More Beer With Fear

Thanks to the good people of Coppertone, I have learned that there are actually 2 kinds of UV rays that the sun is sending down to kill us. I for one certainly appreciate that they are not only willing to share the findings of the team of scientists that they have working around the clock in sterile labs simply to find more ways to make our lives more pleasant, but also creating products that will help defeat our oppressor, The Sun.

Apparently, there are UVA and UVB rays. UVA rays are the ones that age us prematurely, and it's easy to remember that that's the ray as "A" can stand for aging. UVB rays are the ones that burn, and again the ray comes with its own handy mnemonic device. And before y'all start to panic out there, it's okay, Coppertone has products that block both of these rays so you can go back to your jet skiing safe from harm - drunken drowning aside.

And to think, just scant few years ago, Coppertone was busy putting scented baby oil into its containers so that scantily clad vacationers could pull as many of the sun's harmful rays into their skin as possible. The irony engine rumbles on.

Yes, I'm sure that too much sun will probably do terrible things to you, that shit burns. But we're probably far more likely to earn cancer through the chemicals we spout into the air freshening the smell of our homes or by refusing to get out of our cars and walking our asses around when it's possible. Cancer is probably far more likely through polluted food through polluted soil, polluted water from power boats and jet skis...

I know it's not a new subject, that of corporations pushing our buying buttons by scaring us, of the government (which thanks to lobbyists and campaign donors is still corporations) bullying us into decisions through fear, but I feel it's a good one to be reminded of from time to time.

Cancer, identity theft, salmonella, toxic mold, terrorists, teeth not their whitest, teeth not their straightest, vague discomfort that someone is bound to have a pill for, secondhand smoke, dirty bombs, loose borders, shoddy machinery, you will probably die alone and unloved because of the clothes you wear...

I'm unclear myself of what my point is other than that I have enough of my own problems to keep me awake at night so that worrying over whether or not I've purchased the right product that I don't really need to begin with is the last fucking thing I need to worry about. I guess too that it dawned on me last night that I'm getting closer to the middle of the average lifespan and that when I look back over the years already spent, it's not near long enough; I would like to spend the rest of them looking up with a smile in my eyes and not worryingly over my shoulder.