"Making it Personal" by Juhi Kunde

[NikoleV]

Making it Personal

October 10th, 2012 - by Juhi Kunde

http://blog.lungevity.org/2012/10/10/ma ... -personal/

A few days ago, as I was at the grocery store digging through my purse, the cashier finished ringing up my purchases. As is the custom at this store, she asked, “Would you like to support the cause of the month? This month it is breast cancer.”

They never say the name of the charity or offer any information about how they chose the charity. So, as a rule, I never make a donation.

Distracted by my daughter pulling on my leg and the nagging ache of forgetting my coupons, I declined with a shake of my head and continued hunting for the appropriate credit card. Finally, with my Visa in hand, I focused on the cashier for the first time. I was stunned.

She wore several bright pink feathers in her hair, dangly pink earrings, a blindingly pink T-shirt and a long necklace full of pink charms. “It’s October” I said to myself, “and I just told her I didn’t want to support breast cancer patients.” I felt like a jerk.

“So, obviously, you support breast cancer awareness,” I said to the cashier.

She nodded as she finished bagging my groceries. “Yes, I sure do. Two of my aunts and a cousin had it, but they caught it early, so they are fine now. My grandma wasn’t so lucky.”

Now I felt like an even bigger jerk. And I had no idea what to say. I tried nodding in understanding and smiling compassionately as she handed me the receipt. But I couldn’t look her in the eye as I turned to walk away.

This incident happened almost a week ago and I’ve been thinking about it ever since. It was powerful.

I never donate to the grocery store’s cause of the month – but this month I feel guilty about it. This month is different because the cashier chose to put her views out in the open. By wearing so much pink and openly demonstrating her support for the cause, she made it personal. She let people know that she has a stake in this cause. And by not donating, I felt as though I’d let her down, personally.

I applaud her for her strength and commitment. And I think we can learn from her.

By letting others see that we strongly support LUNGevity and lung cancer research, we can make it personal too. We can let people know that their support for lung cancer research matters to us, personally.

November, the official Lung Cancer Awareness Month, is right around the corner.

So grab a “Breathe Deep” hat , fill up a LUNGevity-branded water bottle, and pull on a “Stop Lung Cancer Now” T-shirt.

It’s time for us to let people know — this is personal.