bandaids

are you a fast yanker or a slow peeler?

i'm talking about peeling off bandaids after a wound has healed.  do you yank that sucker off in one shocking shriek of pain, or do you peel it ever-so-slowly, enjoying the slow, sweet agony of each little arm hair getting plucked with it, one by one?

i'm a slow peeler.  when i've had this bandage over a wound for way too long, and i can no longer defend the idea of keeping it on any longer, i still fear the ripping pain of taking it all off at once, so i do it s-l-o-w-l-y.... so slowly that it gives me time to pause and rest every few seconds, flirting with the idea of gently patting it back down again, avoid the pain of continuing the rip.  i mean, who needs pain anyway?

but once a wound heals, the skin needs to breathe.  needs the sun.  needs to thrive, to start living again.  not stay covered, immobilized, hidden.  if left under that seemingly protective bandaid too long, it will give up and die completely.

so rip it off.  fast or slow, doesn't matter.  get on with life.  and just breathe.