all had a big laugh while realizing that I’m starting to look old and deranged and scary to women. Kind of ironic, since I’ve spent the last year growing my hair out for Locks of Love to give to kids who have cancer.
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