Shamrock Tattoos: A Cautionary Tale

#SOL16

Day 7

     Today was the first Irish day of the season.  We went to our local town's St. Patrick's Day parade, and just before we headed out I put a golden shamrock temporary tattoo on my cheek.  We put on the rest of our green, and we were off!

     Floats of green drove past.

     Candy was tossed and collected by little hands.

     Bagpipes played, and Irish jigs were danced.

     The last float went by, and we headed home.  Life returned to normal, so I decided to remove my tattoo and go grocery shopping in my regular state.  I got a washcloth and turned the warm water on, and started scrubbing.

     And kept scrubbing...

     And scrubbed some more.

     Before I knew it, my whole cheek was bright red, and yet still shimmering with golden flakes.  While not a complete shamrock anymore, it was still partially there on my angry cheek.  I decided to slather it with vasoline, and left it alone for half an hour.  When I returned to the cheek, the remaining gold did wipe off, but left my cheekbone an angry crimson that hurt to the touch.

     So much for going to Target in my "normal state."  I slathered the vasoline onto my cheek again, and headed off to the store. Target's official color is red, anyway.  Right?  I'm sure my face was just glistening under their fluorescent lights.  All that glitters is not gold, but perhaps has been recently.