You may have heard about a study released last week that said tanning beds are just as bad as overexposure to natural sunlight. Shocking, I know.
In response to all the hype about this shocking discovery, Fox News Channel anchor Shepard Smith conducted a vicious interview with the president of the Indoor Tanning Association.
Needless to say Shep was pretty unhappy with everything his guest had to say. Shep responded to the accusation that he looks kinda tan with a retort about playing tennis without a lot of sunscreen. Really Shep, you should know that being outside without sunscreen is pretty much the same as swimming in mustard gas.
Anywho, back to the point. He ends this delightful interview by saying:
I ain’t getting in no damn tanning bed, are you crazy?
Kind of funny considering Shep is known as Fox News Channel’s resident chain smoker. Last I checked there are about a million studies telling us that smoking cigarettes is pretty bad for you. And by pretty bad, I mean you will get cancer and die.
Oh, I’m sorry…was that overhyping the realities of cigarettes?
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Yeah, but he’s ADDICTED to nicotine. That’s a disease. It’s not his fault and he’s not in control of that.
Tanning beds–now THAT’s different!
Blah blah blah big fat DUH… there’s actually legit medical uses for tanning beds, and when used responsibly, are actually beneficial. They were created for people with skin issues, and it helps people with Chronic Fatigue Syndrom and Epstein Barr Virus (which I have).
Anything that is done in excess is dangerous. Heck, drinking too much milk can lead to kidney issues and not to mention the lactic acid being deadly. People have died from drinking too much water. Some vitamins are toxic in large does.
What makes me madder than a march hen, however, is the fact that my cousin had Stage 3 Squamous cell melanoma and since she was told it MAY be hereditary, she feels no need for sunscreen for her OR her children and still rides around in a convertible. They also go to Florida every summer (she has since she was a kid) and go on cruises through the tropics. She then lectures ME about not using sun screen (I’m allergic, and barely in the sun as it is) or using a tanning bed 10 minutes a week (per doctors orders)… I wanted to die! Sure, I’m darker than she is, but it has more to do with me inheriting more of the darker Italian skin tones and a decent bronzer. I see the sun when I walk to class, and I’m not even in it long enough for a farmer’s tan
Uh…Uh.. HEY LOOK! WHAT’S THAT OVER THERE!
**runs out back door**
Well everyone knows that smoking makes you look cooler than a machine-induced tan. Duh.
Also, let’s not forget that lung and throat cancer are a whole lot sexier than skin cancer because you can’t see it. If you can’t see it, it’s not real.
Plus the sexy gravelly voice! Let’s not forget THAT.
Do you get a sexy gravelly voice from tanning?
This is not bragging mind you, just a statement.
I’ve been smoking from the age of 16, I am now 70.
One of the lucky ones I guess. Can’t be the Genes, I’ve out lived both Parents. Go figure, I can’t.
The funniest part of this story is that there actually is an “Indoor Tanning Association” that presumably lobbies Congress and state legislatures. Wonder what they ask the politicians for?
I also wonder how a chain smoker like Shepard Smith looks trying to play tennis. That’d be a pretty awesome YouTube video.
I see the hypocrisy here, but the ITA’s claims that indoor tanning provides many medical benefits are false.
I also see the hypocrisy in a President who chain smokes cigarettes and took more money from malpractice lawyers than every other candidate ever telling us we’ve got to reform health care.
Fortunate Son, you make my heart sing
I used to get into an argument almost identical to this with my ex-wife on a regular basis. She posited that I had no room to tell her to stay away from the tanning bed while I continued to smoke. The fact that three of her family members had skin cancer, including one fatality, and that while every member of my extended family uses tobacco in one form or another we’ve never had a cancer case really didn’t factor into her thought processes.
Here’s where I think the hypocrisy argument here breaks down though – cigarettes have been forced to properly label their products for my entire life, while people like the ITA can flat out lie their asses off, which is what Shep seemed to be calling them on.
Compare the ITA’s argument to ‘light’ cigarettes. Lights have a little message on the box saying ‘Light does not mean a safer product’. While the ITA’s entire argument is that tanning beds are safer than tanning outside. Well, no. Either way you’re bombarding your body with radiation, the exact same radiation to be precise.
When they start going the cigarette route and admitting that, ‘well, it’s all crappy for you, but you’re an adult and can make your own choice to use it or not,’ THEN there would be hypocrisy for calling them out if you were a smoker. As of now, this is no different than the tobacco companies parading a bunch of paid off doctors in front of congress claiming that nicotine isn’t addictive and there is no link between smoking and cancer.
ROFLOL @ Pasta!!
Nothing like someone else throwing the attention off their little bad habit onto someone else’s little bad habit. It’s called Deflection…or Distraction….whichever you prefer.
getting some sun is the only way to efficiently get vitamin D. lying on a hot dog cooker, on the other hand, doesn’t seem like a particularly good idea unless, as suggested above, there’s some specific medical reason for it.
The thing is, you only need approximately 5 minutes of sun to get your D for the day. The rest goes into your skin cancer account, so to speak.
Thing is, you do have cancer cells present in your body from the very beginning. Here’s what I learned from an oncologist while taking care of my MIL last year during her chemo. Its when those cells get the “go ahead” from certain factors that they go renegade and turn into cancer cells. Certain factors can be genetics, environmental, and institutional….or when the stars line up just so.
That’s why pack-a-day smokers can live to be 100 and some non-smokers die from lung cancer. Roll of the dice sometimes.
“cigarettes have been forced to properly label their products for my entire life, while people like the ITA can flat out lie their asses off, which is what Shep seemed to be calling them on.”
If the ITA isn’t stating that “Hey, this can be bad for you because of…” then they need to STFU. I used to own a tanning bed. It came with these labels stating the risks of UV exposure to skin and eyes, gave suggested exposure times, etc. I know tanning excessively is bad for me, but then again, I don’t tan excessively. The little 10 minutes worth I get a week is enough to keep me feeling OK. If I miss a week, it isn’t the end of the world, but I do feel a little more worn-down.
I’m committed to just staying pale. I hate greasy self-tanners that smell like sourdough bread gone stale, and I’ve already had enough sunburns (and one case of sun poisoning, which was essentially second-degree burns over 60% of my body) to make me a prime candidate for melanoma. Screw it. If people don’t like pale, they can look elsewhere.
same here Beige. I was in the hospital twice for sun poisoning back in college. My legs are pasty white, but I cannot afford to tan because cancer runs in my family.
I’ll use the tanning beds in the winter, only for about 10 minutes every other day so I don’t wind up looking like beef jerky. Does wonders for keeping the winter weather blahs away, I may have undiagnosed SADD…who knows, don’t care enough to find out. I just lay there and pretend I am at the beach for a handful of minutes. Anyways, like anything done in excess its going to be a little bad for you.
I’ve never really gotten the whole tanning bed thing, myself. This article was a pretty insightful look into the mentality of tanners (as in, those who tan, not taxidermists
), though.
LOL Bawwler, it does appear that way doesn’t it? Koka, I agree, in the winter it does keep away the winter blahs quite nicely. We’re actually supposed to get a little bit of sunlight each day for Vitamin D synthesis that isn’t found in food products. That could entail sitting outside with a book for a bit, but playing tennis in a bikini and heels would be irresponsible