I Don’t Get It

We’ve been experiencing a heat wave here in Rhode Island. I, of course, am reveling in it because I am part reptilian. I’ve been looking forward to summer all year long, and it’s here—with a vengeance. In the winter I am on the constant search for one of those plug in rocks that iguanas rest on, only I want one that is large enough that I could lounge on comfortably and long for days like these.

When the weather heats up, I pile on the sunscreen. I wear a body lotion that has sun protection in it, and I keep a can of spray on sunscreen in the Jeep for the days I ride with the top down. Over the weekend Todd and I worked on the boat and we coated each other with SPF 70 before we started our day working in the heat. I’ve become obsessed with sunscreen, have even studied up on the ingredients that make sunscreen work, and often inspect the back of Todd’s neck for the slightest shade of pink on a sunny day. I have never set my eyes on a tanning booth, let alone laid down in one to get a fake bake, it’s my sincere hope that I never end up with melanoma and that my skin will never look like an old alligator boot from prolonged sun exposure.

Tonight I went to the gym after work and overheard some women talking about their sunburns from the weekend. One woman said “Oh, my face was so swollen from the sunburn. I don’t know how it happened, I was wearing SPF 6. I had to put ice on my face all day long to get the swelling to go down.”

Then another said, “I know, right? I got so sunburned on my Caribbean cruise. I don’t know how it happened, I was wearing 4.”

They went on and on, comparing sunburn stories, until I couldn’t stand it anymore, “You guys do realize that SPF 4 is NOTHING even in Rhode Island, right?”

“Well, that’s why I wear 6,” the first woman replied.

I cannot believe, that with all the information we have available to us and with all the warnings we get year in and year out about sun exposure that there are these people out there who aren’t protecting themselves from the sun? I just wanted to grab this woman by the shoulders and say “You are killing your skin with your measly SPF 6. Your face will look like an old handbag by the time you are 50 from all the sun exposure. How do you not know this? If your face is swollen from a sunburn, do you have any idea how much damage you’ve done?”

Ladies and gentlemen, coat on the sunscreen. Getting a tan is not worth it.

Public service announcement now over.