I guess I should have been more careful. I should have known better than to go out without putting on sunscreen; otherwise I wouldn't be in the pickle I find myself in at the current time.
I guess I thought I was invincible, that even though it was cloudy, I wouldn't get burned by the sun.
How wrong I was!
I was out on my friends' boat; we were out on the water all day long, fishing, drinking beer, just having a good ol' time. I did not think about my skin for one second: I was too busy concentrating on nabbing "the big one".
We must have been on board that boat for a good ten to twelve hours easy. Needless to say, while we were fishing, yukking it up, and getting stone-cold drunk, my skin was, in the meantime, getting cooked.
Alive.
Let's just say that by the time we were through, I was redder than the stripes on Old Glory.
Rudolph's nose didn't have any competition with the sunburn I was now sporting.
I didn't know then I had this burn until my friend Tiny slapped me *HARD* on the back after I'd told a really dirty joke. It was instant agony: I swear someone had whipped me with a cat-o-nine tails!
It was some of the worst pain I'd ever felt in my life!!
That's when my friends noted my pink skin.
It was more than pink: it was so red I was practically glowing. I'm sure the nearest airport could have used me to guide planes land on the runway!
The next day, the pain was even worse. I ws so sore I could barely move. Each slight range of motion was pure torture. I was also redder than ever before. I looked like a walking marischino cherry with hair.
Putting on clothes was agonizing. It was all I could do to keep from screaming (which I'm sure I did, more than once!); I'm sure my girlfriend thought I was having a heart attack (or worse): several times she offered to take me to the nearest emergency room.
Now it is several days later since this happened. I am still bright crawfish-red; I can hear the people's gasps of surprise or their tittering giggles as they stare (or point) at me. I still resemble a glowing matchstick; I know it is going to take a while for this awful sunburn to fade. Then when it does, I'll probably be peeling dead skin from here to Dallas (and back again!).
Lesson learned: never, ever leave your house without putting on sunscreen first, even when it is cloudy outside! Chances are, you'll still get burned, which I did!!
Just call me "stupid". D'oh!!
