It all began a couple of weeks ago when a friend on Facebook posted that she was going to France for eleven days. I knew damn well she wasn’t; her husband is ill and she is hard pressed to go to an exercise class three times a week, much less make a trip overseas. To the four comments she received, she replied to none. A friend of hers replied, “Again?” and that sparked my curiosity.

Yesterday, another friend posted that she was going to Germany for 25 days. There were immediate replies such as, “Lucky you!” and “That’s fantastic!” I didn’t believe a word of it.

So, I began to research. I found out that somehow–though I fail to understand just how–this supports breast cancer research.

It works like this:

Write: “I am going to live in (month you were born [see below]) for (day you were born) months!” or “I am going to (month you were born) for (day you were born) days!”

January – Mexico
February – London
March – Miami
April – Dominican Republic
May – France
June – St. Petersburg
July – Austria
August – Germany
September – New York
October – Amsterdam
November – Las Vegas
December – Columbia

Try as I might, I cannot connect the dots between such a posting and breast cancer research.

So, I wonder, why would someone post such a thing on a social media site? And then, not reply to comments. Is there absolutely nothing else going on in their lives that they have to post BS? And, if nothing else remarkable is going on in their lives, why post anything at all?

It bothers me that some women do such things because it reflects negatively on womanhood as a whole. Such postings make us look like lemmings, weak and eager to follow the latest trend or  jump on the latest bandwagon.

On the contrary, breast cancer is a serious topic and breast cancer research needs to be supported.

So, if you have a mind to post something about one or the other, please make it count. Post a link to the latest research. Tell about how you’re training for participation in a Run or a Walk for the Cure. Shout out kudos to a loved one who beat the odds and is in remission, or honor someone who succumbed. Copy and paste a breast cancer awareness ribbon.

But please don’t do something stupid like posting you’re going to somewhere exotic for x-number of days/months, whatever. It makes us all look bad.