What to Do about the Sun? — No more beach days?
by Susan G Holland
Today I am presented with news via advertisement about a shirt that is light and comfortable and keeps out harmful rays while one spends a happy day swimming in the big beautiful sunshine!
And it’s made in Seattle! And there are shirts for all manner of humans who are unable or unwilling to subject their skin to those damaging rays!
The sun shirt costs $50, by the way.
But there’s this! There are many many people who really cannot go out in the sun at all. They have had to stay cloche-d safely because of previous damage to their skin for reasons of disease or other skin fragility. They have to stay in caves, as it were, segregated away from the great outdoors for the sake of staying alive and well.
Unless they are swimming in Nice, France, they could come out to the beach in these garments and swim like everyone else! There are even hats! And they come in good looking colors and patterns that look like ordinary clothing!
And here is another sunny side to the venture! Seattle could employ a lot of unemployed people making these garments if the trend catches on. If they patent their method carefully, they could keep the profits in Seattle — something like Boeing did for years.
Even I could go out with my ancient-ish white skin and safely swim in the warm-ish waters of Lake Washington without thinking about whether my skin is developing blisters and kicking up cancer cells. (If I could afford a $50 shirt.)
Even if Seattle’s new enterprise were more flexible with patents to its invention, it could get a special place in firm-heaven for developing something that would free up a lot of sun-disenfranchised beach-lovers (and sailors, and hikers, and skiers) to go enjoy healthy sports.
NOTE to skin-exhibitionists: (It’s not only about bikinis that people come to the beach.)
Imagine a business that can be set up in other American cities and towns that could employ people at safe and modern plants to manufacture this material, cut and sew garments, and ship them all over the globe for safety on beaches!
There would be a huge fight with the Sun screen industry — but how many purchases of sun screen would it be to add up to $50? A shirt that is good for hundreds of washings could cut the sun screen budget significantly.
I may go order one of their glen plaid shirts to wear for gardening, just to put my money where my mouth is.
But I’m wondering if they are hiring people who are hurting for employment? Maybe I should apply for a job!
And will they build a huge factory somewhere among the humongous mega-campuses already in Seattle and its suburbs?
Or could it, like Habitat, become a healing sort of industry that pops up all over the nation, employing workers who are trying to earn their own keep, and supplying the US with something smart?
Just saying….
Susan G Holland ©2017
