A week-and-a-half ago I went out to water my parents' melons, the only vegetables my parents are having me water and tend to after I (according to them) basically left all of their tomatoes and melons to die in the backyard. I thought for a second to spritz some bug spray on myself; many times in the past I was out there to water the plants or mow the lawn and I get bit by the mosquitoes back there. But since I was going to be out there for at most ten minutes (Father told me to water the melons for between five and ten minutes) I figured, Eh, I'll risk it.
Bad move. As soon as I went to water these craters of dirt Mother made for me to spray the hose onto, I looked at my right thigh, where I saw a mosquito before I felt her venom penetrate my skin. Naturally, I tried to swat and kill it, and of course she escaped. Worse yet, I started to feel the urge to scratch the left side of my neck. Man -- one minute, two mosquito bites.
I find it inconvenient to protect myself from skeeter bites. I have to trudge all the way to the bathroom from the front or back door because I forget just before stepping outside that I should put on some bug spray. Then I have spritz myself all over my bare skin, rubbing it all over my eyes and face, before I could finally feel fully protected from those damn mosquitoes. The prospect of spending so much time doing that often, and then dealing with the smell from the mosquito repellent until I get around to showering, prevents me from putting it on ... until I get bitten, in which case I swear at myself for being too lazy for doing so and swear to always put it on from now on. But then I don't.
Same thing with sunscreen, and that's usually worse because odds are you need to wait 15, 30 minutes before venturing outside. I don't have time to wait until the suntan lotion "activates" on my skin. I know that I can get skin cancer if I don't put it on, but I don't care, I have places to go. Besides, who wants to carry a bottle of sunscreen, or bug spray?
Most people feel the same way about them: They put it on only occasionally, and often only when they remember and have the time. So, at least when it came to sunscreen, someone came up with a great plan. When people went to the Minnesota State Fair, set up stations with sunscreen for people to use for free. Bringing that idea to the State Fair (free sunscreen pumps have been in many other places around the world already) came from a resident/intern at Hennepin County Medical Center as a way to commemorate her father, who died from melanoma three years ago.
As soon as I saw this story on the news, I thought, "My God, that's a fantastic idea!" It promotes health, but it also solves the main problem I have for not applying suntan oil regularly: I do not want to carry a bottle of it around all the time. Whenever I needed to apply it on my skin, I can just go to a station and pump to my heart's content. And I used it the three times I went to the fair. It's such a good idea I tweeted to the State Fair to make this permanent.
It's a lazy way to protect yourself, but I for one can and will take that compromising step if someone extends the indulgence of providing it when I need it, and for free. I wish free sunscreen were available at all outdoor places, and I wish we could have a similar setup for mosquito spray. That way I would never be bit by a mosquito ever again.
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