Last night at choir practice, I sat behind the line of high school girls. I used to sit in the front row, but the teenagers slowly took over. Now I sit in the back with the other old fogies. (I’m kidding, friends! You’re not old!)
As I watched them whisper and giggle, I noticed that one of the girls had some pretty distinct tan lines on her back. After I took a moment to mourn the days of smooth skin and carefree summers, I remembered a writing prompt that Mama Kat provided a few weeks ago: What’s the worst sunburn you’ve ever had?
I have what you might call a “fair complexion.” Or, you might say I have alabaster skin. Then again, you might ask me if my name is actually Whitey McWhiterson.
So I’m pale. Thankfully, as I’ve mentioned, I’m also indoorsy. So the opportunity for major sun damage hasn’t come up often. However, when I am exposed to the sun for long periods of time? Well, I kind of burn up like a vampire.
[That reminds me: Annalyn has started adding “or sumpin” (“or something”) to the end of sentences every once in a while. So if she had written that last paragraph, she certainly would have said, “like a vampire or something.”]
The first bad burn I got was in the summer after 7th grade. My granddad was in the hospital, and my older cousins were on babysitting duty. (Although everyone was nice enough not to call it that.) One day, they took me along on their trip to Oceans of Fun, our local water park.
They slathered on baby oil, so I slathered on baby oil.
Have I ever told you that back in the day, I was considered smart? Yeah. Not so much that day. And did I mention that I borrowed one of their swimsuits, and it happened to be cut higher on the legs than my regular suit?
Sunburned shoulders hurt. Sunburned upper thighs? KILL.
And then when it turns to the itching phase? Yeah. Not so pleasant – or easily explained.
What’s the worst sunburn you’ve ever had?
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I was in the 3rd grade and my brother and I were “camping” with my grandparents (in their air conditioned RV) We swam from about 8am-4pm…and we were both fried. We were so burnt we cried ourselves to sleep because it hurt to lay down. We were so burnt people stared. Once the scaley, itchy phase ended we both had slight scarring. So, I too slather on the sunscreen and answer to the name ‘Whitey McWhiterson”.
Ohhhh, when it’s so bad it hurts to sleep? You KNOW it’s bad. Ugh. Remember when we all got fried at the lake after our freshman year of college? That was pretty bad, too, although sadly, only #3 on my list of worst burns ever. (Thankfully it’s a list of just 3…)
Oh man… the worst sunburn I ever had happened while I was on a missions trip to the Bahamas my 7th grade year! We were sailing back to Miami from the Bahamas and I some how ended up with severe sunburn on my face. It (my face) blew up like a balloon and stayed that way for a few days! I couldn’t see anything for two days b/c of the swelling! This happened 20 years ago and my pastor still asks me if I am okay! lol
Okay, we hashed all this out on Twitter, but seriously? Missions trip to Bahamas? WHY did my church not offer this option??? :)
Our “band camp” consisted of showing up at the practice field for the 2 weeks before school started so we could learn our drills. I ended up with second degree burns across my upper back and shoulders because our crazy band director wouldn’t let us take breaks to re-apply the sunscreen. Jerk.
Total jerk. I hope your parents chewed him out.
Hands down, the worst sunburn I’ve ever had was in high school. My senior year we had a garage sale to raise money for our senior trip. We were outside ALL day. I was on this crazy acne medicine that warned you not to have prolonged exposure to the sun. My parents warned me to wear sunscreen {or at least a hat}. I did neither. And by the end of the day my face was so badly burned it blistered. Yes, blistered. Just in time to leave for my senior trip. Awesome. At one point it looked like leather all down the left side of my face. *gag* Since then? I lather on so much sunscreen I’ve not been tan since 2000. No joke. And I’m totally okay with that.
Oh no! I went to senior trip looking totally pale, because I’d been sick. Pretty sure leather face would have been worse. :(
I’ve had many. Which is why my kids are the ones at the pool with the white stuff an inch thick on their faces. I know the day will come when they revolt!
Now, though, as a mom living in a place where swimming is the ONLY thing to do in the summer due to the heat, I actually have the best tans of my life!!
If only getting a nice tan didn’t come with being in the heat…