Sometimes the only way to state an opinion, a view, is to just flat-out say it. No covering it up with rhetoric and cute sentiments. Just saying it. So here it goes…
Cancer isn’t funny.
At all. Got that? However, things RELATED to cancer, such as trends surrounding the disease, are fuckin’ hillarious. Case and point:
The other day I was walking past a vehicle in the parking lot, when out of the corner of my eye, I happened to glance upon a sticker. A tiny, insignificant sticker that would shatter my day and leave me a broken, helpless sack of flesh. As most of you know, bumper stickers have had a tendency to send me into a fit of rage on more than one occasion. Which can be seen here and here!
However, this one may have crushed my very spirit. A vice on my brain that is clamped down, holding me in place, while it tickle-tortures my senses into wishing I was dead. All it said was this:
“I Love My Big Ta-Ta’s”
Well son of a bitch, really?!
It also had one of those little pink ribbons on it, just so you knew that it was somehow Breast Cancer related. Otherwise, that woman would probably just look like a conceited asshole. But with the ribbon in place, we can be assured that that woman looks like… a conceited asshole.
My first complaint is about the wording itself. Let’s just assume for a moment this is a classy idea. A touching sentiment towards the fight against Breast Cancer. Assume, alright? Now that we’ve tweaked the common sense out of our brains long enough for this to make sense, let’s just look at the wording.
“Ta-Ta’s”
Out of ALL the nicknames for tits, that may very well be the most inane and tasteless. It’s certainly a far stretch from classy. At least in my mind. Maybe I’m wrong, maybe that’s what the Queen of England calls her breasts. I mean, if Missy Elliott was the Queen of England. Which she is not. Unfortunately.
If you want to be taken seriously, use a better word. Tits. Boobs. Cans. Shit, even Sweater Meat is less obnoxious than “Ta-Ta’s”. But that thought was quickly pushed aside by my next. This person likes their BIG Ta-Ta’s. Not their decent-sized ones. Not their practical, non-back destroying sized ones. But their BIG ta-ta’s. By who’s standards? And what a mean thing to say in regards to breast cancer anyway. “Sorry your chest is broken, but aren’t mine FABULOUS?!”
I don’t think throwing a tiny pink ribbon behind a massively pretentious, vain statement such as this really makes it any good. It certainly doesn’t do anything to help fight Breast Cancer or aid in the happiness of people with Breast Cancer. Not even a little.
Things like this bother me about the “Fightin’ Cancer Trend”. Weird things people WITHOUT cancer do in order to “help” those who DO have cancer. Like multi-mile walks or runs or bikes or canoe trips or unicycle events. What does that really achieve? You want me to pay you money to run thirty-six miles for cancer research? Really? Can’t I just GIVE you the money for the research, and you can sit down and have a cup of coffee and fuckin’ relax? Of course not, because how would people KNOW you were involved if you don’t slap on a mass-produced slogan tee and run around downtown so the news will film it?
Isn’t that interesting? You get attention from it. That’s all that is. Sure, these people care, but they need to be SEEN caring for it to matter to them. I care about people with cancer too, but I don’t give two squirts if you put me on the news for it. And I’m sure as hell not going to run around in ugly shorts for an entire afternoon just to get some attention for my caring. My ego isn’t that fucked. Well, it is, but that’s what this blog is for!
I’ve seen that whole run thing taken to a horrible level. One time I actually witnessed a poster for a 10k run for quadriplegics. Wow. Just wow. That’s fantastic. We can just line them all up by the finish line, in their fancy wheelchairs. And you can run by them with your functioning legs at top speed, and hell, why not hold out one of those functioning arms and give them a good ol’ fashioned flip of the bird while you’re at it. I can’t think of any better way to make it about you and not about them. Here’s an idea. How about you stop being a show-off and give them the care they need? Is that so damn hard?
