And the commencement speaker was class of ‘96, the same year as myself, and boy did she talk. Took me right back to the lengthy, droning speeches from all the cheerleaders at my own graduation. But do you want to know the worst part? She told those kids that there was no one piece of advice she could give that would apply to all of them!
Do we not all know that the long-term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by scientists?
I was so disappointed! 😂😂
Arooooooo!
That's the response I was looking for!
Strawberry was always my favorite. Anytime I see one in the wild, I have to get one.
Preferably frozen. At the pool.
I tried freeze dried charleston chews the other day.... new fave
For authentic refreshment-- eat Clark bars
and for totally outrageous class rings, it's Josten's.
On a related note, watch out for the hunky carjacker. He just wants to stay fresh and full of life. https://youtu.be/JqgqgcE8Zck
“Be kind to your knees, you’ll miss them when they’re gone” is 10/10 also.
My favorite one. And the only one I really took to heart.
Yep, hello 40!
You know what’s really sad? There’s a whole conspiracy theory now that it’s sunscreen that gives you cancer and not the sun and I personally know multiple people who believe it 😭
Lol. I just saw that post on r/conspiracy this morning!
Nooooo 😂😂😂😂
Oh… yep! There it is… lovely
Sunscreen does kill coral reefs though…
Very true — which is why it’s important to get reef-safe sunscreen
Indefinitely don’t buy that, but I will NEVER use aerosol spray sunscreen. Learned this in Hawaii when taking a SCUBA trip. They asked anyone who had it to apply it before getting on the boat. When we were underway I went up to the captain and asked why this was. He showed me that it actually peels/bubbles the paint off of their boat! It’s not instant, but over time (if not cleaned up), yeah it peels off boat paint.
They all use a mineral-based zinc sunscreen that is coral reef safe…the stuff they use is heavy duty and stays white, bc they’re on the ocean all day every day. So double the UV (reflection from the water)… that was enough to convince me to never spray that crap on my skin. If you can peel the paint off the boat I can’t be good for your skin…
I don’t want to live on this planet anymore.
Same
You’re welcome to leave anytime.
I have heard this rant from a coworker multiple times since it has started warming up. He insists skin cancer was not a thing until it was caused by sunscreen being pushed on everyone. He also insists that never ever wearing sunscreen is necessary for humans to get their vitamin D requirements. This wasn't his first crazy rant topic and it won't be his last.
Ugh. I’m sorry to hear this! I’ve also recently begun to realize that many people I know think tans are healthy, and that sun damage only occurs via sunburns. I thought we’d received better education about the dangers of the sun than that!
This is what I remember being told as a kid. Several family members and family friends would go to a tanning salon before vacations, summer and special events to build up a base. Of the ones I am still in touch with they have all either already had skin cancer removed at least once or they don't ever go to the dermatologist to get checked out.
Yeah. I have a history of skin cancer in my family and even I didn’t start to get super serious about always wearing sunscreen until my late 30s. Thank goodness I’ve never gone to a tanning salon
I can remember my pediatrician telling me a bad sunburn is a really good treatment for acne.
I'm going to start a conspiracy theory that hand washing is a conspiracy of the soap companies, and washing your hands causes like, I dunno, ass cancer or something. Judging by the insane shit I see online, I bet a few people will believe me. Then again, I feel like that would be unethical...
😂
My doctor told me she would rather me take a vitamin D supplement than get skin cancer. I agree.
I don't use sunscreen and I don't have no skin kancer, just sayin.
Ditto. People be too white.
My skin is fine. If anything is gonna kill me, the smart money is on lung cancer or liver failure.
If you smoke and drink, sure. But statistically heart disease will kill most of us.
Smoking and drinking are my main hobbies. Random sex, too. I don't have any interest in seeing 50.
I’m sure you will anyway 🤣
Shit, let's hope not.
You can always find and create meaning in your life. Try helping others.
This honestly makes me want to bang my head against a hard surface and kill a few brain cells. I can’t.
Same!!!!
I read a disappointing fact about sunscreen, which essentially said it was not effective against melanoma, but it was moderately effective against other, less lethal skin cancers. Not exactly conspiracy fuel, but it was depressing to read.
