Current Events Watch

Finally, it’s October! National Popcorn Poppin’ Month! I thought it would never get here. I do love my popcorn, with extra butter, please. Not the microwave popcorn version, that’s for lazy folks. Okay, I’m sometimes lazy, so I confess that I usually have a box of Orville’s “This Side Up” bags in the cupboard in case of emergency, for a quick fix. But the nuked version certainly doesn’t compare to a big bowl of stovetop-popped ’til the lid comes off the pot, real Land O’Lakes butter-drenched popcorn. So in honor of this most fabulous of national observances, I resolve to remain a purist through the end of the month.

Unfortunately, popcorn month usually passes with little recognition. Not a lot of attention seems to be given to the celebration of exploding maize. Perhaps due to an insufficient promotional budget, who knows? I’m sure, in time, though (cross your fingers), things will change. It might be tough to get an edge on the competition, however. October is also Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Competing with the pink might be tough.

October is awash in pink. T-shirts, wristbands (all the rage!), hats, underwear (whoops, maybe that last one is just me.) Of course there are those pink ribbon magnets, too, and you know I find those things annoying, regardless of the cause. Just my personal pet peeve. Seems to me like a “stick it and forget it” kind of thing. Not like a bumper sticker, yard sign, or even a ribbon worn on the lapel or tied around an old oak tree. Those things require a conscious decision regarding placement for best effect, a little bit of thought and effort. The magnets, though, I always assume are just tossed on a random fender and forgotten. But I digress.

October being both popcorn-poppin’ and breast cancer awareness month is actually cool, though, because I not only love popcorn, I also love breasts. Not in any sexual way, of course … ugh. Let me make that clear! My gayness seems to get in the way somehow, so I love breasts selectively. Like my best friend Chele’s bosom buddies. Those mammoth jugs are a part of her, so yeah, I gotta love ‘em. Unfortunately, she was just recently diagnosed with, you guessed it, breast cancer. So this October I’ll have more to consider than whether to pop the white or the yellow kernels (although I honestly can’t tell the difference.) I’ll also need to consider how to be the best friend I can be during this time; when to be there, when to call, when to shut up, when to simply back off! Lord knows I don’t want to piss her off. Been there, done that, it ain’t pretty. Love her, though, and want to be there for her. She knows I always will be.

When I learned of Chele’s big C diagnosis I, of course, put the popcorn on the back burner (get it?), and, as I am prone to do, Googled all things cancer. Hypochondriac that I am, and after extensive hours online, I’m now convinced that I also have a variety of cancers! All I really wanted to learn about was breast cancer, not really a personal concern, but damn those links!

Still, it is Breast Cancer Awareness month, not Doug’s I-Think-I-Have-Multiple-Cancers Awareness month, and I did find this New York Times article that I thought I would share. It dispels several myths about the disease, and certainly is worth reading.

So to all of the women out there who are breast cancer free, be sure to not take for granted that you have nothing to worry about. Just ask Chele. Get the checkups, the mammograms, do the self-exams, whatever it is you breasted ones are supposed to do. I don’t know how you ladies walk around with those things. But if you’ve been neglectful, what better month than October to play catch up? If nothing else, give yourself a self-exam. You might even enjoy it, and you could probably get it done in the time it takes to pop a batch of popcorn.

By the way, October is also Window Covering Safety Month. Time to check your blinds. FYI.

breast cancer, women’s health, breast cancer awareness, popcorn