We have to attach a fundraiser or an event to EVERYTHING related to diseases. It’s terrible that the vast majority of this nation needs to get something in return in order to give money to a charity. Bake Sale for Cancer Awareness. “Well, I don’t know about given money to a cancer charity… but I do know about given money for chocolate cake.”
It gets worse from there though. There are also the things people do for “moral support”. You’ve seen it, all over the place. Your cousin has to get chemo therapy and loses all his hair, so the whole family goes out and gets their heads shaved to “make him feel better”. Imagine what he must be thinking when you show up in his hospital room bald.
“Oh, I see what you did there. Because I… so you… and yeah, you do know I still have CANCER RIGHT?! You think I’m bummed ’cause I lost all my hair? Yeah, not so much. The hair thing is sorta the LEAST of my concerns right now. I’m a little bit more pre-occupied by the whole ‘Life-Sucking Tumor’ thing. The hair is kind of an after thought…”
If this is where you are willing to go, why not go all the way. Perhaps your friend gets testicular cancer and has to have a ball removed. Why don’t you head on over to the plastic surgeon and have ol’ Lefty lopped off. You DO want to be supportive, don’t you?
I’m also sick of all the “support” that is given to people who simply KNOW someone with cancer. Family of Cancer Victim’s chatrooms. Forums. Books. Whole books written on how to live with someone who is living with a terminal disease. Listen, and I’m going to be as blunt as possible about this, it is a LOT harder to HAVE cancer than to know someone who has it. I know that seems harsh, but it’s the truth. Cancer sorta makes you feel a bit crummy. Sure, you may feel SAD when your dad gets cancer, but you aren’t in the horrible physical agony that he is. Not only is he dealing with the emotional strain of, you know, being handed life’s Shit Card, but he’s also sorta dying and stuff. The only time the having cancer thing is less difficult than the knowing someone who has it thing, is when the person with cancer dies. They’re dead, so they can’t really suffer anymore. You, however, now can suffer.
This is all coming across as bitter and cynical, no? A little anyway. But the fact remains: If you’re going to care, care. Don’t cover it in a bunch of attention-grabbing sentiments. Don’t try to play it off like you’re being fucked over as bad as the person with the actual disease. Because you are not. I’ve known people with cancer. And they got fucked over hardcore. I, however, am still alive and well. Sure, it’s sad to watch people die. But ultimately, it doesn’t help them one bit for YOU to play victim. I’ll give you a scenario to help emphasis my point.
Let’s say you’re with your buddy, and someone shoots him in the face with a staple gun. I don’t know why, just roll with it. You have two choices. You can curl in a ball and cry because you just witnessed something that was undoubtedly disgusting. Or you can run and get the medical help he no doubt needs. Which one do you think helps Mr. Staple Face? Exactly. Maybe if we started really getting serious about caring and research and working towards a cure, we’d have fuckin’ found one by now.
We have a million ways to raise money for it, now let’s put that effort into actually stopping it. Dammit!
By the way, if you have cancer and this offends you: Tough shit. Because this is the first time you’ll see someone call for cancer research and have it be totally selfless. I want you to get the treatment and care you deserve. Life gave you lemons (in the form of cancerous growths), and the least I can do is give you the sugar to make that shit into lemonade. And then we can sell the lemonade to rich, white people who want to feel like they’re “doing something to help.”.
I don’t want to discourage anyone from participating in the cancer research fundraisers and stuff. I know it sounds like I am, but I’m not. I just want you to think for a second. Just stop, for just a moment, before you slap on that big pink ribbon, and consider the people with the cancer. Think of your loved ones and hold that in your heart. Don’t pose for pictures, don’t bask in the glow of people telling you you’re doing a good thing: Just give a shit! It’s not that difficult. I give a shit, and I’m a resentful asshole.
One final note: One of your big Ta-Ta’s is bigger than the other and it looks funny. Enjoy the rest of your life!

Can you say stupid looking Goober?


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