The Gingerskinned Man

Once upon a time, a husband and wife, both dark haired, blue-eyed, and olive skinned, had a child. They gave birth to a small baby boy, but little did they know, both of them were carriers of a recessive gene. A gene known as “The Ginger Gene,” which caused their little boy to have bright red hair and pale skin, in which every square inch of the boy’s body was covered in freckles. The parents did not know many of the different risks which came with having a ginger child, but like most young children, he spent most of his time protected by the sun, either by shade or the indoors. That was true until about the age of three.

It was a hot, but cloudy, mid-July day when the father and mother took the ginger child to the park. As the child played on the swing set, the clouds in the sky began to part and the sun started to show its ugly face. Much like a steel rod in a fire pit, the boy’s skin was glowing red within just minutes of the sun touching his skin. He shot off the swing, like a bullet out of a gun; his little radiantly-illuminated freckled legs scurried as he ran and he ran, and all his parents could hear him say was:

“Run from the sun,

As fast as you can,

You can’t catch me,

I’m the Gingerskinned Man.”

The parents ran after the boy, but didn’t have to run far. The sun stopped the boy abruptly in his tracks. The little Gingerskinned Man fell 20 yards from where he started due to heat exhaustion and third degree sun burn, just a few feet away from shade.

After months at the Mayo Clinic, with numerous skin grafts and rehabilitation, the Gingerskinned man made a full recovery.

The little boy, now a grown man, does not go outside during daylight hours when the sun is present, but if he must, he dresses himself in sweat pants, a long sleeved turtle neck, a duster (cause he’s badass), sunglasses, boots, an umbrella hat, and rubs SPF 120 wherever his freckled skin shows.

As for the parents, they learned a valuable lesson and became more aware of the many problems that ginger people face, mostly with the sun and all its evil.

Today the Gingerskinned Man, now 45 years old, runs a successful internet company, which involves little travel and limited outdoor activities. He still resides in his parent’s basement and has no plans of moving out in the near future.

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I wrote this short story to try to show the difficulties and hardships of gingers and their unforgiving relationship with the sun. I, myself, am not a complete ginger, but I do possess enough ginger DNA to be labeled a "day-walker." For those who do not know what a day-walker is, it basically means that I, unlike full-blown gingers, can take a stroll out in the sun for a small period of time without having to dodge the sun and without the risk of losing my life. Us day-walkers, do however, burn severely and cannot develop a sun tan. Although we can walk outside in the sun, our time is still limited.

I feel that July, with all its heat intensity, should be considered "Ginger Awareness Month." It would be a month to teach young gingers about the struggles ahead of them, and to make people that surround them, their friends and families, aware of what it is that they must go through on a daily basis. It would be a month to teach young gingers that they are no different than anyone else, (except for the whole "can't go out in sunlight" ordeal) and that they too can be successful in life, such as Ron Howard and Raggedy Ann.

With the help of you all, we can grow together by learning to understand one another, and the hardships we all face day to day. So, if you see a ginger walking in the shadows of the day or frantically scurrying from the sun, hand them an umbrella,  maybe some sun screen, possibly a turtleneck, but if you don't have any of those on hand, just give a hug, but be quick, remember their time is limited. Any little bit can help. Together we can make this happen!

A Medical Pioneer

This is NOT an article about a major breakthrough in medical research, a cure of any sort of disease, nor an advancement of any technology that would help the medicine practice. This is an article about Snuggies. "Snuggies?" You might ask. Yes, Snuggies!

Imagine yourself lying in a hospital bed, on a mattress, most likely with a sleep number rating of five-hundred, with a sheet covering you that has a thread count of one, and a piece of fabric so stiff and rough it's a shame it is even considered a blanket. Not to mention that it is most likely thirty-degrees in the room and you are wearing a thin, scratchy, piece of material they call a hospital gown, which numbers of people have worn before you.

Now imagine yourself lying in that same uncomfortable bed, with the same uncomfortable sheet, and the same uncomfortable "blanket", but this time sporting a trendy, soft, and comfortable Snuggie. That's right; I am talking about Snuggie hospital gowns!