I just read a few things quickly and wasn’t able to verify that - where did you read it? I’d love to see
I think this was the one: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1447210/
Now that being said, I still use sunscreen if I'm going to be in the sun for a prolonged period, because it's still effective against sunburns, skin damage, and other skin cancers.
I guess the long and short of it is that if you're at risk of melanoma, use sunscreen but more importantly, avoid long sun exposure as much as you can. I would assume covering up would go a long way towards lowering your risk.
I recently discovered UV protective shirts which has been a nice alternative to sunscreen on some parts of my body. Thanks for providing the link to that study. I really appreciate it!
No problem! I think uv clothing and sunscreen both have their place. I'd be interested to see how effective the clothing is. Something tells me it would be a bit more effective than a lotion, but then again, maybe not the best choice for swimming!
I go camping/fishing in the summer and found the UV clothing to work great last year (my first year wearing it). Obviously swimming is another story though as you say 🤣
I work for a company that produces product for a few of the major sunscreen brands. Most current sunscreen is some combination of avobenzone, homosalate, octisalate, and octocrylene as the acrive ingredients. None of these are really toxic, but the old zinc stuff.....now that there will give ya the cancer. The zinc is also horrible for the environment, especially reefs and corals.
Edit: sorry, tired brain. The zinc is coral safe but environmentally toxic. Big old environmental hazard warnings on those 2000kg sacks
Aren't the mineral based sunblocks (zinc and titanium) considered safe for reefs and wildlife?
This is it. The chemical based (as opposed to mineral) sunscreen affects the sealife. Mineral also creates a block to the three types of UVs so its more effective IF you use it correctly. It also tends to be safer for sensitive skin. There is a white cast so that is unfortunate but I do think there are sheer mineral sunblock on the market now.
Thank goodness there is reef-safe sunscreen now!
My chemistry teacher told me this 30 years ago. He said either the UV will get you, or the carcinogenic benzene compounds in the sunscreen 😄
Only homo sapiens did not evolve to be covered with chemicals and indoors most of the time.
Last year at a 8th grade transition ceremony I had to listen to the athletic director from the high school tell the kids that the next four years of high school will be the best years of their lives 🙄
In my first year of med school three years ago, one of the students (early 20s) started up the question of “what was your best year?” Or something like that. Most were saying their high school age years (17, 18, etc). And a couple 21s. I was flat out “I guess this year, at 41...”. They all looked a little confused. One said “that’s nice” or something like that.
I can’t tell if that’s a “high school was a forking nightmare for me” thing or a “wow I’m old” thing. Or maybe just a thing. But I never really thought people genuinely believed that high school would be the best years of their life until that moment. Always thought it was a nonsense saying people told themselves.
If I ranked the years of my life, the teens wouldn't make the top 10.
It’s absolutely wild to me that people still maintain this lie.
Like you seriously liked high school better than your twenties? Better than sex with your spouse in your thirties? better than watching your kids discover all the shit you loved as a kid? better than all the hobbies you developed as an adult? better than the friendships and connections you made later in life? better than ALL OF THAT? Like no, these aren’t universal experiences, but neither is peaking in high school.
But leave it to the dork who’s stuck living out the remaining sixty-ish years of their life glorifying those four years between the ages of fourteen and eighteen to lack self-awareness.
I don’t have kids, but part of the reason I go to each Ghostbusters movie in theaters is to see kids enjoying the new ones as much as I loved the original.
Considering how lonely and alienating high school was, I’m ok with that.
Absolutely. And if it wasn't clear, I'm not being prescriptive in my comment, like, "all of these things are a common experience and necessary for a good life," as much as listing some examples of things that absolutely can get better with age, or be experiences that we more commonly have when we're older.
He probably peaked in high school 🤣
I definitely got that "I played high school football/ Uncle Rico" vibe from him
My highschool years and maybe the next 5 WERE the best years of my life though. Literally no responsibility, low wage job that still afforded me enough to have fun and enjoy life back then and the girls. Dude, if I could go back, I would. Now, it's boring ass 9 to 5 (06:30 to 4) with an occasional escape from reality maybe a few times a year with short weekend getaways w/the fam. And I'm one of the luckier ones too (good job, only 1 kid). I'm definitely telling my son to enjoy life now while he's pretty much free to do whatever, obviously being somewhat responsible/respectful.
