Never mind all that, LOOK AT THIS WOMAN'S FACE!

[Phox]

That person was once a human being right? Or at least passed for one?

[Cain]

As I understand it, New Jersey is a less classy American version of Newscastle.  So tanning yourself until you look like leather sounds about right.

[navkat]

That person was once a human being right? Or at least passed for one?

The fucked up thing is that at least some of that is chemical bronzer.

**Science moment**

1. Frequent tanners are often physically addicted to the UV light on a dopaminergic level.
2. Some obsessive tanners are actually not motivated primarily by the physical addiction, but by the same mechanism that drives anorexia nervosa. They're colloquially called "tanorexics" and it's very much like anorexia in that the obsessive behavior is facilitated Body Dysmorphic Disorder. The same zapped wiring that causes an 85lb 28 y/o woman to look in the mirror and see fat thighs is what causes that lady to run to the medicine chest and slather on 9 coats of chemical bronzer the night she learns a news crew is coming to the house to interview her in the morning.

She looks in the mirror and doesn't see Buckwheat, she sees the Corpse Bride.

I'm willing to bet she's got both: the BDD and the addiction. We all know she's full of shit, right? Like the anorexic doesn't see her 400-calorie diet and excercise regimen as harmful, this woman doesn't believe it'll really hurt much if her daughter gets a little UV light in her eyes. It's not even that strong. Just like the sun.

She doesn't see how depraved it is to bring the baby into the tanning room anymore than the junkie really gets how fucked up it is to shoot up in front of his child.

Side note: I don't care where little ginger-snap got her sunburn--inside or out. Mommy's responsibility is to make sure her baby doesn't end up with superficial burns covering more than 9% of her epidermis. Duh. Letting your kids go out all day without sunscreen is like, "you fucked up" on a basic level for mommies.

[Triple Zero]

But a tanning booth is closed off right? So any UV the kid could get into her eyes would be just on opening and closing it?

Also, check out the video, that kid's soooo cute

[Freeky]

Nav, the lady said her kid did have sunscreen on.  I know she's probably full of shit or something, but I just wanted to point out that nobody said she didn't have any.

[Reginald Ret]

While i am a big Barbecue enthusiast, even I wouldn't eat meat that charred.

[navkat]

No, dude. You go into a room big enough to take off your clothes and apply your lotion. There's a chair, some stickers, towels and other things in there. There's usually a chair in there too. This is so you can lock the door for privacy.

The tanning bed or booth is inside this room. The bed is a clamshell designed thing that has you sandwiched in with enough of an opening at the clamshell "lip" to keep you from feeling too claustrophobic. LOTS of the UV bulbs are viewable from outside the shell, inside the room.

If there's a stand-up booth in there, it's like a wardrobe within the room. Some UV light escapes but a lot less so.

You are required to wear goggles in these things. You understand why the first time your lotion/prep time runs out before you're ready and the bed clicks on before your goggles are secured.

The UV rays are so bright, you can easily see which of the other rooms are occupied. Yeah, that much fluorescent/black light comes out of the crack under the door. It makes your kicks glow as you walk past.

Unless Ginger-snap was outside of the room in the p-way while mommy was locked inside, tanning, Ginger-snap got her corneas lit up enough to be seeing funny Elmo dollies in her field of vision for a half-hour or more. Those things go from 12-20 minutes or less as desired, depending on the bulb-strength. I'm betting mommy was a "max it out" kind of gal.

If Ginger was outside, mommy is still WRONG. Locking yourself in a room with the ubiquitous Hot 97/Q101/z100 trash-pop blaring into the clamshell for 12 - 20 minutes while your under-12 child plays on the dirty floor in the corridor of a fungus-infested health services business with lots of dangerous equipment around is fucked. Especially considering that mommy is nekkid and in no position to rapidly answer the child's cries, even if she *could* hear over the racket coming from the radio in the bed.

[navkat]

By the way, I have a current tanning membership. It's just enough to combat any Seasonal Affective Disorder shit I have without the use of enteral drugs. Tanning is fabulous, makes me feel great.

I would never, ever, ever bring my kid into that building unless he was old enough to be trusted to sit quietly in the lobby, ON THE SOFA with his nintendo junk and behave for 12 minutes without getting into some sort of foolishness. So in other words, when he's like 28.

[Triple Zero]

Ok, I think the one tanning room I went into one time must have been different then. Although while I was inside the clamshell thingy, I couldn't see if there were bright UV lights outside as well. It was kind of creepy, even though I had a really low setting, I felt like I was baking. Also the music was terrible and I should have brought my own mp3

I could see myself going once or twice during the winter though, indeed to get a much-needed radiation boost. But so far I've never really gotten around to it

[Icey]

DEEEYUM. Apparently she takes her face well-done.