These are not just any normal Snuggies, these would have a revolutionary new design, with a slit down the back, much like normal hospital gowns, but with new style aerodynamics to keep more cold air out, but still provide the much needed access from the back and with much desired breathability.

Now you may be thinking, "This can't be done, it is too expensive." And to that I call out, "Shenanigans!" Hell, you can order two snuggies and two book lights for just 19.95, imagine how much cheaper it would be if health care companies mass ordered Snuggie gowns.

I am a true believer that hospitals should cover the cost for the patient to feel comfortable, but even if they charged five-dollars for the Snuggie, it would be better than the germ infested rags they use now. I know I would rather pay a few extra dollars, instead of having my body touch a gown that was worn by a lot of other naked bodies in the days prior. Here's an idea, how about if a patient's bill reaches over a thousand-dollars it just gets thrown in? I think that's fair.

It may not be a huge breakthrough in medical research or the medical field at all, but I think it is fair to say that patients deserved to be comfortable. I feel Snuggie provides a product that could help, even if it is in a small way. Plus, it would just be an increase in business for them. A patient deserves to feel cozy during their stay, especially knowing the cost of a night’s stay. This may seem to be a tad outlandish and somewhat ridiculous, but to be honest, that's how I feel the current situation is.

Will this idea make me medical pioneer, that's not for me to say, but if I were you, I would jump on the Snuggy bandwagon and by some stock, that is if it is publically traded. With that being said, I do not work for Snuggy nor am I endorsed by the company in any way... yet!

Fate Undiscoved

Looking back and reflecting upon what is the evolution of my brain and soul within this past two years, I can pinpoint the precise location and pivot of my belief in fate or that of a set destiny. Being a Christian, born Lutheran and now non-denominational, I always had this idea that there was a pathway that was designed just for me, by the Creator, that my destiny was set in stone. I figured every decision, whether right or wrong, and every turn I took was already foreseen. So, when I crammed all my belongings into my car and made my way four-hundred miles south, I thought there was an unseen, driving force, pushing me towards what I believed was fate.

As I sat in my English class, memorizing a poem by William Ernest Henly titled “Invictus,” (which was a requirement for the class), a segment of the poem stood out upon the rest:

"It matters not how straight the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate:
I am the Captain of my soul."

As I wrapped my head around this piece of literature, which was not overly exhausting, it was that verse which turned out to be a pivot on which my mind would change direction, but at the time, I was unaware of that.

It was not for another ten-months and a new found love for Philosophy did I put the ideas of free-will and fate together. I have always believed in free-will, since I can just as easily say "no" as I can say "yes." I can decide whether I want to get out of bed, or lay there and sleep in. I feel these simple decisions, are basic determining factors and proofs of free-will. The area I never spent much time thinking about or trying to process is the relationship among free-will and fate, which, I really feel free-will throws a curve-ball on the idea of fate. In fact, these two ideas, I believe, contradict each other heavily.

To understand where I am coming from, it can be easily seen by the definition of the two ideas. The belief in free-will is basically the ability for agents, such as humans, to make choices, free of certain restraints, whereas fate, as mentioned earlier, is the belief that there is a certain destiny people process. To have a set destiny, there must be restraints on human thought and their ability to make decisions for this to occur, which goes against the major cornerstone of free-will; no restraints.

I can still feel the mixed emotions that engulfed my body as it did the day I first processed this information. It was one of those feelings that felt life altering, like the world stopped and went in reverse. But, when I took a step back out of the light of my thoughts, nothing had changed, nor would it. The only thing that could change was me, "I am the master of my fate: I am the Captain of my soul."

My destiny is to be discovered by my own means, whether here in Omaha, New York, or Paris. The truth is it doesn't matter who and what it is that I come across, but it must be by my own means to build relationships and to develop a stream of networking to create my very own pathway, my very own destiny, that as of now, is far from set in stone.

I have formed this belief, a belief of my own, which could be wrong by many means, but I have found comfort and strong self-reliance among it. I do not write to discourage any other's beliefs, but to help one expand their own thought. I have found deeper faith and a solid dwelling place for my soul to grow. So, with all certainty, I write, with all uncertainty, I know.