WHAT'S YOUR NUMBER?

So, here’s the scenario. While digging through my wallet for my voter ID, I found a gift card. MY LUCKY DAY! Except for it was set to expire at midnight. It must be spent, I said to myself! (I abhor wasting money…especially the free variety!) Off I go to said store and pick up a selection of items which may—or may not—include a bottle of wine. (Okay, those of you who know me well know that it did indeed include a bottle of wine, one from the bottom shelf in keeping with the amount on my gift card.)  My mental math had me estimating my total purchases to be just a skooch over the value of the card, an amount that would easily be covered by the loose change in my pocket. My double lucky day.

I should have read the fine print on the back of the card. In my defense, it was VERY fine print, and it’s not like I carry a magnifying glass around with me.

But the cashier had excellent vision and read it to me: “Not valid for purchase of alcoholic beverages.”

Alllrighty, then.

Option 1: Step out of line, shop for something else I "needed", then get back in the loooonnnnggggg queue to check out again, thus risking being late for the start of happy hour.

Option 2: Grab something off the Impulse Item display on the counter and literally get something for nothing.

I opted for the second option and reached for a tube of sunscreen sitting in a box by the credit card machine. It’s summertime. We live near the beach. Someone (resident or guest) always needed sunscreen. And did I mention it wouldn't cost me one red cent?

Once home, I handed the tube to hubby. He looked at it. “You plannin' a trip to the sun?”

Huh? “No, why?”

He flashed the tube in my direction. “One-hundred SPF?”

I grabbed to tube to confirm for myself. Again with the dang fine print.

Growing up we’d slathered ourselves in baby oil and baked in the sun until our skin was crispy brown (or in my case tomato red.) And now I held in my hand 100 SPF. Is that sign of getting old? Or getting smart? I prefer to think the second explanation.

I did a bit of research to determine if I even needed 100 SPF, considering most of my beach time is at sunset to watch that sailboat races on the Chesapeake Bay. And honestly, I didn’t know the difference between a 20 and a 100 (100 sure sounds better, doesn’t it?) This is what I found:

The SPF rating only refers to UVB rays. An SPF 15 sunscreen blocks 93% of UVB radiation, and SPF 30 blocks 97%. After that, the difference in protection is small. SPF 50 blocks 98%, and SPF 100 stops 99% of UVB rays from reaching your skin.

<<This of course begs the question why not just use the % number in the description...93% UVB or 99% UVB. Makes more sense to me. But I digress...>>

We used the 100 SPF the next day. It went on thick, like spreading Crisco on my arms and legs. Yuck. It did prevent me from burning, so I’ll give it that. But I suffered a severe skin reaction I’m still battling a week later. Apparently, I'd exceeded my SPF tolerance limit. No more 100 SPF for me. I’ll risk exposing myself to that extra 1% of UVB rays. I like to live dangerously that way.

The “free” tube of sunscreen now languishes in the bottom of my beach bag. I hate to throw stuff out, even if it didn't cost me anything.  

On a positive note, that bottom-shelf wine I'd added to round out the gift card ended up being very tasty. I wouldn't have tried it were it not supposed to be "free". But I've learned that budget wines are like a box of chocolates...you never know what you’re going to get. But sometimes I like to live dangerously that way. Cheers.