A sunburn story

On New Year’s day, I went for a run wearing a singlet. It was a nice sunny day. The weather forecast said it was 22 degrees centigrade or something like that. I don’t normally wear singlet. I always prefer t-shirt for some reason. The run was about 8 K and it took me about 45 minutes in a slow pace. A few hours later, I found out my shoulders got sunburned. Looking at my reflection in the mirror with a clear impression of the singlet, I remembered another sunburn which happened Xmas last year.

During Xmas and New Year holiday last year, I took a trip around South Island. By Christmas eve, we arrived Marahau. We stayed in a small farm/hostel next to Abel Tasman national park. So on Christmas day, I and another two travellers went on a short explore to the national park in the morning. One thing need to be pointed out is the weather around that period was not so great. It was raining most of the time before New Year’s Day. Christmas day was the only day with the perfect sun.

Hunger brought us back to the hostel at lunch time. After lunch, while my new friends decided to rest a bit in their room, I decided to just relax on the open field. I don’t normally go out shirtless. So I had never used sunscreen before. However, I tried to get all skin on my front protected and then laid on grass. Half an hour passed and I thought it was the time to turn around. Spray sunscreen on one’s back without help was not easy. I tried to get the lower part of my back covered and then had trouble to do the upper part easily. What was the point to do it anyway? I asked myself. I had been exposed my front under sun for half an hour and I did not feel anything. I did not think the sunscreen actually did anything. I remembered from FRIENDS where Ross told his new student girl friend that those sunscreen was essentially just milk. I sprayed the sunscreen on one shoulder and rubbed a little bit and then sprayed on another shoulder without even bothering to rub it. I laid on my stomach for about ten minutes before my friends came. Then we went to a river close by. When I took off my shirt and went for a swim, my friend noticed I got sunburned on my back. No big deal! I thought myself. I did not feel anything. Well, next day I learned how sunburn could become worse after a night’s sleep. Especially the next morning, I went for tandem skydiving. The harness works very well with my new sunburn and it never left me alone during my 13,000 feet skydiving.

When I looked my sunburn in the mirror, I was fully convinced how well those sunscreen works. I felt it was something not to be wasted. So a picture for everyone of you who are stupid as me.