For some that ends up being true. I knew a few that were happy in high school but didn’t do so well in transitioning to college and/or “real life”. I had the opposite experience where high school was ok, I have some nostalgic memories of a few things, but nowhere close to the best years of my life. College on the other hand was much better for me. I loved my time there, especially compared to high school.
I wouldn't call it laughable. HS times are pretty awesome for plenty. There is a certain magic and fun to it all.
Not that other times aren't great too.
An apple a day will keep the ex-lax away sounds like great advice to me.
I swear by two kiwis a day. Much tastier!
Ah, I'll take Honeycrisp over cannibalism any day.
Did anyone else read this in Wayne's voice from LetterKenney?
That's a Texas-sized 10-4, big shoots.
Pitter patter let's get at 'er
OP knows that sunscreen is good and that's what I appreciates.
Allegedly.
Everything in moderation.
Including moderation!
Religion is a fine thing ... In Moderation
I feel like “treat others how you’d like to be treated” is a pretty fucking universal bit of good advice for EVERYONE.
Best philology
The best advice I have heard at a commencement speech was “The greatest and most valuable things in life cannot be bought.” They then went on to explain that life is about friends, family and experiences. They gave examples how “You can buy the most beautiful house in the world but that won’t make it a home.” Stuff like that. Then they finished with life is a team sport. You can go fast alone but if you want to make it to your goals you’ll need a team of friends and family around you. This was back in 2018.
How could she breeze over that? Also, add on to that, if Steve Irwin wore sunscreen, he'd be alive today. I'm just saying.
Blocks harmful rays
One word: Antioxidants.
This was the version I preferred in high school
Trust me on the winnie blues....
And no matter what the stripper tells you, there is no sex in the champagne room.
None.
I feel like you went to too nice of a club then..
Scorpio here. I’ve had to stop midway a few times bc it certainly felt like my heart was about to explode.
I just went back and listened to the Baz Lurhmann Sunscreen song. I thought it was quirky and funny when I was 18 now I’m 45 and the whole thing hits differently.
Be excellent to eachother.
Party on dudes!
Nice Letterkenny title. You give good sunscreen advice and that's what I appreciates about you.
I’m with you…would have been a good time to read those song lyrics.
And while we are on the subject of graduations… what the hell is up with seemingly every freaking grade getting a graduation ceremony now? At my son’s school, there is: a kindergarten graduation, a 5th grade graduation, an 8th grade graduation….and the traditional HS graduation. What. The. Fuck?? They were just starting to do kindergarten graduations with my younger brother was that age, but Jesus! These kids don’t need a fake diploma every time they move up a grade. Maybe let them do the kindergarten one, and obviously high school graduation. Anything in between is superfluous and unnecessary
You can never have too many celebrations, and marking the transition between schools seems like a good place to have one to me. 🤷♂️
Life is long and we are all interconnected globally aka don’t be an a$$ in this life.
Well now I feel old. Again.
I would have stood up there and read the entirety of the lyrics to them. I still bawl my eyes out when I hear that song, partially because I can remember how I felt when I heard it so young, to listening to it in adulthood and realizing how much of it truly applies. It’s not about how profound or deep any of it is but, how nostalgic, universal, and applicable to life.
Well I just had to listen to that again
That song came out (or at least, I started hearing it on the radio) in early 1999, which is when I started college. I thought the song was appropriate in my life even at the start of attending college, and I really enjoyed listening to it.
In high school I believe we had back to back commencement speakers who wanted to talk a little about the word "excellence".
I'm allergic to sunscreen.
Well, enjoy the power and beauty of your youth, then
Everybody is free to wear sunscreen....
Pretty lame to ape a misattributed Kurt Vonnegut commencement address
The Sunscreen song was class of 99
I think the one piece of advice they could have used the most was that any time is the right time to enjoy the classic taste of a Charleston Chew