Image via Uniform Velocity
According to the Irish Times today, 42% of men in Ireland never use sun protection.
This is madness. We shouldn’t take the sun for granted. It is a killer, as 5,000 Irish people are finding out each year. All it takes is one small mole on your body to go a different colour or shape, and you could be in big trouble. Once a cancerous mole reaches the lower layers of the skin, the cancer can quickly spread around the body, virtually guaranteeing your early demise.
Most of us Irish have the wrong skin. It’s doesn’t tan, it burns. It’s replete with vulnerable moles and other blemishes. And, after prolonged exposure, it can kill you.
The answer? Stay out of the sun as much as possible and wear high factor sunscreen. Oh yeah, and have someone check out the moles on your skin. You might thank them one day for saving your life.
Passive Impressions 
Having moved out here to Australia, I was amazed at how seriously the Aussies take the sun and its effects on the skin. I wear SPF 15 even in winter here… unlike my (Irish) father who is basically just one big freckle after years of working outdoors and playing golf in all weathers with no sun protection.
On the other hand, anyone who spent some time in Ireland knows that staying out of the sun there is pretty easy 🙂
Seriously, what these 42% do not seem to realize is that clouds do not provide much protection at all.
Hi woo – Australians are light-years ahead of us in this way. A pity they couldn’t bring their advertisements up to that standard!
Hey Joe! Good to hear from you! In terms of the number of people who don’t realise that clouds provide little or no protection, you can easily double the statistic..
Yea, I’m still here, and so is everyone else on the SB team.
Hope you let us know if and when you visit Chicagoland again.
After all, we still got to finish that Intelligent Design conversation (over some Pilner Urquell) 😉
I used sunblock factor 30 during my recent trip to the Far East. I tried to avoid the sun as much as you can while doing all these touristy view spotting, including wearing a hat. regardless I’m more freckled than I can remember ever being during the almost half of a century I spent on this planet. Us Northerners are not made for hot climates 🙂