A family friend just came back from South America and brought back the Spanish version of a LIVESTRONG bracelet for me. It's purple, and I haven't heard anything about a purple bracelet so I decided to do a Google search on rubber bracelets to see how many varieties of cancer bracelets are out there. I wish I hadn't, because I have now lost something that used to be a very powerful symbol for my recovery.
Now, I know there are other colours of bracelets out there. There's a pink one for Breast Cancer, there's a red and blue one for Teens Fighting Cancer, and I think there might be one for AIDS, but I was unprepared for what I found on THIS WEBSITE. Not only do they have about a hundred different colours and varieties of bracelet representing everything from "Remember 9-11" to support for the troops in Iraq, but they also have coloured bracelets with the words "QT PIE", "FLIRT" and my personal favorite "PIMP". This may not bother some of you out there, but I find myself greatly offended by the number of joke bracelets that are available out there right now. These bracelets are nothing but a pathetic attempt to capitalize on the growing popularity of bracelets like the LIVESTRONG bracelets. I know it may not mean a lot to some of you out there, but by wearing a "QT PIE" bracelet, you cheapen the meaning that my bracelet has to me. I'm sure you wouldn't consider wearing an AIDS pin that had the inscription "EZ RIDER" on it, so what makes you think that a cute slogan on a rubber bracelet is any more acceptable?
The people who market these joke bracelets care about only one thing. They care about how much money they can get into their grubby little hands before the next trend comes along. What they don't understand is that their actions have an effect on people who have rallied behind the symbol that their mass production happens to be destroying. I don't mean to take away from the meaning of the little ribbons that people wear on their shirts, but how many different colours of ribbon are there now? Do you even care what they mean anymore? A while ago, a ribbon meant support for AIDS, or breast Cancer, but what do you do when you see a mauve and teal striped ribbon? It could be something like supporting the end of poverty (also represented by a white rubber bracelet), or it could mean something as stupid as "I LOVE MY CAT" (a light blue rubber bracelet)
The same thing is happening with the LIVESTRONG bracelets. They're getting lost in the crowd because rather than coming up with a new symbol, someone simply took a good idea and made a cheap copy. Unfortunately, like all powerful symbols, the marketers went too far and made a bracelet for everything from "Zodiac Signs" to "I'd rather be fishing". What's the point of wearing a yellow bracelet if nobody has the faintest idea what it represents? Hopefully, the yellow bracelet will stand out amongst all the rest of the garbage that's out there, but it's lost a lot of meaning for me this day.
I can remember hugging the toilet bowl in the hospital as I dry heaved for 20 minutes from the side effects of chemotherapy. I can remember between heaves staring at my LIVESTRONG bracelet reading it over and over to give me the strength to last just one more minute. Thank you to everyone responsible for producing those other bracelets. I hope that you sell enough "QT PIE" bracelets to make up for the fact that you've destroyed a major source of my strength that kept me from giving up my fight in the hospital.
They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, but I'm having trouble believing that right now. This is probably one of those times where Caity would say I'm being a bit "Dramatic", but hey not to worry, there's a bracelet out there for that isn't there?
Yep, they've thought of everything.
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