I’ve made it to my very first October in retirement.  Although that doesn’t seem like much of accomplishment, it does show that even though I don’t know what day it is, I do know what month it is.  If I was still in the rock-n-roll radio business of yesteryear, it would be “Rock-tober,” but in today’s world it’s all about breast cancer awareness.  Pink ribbons, pink outfits, and pink food help raise money for this worthy cause.   I used to associate October with Halloween, but now all I do is “think pink.”   At one time, there was even “Mr. October,” at title given to the World Series hero, but now the series often extends into November, and men looking for an acceptable excuse to grow a beard or mustache proudly refer to it as “Movember.”

I still probably can’t grow a beard, but I used to have plenty of pink clothing accessories to wear like silk shirts, pocket scarves, socks, cuff-links, and ties.  I guess I’ll now have to add some items to my retirement uniform to support the cause.  I’m apparently just not “in the pink” any more, although some like to think of that as a sexual reference.  There is, by the way, a hole-in-the-wall here in Portland called Pinky’s Bar Nowhere.  This brings back memories of a friend of mine’s 40th Birthday back in 1989, where we all dressed in pink tights and cleverly staged an abandoned home to be “Pinky’s Bar,” adorned with pink spotlights and pink flamingos and elephants.  We even chauffeured the birthday girl there in a pink limousine and presented her with pink roses and a pink floral sash.  For some reason, perhaps the whole “pink is for girls” stereotype never sat well with her tomboy ways, and she despised the color pink.  We made a spectacle of it, painting the walls pink, serving “Pink Squirrels,” chewing on pink cigars, and singing “Happy Birthday” around a big pink frosted cake with pink candles.  There were “Pinking of You on a Gray Day” signs, Springsteen rockin’ to “Pink Cadillac,” and gifts in pink wrapping paper.  The pink rooms were highlighted with pink crepe paper decorations, and pink bar lights.  Even the bathroom had pink toilet paper, towels, soap, and Kleenex.  It was great fun putting our own “Pinky’s Bar” all together.  Maybe with this memory she didn’t hate the color pink so much any more!

My wife has a poster in her office of me and a dozen other businessmen accessorized in pink to celebrate the month of October.  At least I think it was my presence in the picture why she had the poster framed?  It’s titled “Real Men Wear Pink,” and shows that wearing pink does not threaten our masculinity, but rather gives us a platform to raise money in the fight against cancer.  In Japanese culture, pink is the traditional color of masculinity, as associated with the cherry tree symbolizing a young samurai who had died at their prime.  Here in the U.S., until as late as the 1950’s pink was still considered a “boy color, while blue was typically correlated with the Virgin Mary and viewed as a more serene color reserved for girls.  Blue is my favorite color, and blue jeans with a blue shirt is my everyday retirement uniform.  When does blue get it’s own month?