Sunburned

Nope! That is not a picture of me! I’m writing today to tell you about being sunburned. My wife and I have been vacationing with our two Sons and we decided to go to a water park today. It was really a lot of fun. There were just enough people there to be just a little crowded but not to terribly crowded. Except for the wave pool. There were so many inner tubes in the wave pool so the traffic was a little much for me. If I wasn’t getting squeezed after being surrounded by people on inner tubes in the wave pool, I was getting kicked in the lazy river by some kid swimming by. And it’s not really all that bad except one thing: everyone kept saying, “I’m sorry, sir.”

Now it’s not bad to be called “sir” by any means. In fact, I was impressed with how so many kids were so respectful. I don’t know if it was because I look old or because it looks like I gave them a hard look or something. I would say hello to lifeguards and ask how they were doing and they didn’t acknowledge me, so to hear “I’m sorry, sir” was welcomed. I would generally tell those young respectful kids, “No problem! We’re all having fun!” Then they would look at me with a confused look on their faces as to why I was speaking to them directly. How confusing. I was just trying to be polite to them as they were polite to me, but I understand that their parents most likely have told them not to speak to strangers.

Of course in a water park, you have to be careful with your eyes as well. There were some inappropriate bathing suits that some people were wearing. I had bathing shorts. Most guys were dressed in board type swim suits. However, some of the women–and I’m speaking about older women, older than me–were wearing skimpy swim attire. Totally inappropriate if you ask me. I think that the older we get the more we should cover up. However, I did have my shirt off because I wasn’t ashamed of myself after seeing some of the other dads that were present. (Yes, I’m fully aware that may have been derogatory or mean in some way, but I felt pretty good about myself after seeing some of those guys!)

We showed up thirty minutes before they opened. We were able to get a close parking space which was nice at the end of the day when we decided to leave. It was at that point that I realized just how sunburned I am. Even though I put my shirt on prior to getting inside the van the seats were so hot. I could feel the heat on my back and when I put on my seatbelt, oyvay! My chest and stomach were hurting. Yup! I’m burned! I’m not rare…I’m well-done!

Was it worth it? Well, my doctors would say that being sunburned is not worth it at any point. Rather, I should’ve put sunscreen all over my body and I should’ve been more conscious of the sun. Nowadays it seems that it’s hotter than when I was a kid. I used to just tan. Now I just burn. I will tan now that I’ve burned, but then I’ll probably start peeling and all of that mess.

In the meantime, I will be putting all sorts of lotions and body creams on my burn. I think it’s the right thing to do…like putting sunscreen all over your body prior to getting burned!

I’ve learned my lesson.