the soapbox derby champion of the world

I'm just going to hop right up on my soapbox, before I worry I'll sound too preachy and change my mind.

I want to talk about something. About the heavy workaday things I said I wasn't going to say yesterday.

Well, honey-darlin-sugar-pies, it is today now. 

There is a boogeyman living under all our beds. Sometimes, in the little bubbles of our daily drama's, between the kids who won't write their papers, the boyfriends we don't know if we should keep, the hangnails that drive us crazy, the irking slivers of life that get under our skin and seem for an instant like a Shakespearean tragedy...in the shelter of these predictable daily struggles, we begin to see ourselves as beings too small, too insignificant, or too intrinsically us to be affected by life's big scary boogeymen.

Thinks like cancer become words that can't possibly apply to us. That word, oh no, that is the word that is someone else's to carry around. It's what the grown up's use to keep us from microwaving food inside plastic, or smoking cigarettes, or sitting too close to the tv. But this word is yours.

This word is as close to you, as the three blocks between your morning class and your yearly checkup with University health. 

But this one, today, is for the girls. Cervical cancer awareness commercials are all over the place now. It's not because it's some more sinister form of cancer, it's not because the makers of the Guardasil vaccine want your cash; it's because it's caused by a virus that one in three sexually active women will acquire at some point in their lives. And because it may be one of the few cancers out there that may be preventable, and because there is a test that can be done regularly and painlessly, to catch it in it's baby stages, to stop it in it's tracks, while it's still manageable.

So, boys,(i know there is at least one of you, mike) this is for you, too. For your daughters, your wives, your friends. This is for the girl you see smiling every day, and never get the chance to tell her about the sacred heaven ascending light she brings to your life; this is for the girl you might not get a chance to tell.  This is for your chance to hear that, girls.

If you are under the age of 23, get the Guardasil vaccine ( i promise, they are not paying me for this). Most colleges subsidize the vaccination for their students and even doctors are recognizing the importance of a possible cancer preventative, and are willing to help. You may not think you have the money, but let me tell you, most ardently; you can find the money to protect yourself from cervical cancer.

For women of all ages: always wear a condom. Most men are carriers of the HPV virus, and the destruction of cells by this virus is the leading cause of squamous cell carcinoma.

Always get checked. Fifteen minutes, once a year. If you are, or have been, or are considering being sexually active, get checked. If you are embarrassed, it's as simple as saying to your doctor "I need my yearly." The social stigma and awkwardness of actually having a pap has made it a very easy thing to ask for.

I could save myself some embarassment here, but I don't think each and every one of you realizes how close you are to this disease. So I'll tell you. My first love, the man to whom I first gave my most sacred possession to, was a carrier of HPV. Six years later, I have a carcinoma on my cervix.

I blew it off. It's just some boogeyman meant to scare you into spending money you can't afford at a doctor who doesn't care, right? Something too big for you, right? I got checked when I was 18 and found out about the HPV. One sexual partner. I thought, "This can't possibly be serious, I've been so carefuly, I've been so protective." But six years ago they were still saying 1 in 3 women has this, and most forms just go away. Now, we know. But it's that close. And you do need to be careful.

This is your life, and there are so many things in this world we can't control, so many things that can hurt us. We have millions of tiny heartaches we can't prevent, car accidents, lighting strikes, muggings, and a frightening list of cancers and diseases we can't do anything to prevent. But this, this is in your hands.

Protect yourself.