Thursday, January 23, 2014

A woman's right to tan

I would like to preface this with the statement that I truly do enjoy my gym. The staff is friendly and "my" machine is open 99% of the time. And I'm sure I'll enjoy the parking lot again when all these people give up their resolutions to become super models. 
But once again, I have been hassled about my tanning. After telling the front desk clerk that I'd like to tan, he laughs. Sure it wasn't a full on cackle, but it was a mouth wide open, teeth-baring type of laughter. Then he asks why I tan. Before I can answer he continues with a, "you're as dark as I am." 
At this point, I hope my jaw didn't literally drop. I can't be sure; it was one of those delayed moments. Maybe it only lasted a second, but it felt like a full minute. I mean- this guy is black. Sure it's in like a caramel macchiato kind of way but he's certainly significantly darker than myself. 
Then this got me thinking; maybe I'm darker than I think I am. OR maybe he's lighter than he thinks he is. I wanted to reach my arm across the counter to compare skin tones. But I'm not smooth enough to pull off that kind of maneuver. 

Maybe next time...


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