Got Vitamin D?

A few months ago while having a wedding dress fitting the question was posed to me "Are you going to be tan for the wedding?"To be honest I hadn't really thought about it but the woman who sat at my feet pinning the hem suggested that I take a few tanning sections at a tanning salon to avoid any unsightly tan lines.

It was in the manner that I found myself at the tanning salon a few blocks from my house. I should start off by saying that I hate tanning. A day out in the sun is one thing but sitting under a large florescent light dose not sound like my idea of fun. I expected a slightly grungy room smelling of coconut oil and dead skin and instead found myself inside an episode of MTV's cribs gone wrong. The bright blue carpet was accented by the black leather couch and chairs with a gas burning fireplace in the corner. Above it sat a large TV that constantly ran information about why tanning is good for you.

"No time to exercise? Apply Make-up? Take vitamins?" it asked. "Start tanning and get all the vitamin D your body needs!" Cut to a clip of two women dressed in lab coats saying "We tell our patients, get some sun!" Then to a Harvard doctor saying that "Americans have come to have an unhealthy fear of the sun." Voice over quips in "In the past couple of years Americans have been bullied by the cosmetic companies to cover up and we are paying for it with our health. Vitamin D is an essential vitamin that you get directly from the sun. If you can't devote thirty minutes a day to being the sun you should be tanning."

With all these arguments as to why I need tanning I bought three tanning sessions to make me feel and look better (or at least that's what the advertisement is telling me). In reality what I bought myself was my first panic attack from the tanning followed by a slightly burned stomach. I would have to say I'm not sure it is worth it to have a tan for one day.