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Hate Mail from the Naive
By Laurie | October 10, 2009
Le sigh. Here is a comment that I received today on one of my breast cancer posts. I moderate my comments, and delete a lot of them if they are spam. This is from a legitimate blogger and Twitter user, and a real douchebag angry person. BTW – he needs spell check:
I just wanted to remind you that Breast Cancer fundraising causes are the rasing significantly more money than they need, to the point of having to “raise awareness” for what seem like 5 years too many, and we’re all rather aware. Over-aware.
If the idea is that this is somehow necessary to care about women, it isn’t, certianly not to the exclusion of problems that require research, ones having their research funds drawn off by popular feel good ‘awareness raising’.
Back to the unimpeachable “gotta do something for women”/”women first humanity second” subtext. My mother has cancer, but it’s not in either of her breasts.
How are rah-rah walks, and ’save the ta-tas’ stickers supposed to make her feel better?, or for that matter, what is all of that supposed to do someone WITH breast cancer? Zilch.
It’s all just childish, public empathy inducing nonsense that makes people think that they’re supporting a cause when in reality they are doing nothing other than drawing research money away from efforts studying diseases about which much less is know.
It’s become Kabuki and pink M&Ms, and little else. In case you’re wondering what will finally do you in, it is less likely to be breast cancer than a collective meyiad of other things.
BTW – your notion of Paris is naive.
I am sure that your mother is a lovely woman. Do you think she would agree with your comment? While it is very sad that she has another form of cancer (and I never said that breast cancer is more important or more relevant or deserving than any other disease or cancer), I am curious what makes you feel self-righteous and angry enough to come over to my blog and berate my efforts to raise money for a cause that is close to my family? My husband lost his mother to breast cancer. This is what we are doing to deal with our loss. If you are so concerned about your mother and the type of cancer she is suffering from, why are you not out fundraising and spreading awareness for that? Why are you seeking out posts about breast cancer, and trying to bring down those of us who are actually trying to do something positive with our time?
I think you are extremely misinformed, and in my opinion there will never be enough funds raised. Not only is the money used for research to help find a cure, but it is also used to help fund mammograms and treatment for those who cannot afford it. It’s about more than pink M&Ms and rah-rah walks etc. If you feel that there is too much “awareness” surrounding breast cancer then we are doing our jobs. The earlier women are diagnosed and are discovering that they have breast cancer (via regular mammograms), the more likely they are to receive the treatment they need to hopefully recover and beat the disease. 1 in 8 women will have breast cancer in their lifetimes. Sure, they may also be diagnosed with some other type of cancer instead or in addition to breast cancer.
It is too bad that you seem to feel very passionate about this, yet are not using that passion in a positive way. Why sit around stewing in your negativity when you could be doing something about it? I am sure you could use that energy in a way that would help make your mother feel better. Something tells me that your anger is not helping her any either. The thing is, you still have your mother with you right now. You have the ability to make a difference while she is still here.
My suggestion to you is to get off of your computer, spend time with her, and do something to raise awareness and money in her honor. I am capable of having empathy for those who are in a situation other than my own. Good luck to you and your family.
For those of you that care and disagree with his comments, I hope that you will donate to my walk and show me some support in the comments. Thank you from the bottom of my heart to those that already have.
Topics: 3 Day | 8 Comments »
wow… what an interesting person.
Funny that the beginning of the rant seems to come from an episode of Penn and Teller’s Bullshit… I was wondering why it sounded so familiar.
Seriously, people who have enough time to bash other people’s efforts need to get a life. It’s not like you’re saying “donate to me because every other disease is pointless” (by the way, I totally had that reaction from someone asking for money for greenpeace! he said cancer research funding was stupid because we’re all going to be dead in 30 years anyway because of the earth)
You are doing something that you believe in, and that’s all that matters. Good luck!
Posted by: JenWhat a jerk! As someone who participated in the Blogger Boobie-thon last week, I can tell you that the organizers of that event have gotten lots of similar hate mail.
This year’s ‘thon raised over $11,000 for Susan G. Komen. How much money did the haters donate to ANYTHING this year? They probably didn’t lift a finger to do anything, not even so much as a Tweet.
As for the walks, I know that many of the women who go out and walk are breast cancer survivors themselves. Obviously, they see nothing wrong with any of this.
I just had my annual mammogram on Friday. I am very fortunate to have good health insurance through Mike’s job, and it pays the full cost of the procedure. But millions of women fall through the cracks of the system; they don’t have adequate insurance (or are completely uninsured), yet make too much money to qualify for government insurance. Just because I, myself, don’t need assistance paying for health care, doesn’t mean I shouldn’t care about those who are in need.
And I do donate to other cancer charities, too. I’ve donated to the American Cancer Society, and the Jimmy Fund (official Boston Red Sox charity for children’s cancer research at Dana-Farber).
I’ll be sending a donation for your walk.
Anyhoo, some people need to think before they start running their mouths.
Posted by: ChristineThere are movements and organization for every type of cancer. A-hole, quit taking the time to berate others and become a productive member of society.
Im an ultrasound tech and I see the devastation of breast cancer, pancreatic cancer and every cancer in between.
It affects everyone. Get a life!
Continue to do your blogging laurie pooh!
Posted by: mona cI’m sorry you had to get this kind of comment for Breast Cancer awareness. I had no idea it was such a hot topic! I do think this guy is having a hard time dealing with his mother’s type of cancer and needed some kind of outlet to vent…to bad it had to be your blog. I sure hope he feels better and never stops by again.
Posted by: Jean M.I think what you’re doing for breast cancer awareness is great! If people have a problem with what you do, I don’t see you pressing a gun to their head to stop by.
Thank you, Jen! I didn’t realize it was from that Penn & Teller show. Maybe it was just a joke then?
Posted by: LaurieChristine- Thanks for your support and comment! This isn’t the first negative comment I have received, and I just don’t get it. I guess some people just prefer to complain and bring other down. I am just glad there are more charitable and giving people like you and me out there to outweigh them.
Posted by: LaurieThank you Mona for your comment and for what you do professionally. I cannot imagine how hard it is to go to work every day and witness things like that firsthand. I applaud you.
Posted by: LaurieThank Jean. I agree. I think maybe he was having a bad day or was feeling down about his mother. I can totally get that. I imagine it is not easy to watch someone you love go through cancer, no matter what kind it is. Despite that, his comment somewhat brought me down which I think was the point unfortunately.
Posted by: Laurie