I can’t complain about people who really care about these causes, but the trendiness is annoying. Everything has a rubber wristband now, which, to be honest, has become confusing. You might also sense that some people out there are thinking “I need a wristband to look cool, but it has to be red to go with my outfit. What’s the red band stand for again?”
I never thought I would be one of those wearing the “Livestrong” yellow band, or any other color band for that matter – I’ve been staunchly individualistic for most of my 48 years, and would sooner defect from the colony than join some narcissistic fashion trend. I now wear one because it matters to someone else. And I wear it proudly even though it pisses me off when someone says “oh, I see you like Lance Armstrong too”. I don’t give a flip about Lance, but I do care about one of the people with whom I have the privilege of working. You see, I am in a leadership position in an organization full of dedicated young professionals, one of whom, with spouse, recently welcomed their first child into the world. Trouble is, within a day of that birth, my young colleague’s spouse was diagnosed with cancer of the gonadal tissue. Imagine, young couple, first child just born, facing a cancer diagnosis. My young colleague timidly asks me, when I inquire whether there is anything I can do, if I would wear the yellow band as a show of support. Now that, for me, is all the reason I need to abandon my concerns about falling prey to any fad. For those who feel compelled to wear colored rubber bands on the wrist to be fashionable, stop it. For those who do so because it means something to you or someone you care about, keep them on and wait for the fad to fade away - after it does, those bands will still mean something important.
This is my biggest beef with them. They work on the assumption that one’s morality has to be on public display in order to be of any worth.
When i have a cause or a political position that i want to support, i can think of better ways of doing it than wearing a petroleum-based product that was likely manufactured in a third world country.
I think they’re ugly, but my cat loves to play with them. So I’m not opposed to buying one now and then to make her happy and support a good cause.
True, a bright yellow band on the wrist doesn’t exactly coordinate with many wardrobe choices… but then, a scalp stripped clean of all hair from chemotherapy, a body racked with vomiting and lips dripping with bile from the effects of the treatment, and skin blistered from radiation therapy defines UGLY. Understand that cancer is not a pretty disease and the bands that show support for cancer patients were not intended to be pretty. I believe that the original intent of the bands has been co-opted by fadism; that does not negate the importance of the original intent (showing support, promoting support, and encouraging those with a devastating disease).
Yes, but “showing support” is the current fad.
You do other things outside of putting ribbons on your car or wearing a cheap trinket. Good for you.
Many don’t. They put on the t-shirt or cover their cars with tacky ribbon magnets and think they’re making a difference. Like what Bill Maher said “putting a flag or bumper sticker on your car really is the least you can do.”
Maybe you know something I don’t, but Wikipedia says they chose yellow because that’s the color of the leader’s jersey in the Tour de France. If so, the ugliness has nothing to do with it. It’d be nice symbolism, but you don’t make something intentionally ugly if you’re going to market it as an accessory.
I understand what you’re saying.
However, the thing that annoys me is that I wear the wristband and/or ribbon, and I know why I wear it, and you know why I wear it, but there are people out there who have stopped me and told me that the wristband is ugly, and I should be doing more than “just wearing ribbons”. So people are actually out there, spotting my wristband, and think I am trying to be trendy, when I do so much more. I wear the wristband to encourage awareness, and sometimes people do ask questions, and I tell them what else they can do to help if they are interested, when/where the walk is going to be, if they’d like to sponser, etc.
But I mostly get snooty looks, and people eyeing their rolls.
I’m sure everyone knows someone personally, who *really is * just being trendy. But we’re not all in it for the fad. Be careful of what you assume, even if the assumption seems safe.
You know what I mean. :smack:
You’re ahead of the curve, much better than being behind the curve. Some people are more comfortable being in the pack. If you don’t like the pack, then stay in front of them.
Gives me the chance to share a pathetic routine that a friend of mine and I used to do every time we went to Lord’s Cricket Ground (for Americans, think Yankee Stadium). We took a picnic, and one of us would ask the other “Do you want a roll?”. The other would always look around and reply, “Not enough room”.
Can’t speak for Lance, et al about the reasons behind the choice of color for the Livestrong wristband, and I certainly am not naive enough to believe that he and his handlers thought of anything other than profit margin. Only know what that yellow band has become to symbolize for the people who have a cancer of the same cell origin as Lance’s cancer - it represents hope for a future that is cancer-free. Nothing more, nothing complicated about color symbolism, and nothing that even remotely hopes for a fashion statement.
I understand that. I’m just responding to what you said.
I don’t like them because so many are chosen simply to match their clothes and it is a form of bragging with some. Mostly I don’t like them because, at least around here, they get nasty dirty. They look like the cause of some illness we need to sell wristbands to support.
I might get a no message band for my cats though. They really would be perfect for chasing and no worries about them eating a rubber band. Good suggestion!
On the other extreme, those bracelets are a tad too small for me.
I wore a LIVEStrong bracelet for about four hours before I realized my hands were different colors! :eek:
We found a place where we can get 100 of them for only twenty dollars. Our cats just love them.
I’m either very unobservant, or else live in a very unsympathetic area of the country because I had no idea what you all were going on about until I did a little googling.
Seems to me these bracelets are like the car magnets, or any other token display. They’re what’s called “slacktivism”. That is, representing of those who shell out $2.50 for a bracelet and sleep with clear conscience because they’re contributing. It removes guilt without any actual effort.
And then it becomes a fad, and the mock-ups show up and it all becomes about making a few bucks and a joke before the next gimmick comes around.
One of these days I’m going to get in on one of these fads while they’re heating up and make a few bucks for myself.
So…the yellow wrist band symbolizes Lance’s left nut…
I find those ubiquitous magnetic ribbons on cars to be far more annoying than the bracelets.
What I think is funny about them; the people putting the “support our troops” magnet on their car to show support isn’t even dedicated enough in the cause to use a proper sticker.
Or perhaps they have a handful of these and swap them out. Monday is “support our troops” day, tuesday is “these colours don’t fade” day, etc.
