"Don't go to the light, Carolann!" - Poltergeist

Greetings and Salutations!
Just to recap, I am excited more than ever now after having run the 9 miles on Saturday. It was hot. And it was all I could do not to do my usual sprints to catch/pass people on the run. But I am getting better at not cringing at the thought of being last. (I still have issues with being picked last for kickball.) And in the event of any Runner's blindness that I may have caused, I do apologize, your sight should have returned by now. If not...then you wouldn't be on your computer reading this now would ya? Just kidding. But this leads me to my topic for the day:
Pale Skin.

For those of you who have not had encounters with people of mixed descent, I'll explain some interesting bits of info concerning the skin tone. For half Caucasian/Asian, the tone is pretty fair. For half Black/Asian, the tone is 'usually' a warm golden complexion. Notice I said 'usually'. I am the exception to the rule. I can be quite fair as you may have seen for a brief moment before squinting away in teary-eyed agony. My arms, face and neck are tan, but the rest of me is pretty shameful. Well now after the run on Saturday, my tanned areas include the frontal mid-thighs down to the ankles. Oh, and the back of my neck. (what is up with that? I thought my braid had that covered.) From my hips to my color bone is...well its pretty damn scary. I don't have to turn on the lights in the bathroom in the morning to take a shower. I pretty much just glow. I am the beacon for our morning runs! But I figured you were all my new family, and I don't know anyone in Clinton...why not bare my irredescence for all the world to see. I did notice quite a few animals gawking at me with the 'deer-in-headlights' look. Once I passed, they resumed daily activity. This also makes me wonder about the animal world in general. Are they gawking in awe or horror? Am I the 'albino' in their colorful world? Does being untanned serve any purpose primitively? Maybe in the Antarctic, Greenland, Siberia. But Central Mississippi? I should have been preyed upon and mauled by the end of our Saturday run. I was the little runt in the back of the pack the cheetah preys on, unable to blend in with my surroundings. I have got to get a tan. I Want To Live!

And today. A co-worker that sits next to me, a black man, asked me a question that I had yet to answer. I was sitting at my bench, eating my lunch, my right ankle resting on my left knee. A position that caused my pant leg to hike up to expose that ever-so faintly tanned ankle. He looked at it with young curiosity, wheeled his chair towards mine, leaned in and said, "Now, are you considered Caucasian?", all while pointing at my 'sun-kissed challenged' ankle. Yes, he was serious - innocently serious. Did I get angry, mad, irate? No. All I could do was laugh. Didn't even see that one coming.

I have now come to the decision to visit one of these establishments that professes having captured the sun in a box. Not to avoid questions as the one written above, or to be a part of the in- crowd. I just want to be one color. Not two or three. Although, that could be for interesting fodder come Monday morning. I am not sure which I will be giving my patronage to or when. I am sorry, I can no longer be the beacon of light that leads you in darkness. Just know that when I get my tan, I did it to save your eyesight...