Summer is the best. No classes, no worries, and no responsibilities. You can sleep in late and enjoy not being totally sleep deprived. The trees are green and the birds are singing. It’s a carefree time, and it’s great. There is only one issue that I have with summer: the sun.

I know, I know. You have to have the sun to survive and all of that good stuff, but have you ever been a pale redhead in the summer before? Yeah, I didn’t think so. From personal experience, let me tell you that it’s pretty annoying.

Every time I go outside for more than five minutes, I am worried about my fair skin. There is always a sense of impending doom surrounding me as I try to go swimming with my friends like a normal person. You can try to be normal and not wear sunscreen like all of your tan friends, but you WILL end up looking like a tomato.

From an early age I have had to battle the sun, and most of the time the sun wins. Obviously, I could just wear sunscreen whenever I go outside, but have you ever smelled sunscreen? It’s awful. I understand that sunscreen is the only alternative solution, but come on! I just want to protect my pale skin, not smell like sunscreen, and go outside all at the same time. Is that really too much to ask??

As a kid, my mom and I would fight about whether or not I had to wear sunscreen when I went to ride bikes with my friends. She always won, but I would try my hardest to sneak out without her smothering me in that awful lotion. As I have gotten older, I have become better about wearing sunscreen and protecting my skin and all that stuff, but it’s still hard.

I just wish that I could enjoy my summer like any normal person. I wish that I could somehow develop a Chaco tan like all of my friends, and then complain in November about how it ‘just won’t fade away.’ I want to be able to go out in a swimsuit and not blind my friends, family, and strangers at the beach. By the way, I’m sorry if I have ever blinded you, but it’s not my fault, it’s my genes.

I would like to say right now that I am immensely jealous of anyone that can get a sunburn and then the next day have a nice tan. I am the exact opposite. I can get a sunburn and then three weeks later, when it finally heals, I have about 40 new freckles.

Ultimately, being a pale person in the summer is tough and challenging but it’s the way I was made, so I guess I won’t complain too much.