A
Ribbon Me This
purple magnetic ribbon on the back of an SUV caught my eye the other day. I’ve seen thousands of them on the road but usually in a different color. I know the yellow ribbon means you support the troops and a pink one supports breast cancer awareness, but the purple one had me stumped, so I looked it up on the Internet. Apparently, the purple ribbon is to raise awareness of animal cruelty, domestic violence, pancreatic cancer, drug overdose and the orca whale, as well as Workers’ Memorial Day. I had no idea one color could represent so many things. I wonder which one the SUV owner was supporting. Heck, maybe it was all of them. There are a whole slew of colored ribbons for causes I’ve never heard of. A zebra print ribbon supports carcinoid tumor awareness, a blue ribbon draws attention to osteogenesis
imperfecta (better known as brittle bone disease), and a green ribbon represents craniosynostosis awareness. And if those don’t convince you that there is a ribbon for everything, a teal ribbon helps celebrate National Zombie Apocalypse Awareness in May. For all of these examples, I had to look them up (and then I had to go look up the medical definitions), which got me wondering, if someone has to go look up the meaning of a ribbon, is it really having any impact? There are so many ribbons out there now that most people see one, wonder what it represents for a few seconds and then forget about it. I know I do. Many of the ribbons you can just buy at a store and while I’m sure the troops like to see the yellow ribbons supporting their sacrifice, I bet they would appreciate a phone card to call home while on deployment a whole lot more. And if both items are about the same price,
by: charles pope
which one do you think is money better spent? We all have causes that are close to our heart. My family has been affected by breast cancer and diabetes. I just think the money people spend on the ribbons could be better spent helping to find a cure for a disease. Makes you wonder if the companies that make the ribbons donate a portion of profits to the causes their ribbons are trying to raise awareness for. I’m sure there are a handful that do, but I’d be willing to bet a lot don’t. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not anti-ribbon. I had a pink breast cancer ribbon when my mom went through chemotherapy. And maybe that’s why the ribbons are so popular: They’re a reminder of our loved ones’ (or even our own) struggles and successes. I may even run out and get the teal ribbon now. After all, zombie awareness is an important cause.
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