An albino girl crossed the street in front of my car at a stoplight the other day. As she stood on the corner waiting to cross again, I looked at the skin on my inside forearm, back to her, then back to my forearm again. The pallor of my skin was only barely darker than hers. Than that of an albino.
If not for her almost-white hair, I probably wouldn’t have even noticed her. You see, that level of paleness is completely normal to me. I’m so pale that I burn after twenty minutes in direct sunlight. People ask me why I don’t really do outdoorsy activities–it’s because I burst into flames like a vampire. What most people would consider to be normal light hurts my eyes and requires me to wear sunglasses.
I’m pretty sure my ancestors were part of some little-known nocturnal branch of the human species.
August 1, 2008 at 12:19 pm
I feel your pain. Philo was BORN with skin more tan than mine. Right now I have a tan on my arms that took years to accumulate, and he has an all-over color that’s still darker than me. If it wasn’t for my dad’s skin tone being the same as Philo’s I’d swear the kid wasn’t mine.
August 9, 2008 at 12:07 am
Sun is one of the best ways to get vitamin D. Despite spending almost everyday doing some walking outside, I have a severe vit D deficiency and take 3x the required amount just to get up to normal.