(As originally announced over on the Motorcop Blog, and on “The Crossover Show” podcast, Episode 15)
Every October, we are happy to throw our support to strive for a cure to breast cancer. Personally, I love the “Save the Ta-tas” T-shirts, but I digress. Last year, our intrepid compatriot Happy Medic was contacted by a fellow EMS blogger, Epijunky, regarding a contribution to the Susan G. Komen walk on which she was embarking. HM and a few other bloggers banded together, turned their blogs pink, and raised about $800 for her.
Not too long after, HM was contacted by another EMS blogger with some interesting (and all-too-often unknown) information. Prostate and testicular cancers kill just as many men as breast cancer kills women. You read that right.
To further drive the point home, our friend and EMS blogger, HybridMedic, has been publicly chronicling his battle with testicular cancer on his blog. The man went to the doctor after some pain he was experiencing and was eventually told he had testicular cancer. His response? He manned up and in no time at all he was a testicle lighter.
I applaud Hybrid’s courage in the face of something as downright terrifying as cancer…but that’s not all. He invited all of us along for the ride to experience what he has gone through/is going through. His catharsis has taken what started as a fun idea The Happy Medic and I had last year and provided the fuel to our spark.
Thus, Kilted to Kick Cancer was born.
September is Prostate Cancer Awareness month. For the entire month of September, Happy and I will be wearing kilts. Not just occasionally or when we feel like it. All. Month. Long. Unless we’re on duty, we’re wearing kilts. In October, a man wearing a pink shirt walks into a room, he is either noticed for his support of crushing breast cancer or his odd fashion decision. When a man walks into a room wearing a kilt, everyone has the same question…what’s he got on under there?
Let’s be clear here, folks. If you wear underwear, it’s a skirt. What better lead-in than to answer that question with “Let’s talk about what’s under my kilt.” Our aim for September is to bring as much awareness to male risk factors for prostate and testicular cancer as we can. Our goal is to talk to as many men as we can and get them to get their ass (pun intended) to the doctor.
Our defense mechanism when it comes to that admittedly uncomfortable and possibly embarrassing visit is to make butt and/or poop jokes. Hell, I did it myself. I figured if breast cancer’s color was pink, then prostate cancer’s color had to brown, right? (As it turns out, it’s blue…colon cancer’s is brown. I’m not kidding.)
As you all know, HappyMedic and I recently made our way east to visit the kind folks at MAGNUM BOOTS USA (@MagnumBootsUSA on Twitter and on Facebook). We sat down with their Director of Marketing, Brett, and their Social Media guru, Alexis. Happy Medic laid out our plans for September by telling much of what you read above. As we finished our spiel, we kind of sat back, looked at each other and gave each other the “let’s see what they think” look.
When you meet with a big company, it’s easy to be intimidated. It’s easy to wait for the deep sigh and the “Boy, I wish we could help. Maybe we could get you a little merchandise to give away.” That was not our experience. Brett looked at us without missing a beat and said six words that blew us away, “What do you need from us?”
He didn’t say it in a “what are you looking to take” or “what do you want/cut to the chase” kind of way. These people have the heart of a servant and they were excited to partner with Happy Medic and I on this journey. Happy and I were going to do this month-long project with or without any assistance. Having Magnum’s support is more than either of us could hope for and we are so proud to be associated with the kinds of people and the kind of company that Magnum has shown themselves to be. As our partnership with Magnum develops, we’ll give you more of an idea of what we all have in store for you!
Additionally, we got involved with the good people over at ALT KILT (Twitter: @alt_kilt), who amongst other cool things will be offering 15% off of their entire product line for the month of september: At checkout on their site, simply enter the code “KTKC” for a 15% discount on your kilt for #KiltedtoKickCancer.
Keep coming back and checking out the blog for more updates on Kilted to Kick Cancer, and follow us on Facebook and the hashtag #kiltedtokickcancer.
So, what can you do to help out? We’ve set up this website with some links including the Prostate Cancer Foundation website.
Most importantly, if you’ve got a Y-chromosome, and you’re 40-years-old or older, you can get yourself to a doctor and get an exam.
Yours “Kiltedly”,
“The Motorcop” & “The Happy Medic”
Twitter: @motorcop1 & @thehappymedic