Photo taken from this blog post. Thank you!

I Googled ‘event calendar’ yesterday for the town I live in thinking I would find a multitude of things available to get me off my fat butt during the week. It seems there are a whole lot of support groups in my area—most of them for addiction to alcohol or narcotics. While I do not have an addiction to either of those things, the narcotics anonymous groups have titles that make me think the group is a ball of fun.

Who wouldn't want to participate in a group titled KiSSS? It almost sounds like speed dating (speed as in: n. rapidity in moving, going, traveling, proceeding, or performing; swiftness; celerity: the speed of light; the speed of sound. NOT Amphetamine or methamphetamine)

Other real NA group titles in my area are Addicts R Us (yes, just like Toys R Us, but not nearly as fun) and Monday Madness (this sounds like an amazing Labor Day sale).

I have many of my own ideas for support groups. There are so many things I need support with. I will throw a few out there and take a survey of who might want to join what.  

Mis-Fortune: This could be support for those with actual missed fortunes (they miss all the money they used to have before they trusted Bernie Madoff) or even a support group for accident-prone individuals. This group should not be confused with the beauty contestant information session being held across the hall.

Un-Fare: A support group for over-eaters or individuals who never tip their servers.

It's Gut to Stop: A support group for people who over-internalize all their problems (which may lead to IBS, ulcers and anger-management issues- all of which would have a separate support group).

Visa- Vis: Support group for over-spenders. Helping individuals change their lives, by reversing the charges (so to speak). This is not a get-out-of-debt gimmick, and leaders will not contact your creditors for you.

*My Breastfriend: I am always looking for a little more support for my gigantic breasts. Not sure how this would go down- an entire hour of someone in the group holding your breasts up to give your back a rest, or more of a discussion group on the best bras and plastic surgeons?

*Disclaimer: This name is stolen from a maternity product made to assist with breastfeeding.

I am not overly concerned with fashion. Ask anyone and they will tell you I am just as comfortable in my old college sweatpants as I am in a nice trouser. I have been known to drive my kids to school in my pajamas with a big oversize sweater to cover the fact that my too-large breasts are not held tightly to my chest with a bra. Okay, maybe that was a little too much information.

Anyway, I am going somewhere with this, I swear. Yesterday, Jon and I were at the food co-op trying to find some hippie, all-natural, weed-in-a-capsule to help my son's allergies. (Really, how does that work? I give my son some freeze-dried nettles and it makes him not sneeze?) I digress. As we were approaching the door we spied what looked like a mime on his cell phone. After close inspection, I would say he was NOT a mime. What tipped me off, you ask?

1. He's TALKING on a cell phone.

2. He is not wearing a beret, but a fedora-type hat.

3. The stripes on his shirt don't match up with the stripes on his pants. We all know that a mime, being from France and always conscious of his wardrobe choices, would not have put those on together unless he was experiencing an ocular migraine or a small blood clot that impaired his ability to tell whether something was horizontal or vertical.

4. He clearly was not respecting the boundaries of the glass wall in front of him as he paced.

5. It's obvious those shoes were meant for a clown, not a mime.

6. He was in Moscow, Idaho. At a food co-op that smells strongly of patchouli incense and pesto sauce. (Isn't that enough?)

This is one of my recent opinion columns in which I try to create a riot. Okay, not a riot really, but at least a silent protest. I don't think bra burning is coming back anytime soon, but let me tell you, I sure have some that could use it. Maybe I will host a special bra burning ceremony when we move into our new house. It could be fun.

Be Active in showing support

Erin Harty

Women have fought for equal rights for decades. From voting to birth control to equal pay, women brought attention to these inequalities by burning their bras, carrying signs, publishing magazines and now overcharging men for baked goods.

On April 20, the National Committee on Pay Equity and Latin sorority Lambda Theta Alpha will sponsor a bake sale at University of Idaho where men will be charged 22 cents more for items than women. The date is significant because this is how far into this year that women would have to work to earn what men did through 2009. This event is meant to bring public awareness to a very real issue, but is it really effective?

First of all, bake sales, by their very nature, are associated with women. Even in these more enlightened times, when people think of baking they tend to think of women in aprons preparing cakes and cookies to raise money for the PTA, Boy Scouts, soccer teams and church organizations. So maybe having women in front of the Idaho Commons selling cookies and brownies in a historically traditional female role isn’t the way to go. It also isn’t the way to command attention. Remember, women used to burn their bras for this sort of thing.

In case those running the event haven’t noticed, many students at UI are apathetic. They see a table selling sweets and they may fork over the money, but the idea behind the event will be lost in moments as they receive their next text message, post their status to Facebook or turn up their music. So how do you get this idea to reach students like these? You make noise. You place things in their way that interrupt the chatter of their electronics. What happened to carrying signs and rallying support through public protests?

This campus has been far too quiet on many issues. Bake sales, chalk writing on sidewalks and homemade posters placed where students can’t see them are not doing the job. Make some noise, force people out of their trance-like states and call attention to a cause. Whether it is equal pay for women, increased student fees, intolerance or health care reform, subtle messages don’t cut it anymore. Those messages have to compete with all the other things holding people’s attention, and the way to do that is to command more attention. Gonzaga students did this recently to protest the banning of “The Vagina Monologues.” This was a silent protest, but the sit-in got in people’s way and forced them to acknowledge the problem.

People shouldn’t be afraid to stand up, or sit down for that matter, to bring attention to important issues. This campus has been far too silent in the past few years.