Supercolon

I get to Union Station and have a few minutes before I need to start walking to where I'm going (twenty minutes, actually-- Metro's online trip planner, while wonderful, is very conservative). I wander into the main hall and sit down on a bench. When I look up, I see a giant, bouncy-castle-like plastic colon. Veins and everything.

I'm all for cancer awareness, and that thing sure does draw attention, but... it's a giant colon. Supercolon, actually, as indicated on the sign by the info-table next to it. This thing must have been twenty feet long and ten feet in diameter. I went up to the table to inquire about it, and was greeted with, "Hello! Would you like to walk through our colon?"

Not a question I'd ever imagined being asked. I said, "no, thank you, I'm just looking around." They gave me a pedometer and showed me to the other cancer displays, none of which featured enormous plastic replicas of organs through which one could amble.

I'll give them credit-- not only does that thing draw attention, but they'll be among the few people on this planet who can say they've said, "Would you like to walk through our colon?"

I expressed my confusion as to the utility of this visual aid to my friend Jason, who clarified why a supercolon in Union Station was actually a smart idea. See the conversation below:

A: I don't really understand the value of visually recognizing signs of colon cancer... for obvious reasons.

J: The ability to visually recognize the signs of colon cancer is only important if you have your head up your ass (a common affliction in DC).

He's right-- this is exactly what the cancer prevention people are counting on.

You can find pictures at http://www.preventcancer.org/colorectal/events/super.cfm.