Chapstick, and Chapped Lips, and Things Like Chemistry

I'm a chapstick addict.

 As you read that statement, I'm sure you chuckle to yourself.

"Oh, Katy" you thinking, "you're so dramatic is laughable." 

Well, first off, you'd be right. Even I won't pretend that I'm not an incredibly dramatic person. Second, however, it's become pretty clear to me over the last few years that me minus chapstick is a bad scene.

Rare is the week that goes by without someone making a comment on my extensive chapstick application, by near panic attacks upon realizing I've forgotten my chapstick, and or my whining when I head somewhere for a few minutes and forget to throw a chapstick in my pocket.   

If you don't suffer from this addiction. Let me try to explain. I don't just use chapstick in the dry winter, or on cold, windy days. Oh no, I'm a die hard, year round chapstick user, and a mere stick transferred around just won't do. I have a chapstick for each of my purses, chapstick for my car, spare chapstick at work, and of course, several chapsticks in my bedside table.

If by some horrific oversight, I go somewhere and find that I don't have chapstick on hand, panic sets in. My hand get clammy, i get irrationally angry at myself, and my lips begin to burn, tingle, and in some extreme cases swell. Constantly, I find my mind wandering toward applying some chapstick. While everyone sits, enthralled with Harry Potter, or a future bride opening her wedding gifts, or a cute baby cooing on his mother's lap. . .I'm somewhere else. Squirmy, distracted, and feeling a little faint, I'm wondering where I can sneak off to to get some chapstick. Sometimes, I'll compromise and use some lotion to moisten my lips, but it's never enough. 

And if you're wondering. NO. I NEVER use another person's chapstick. That's disgusting. Unless we've kissed, in which case, I can make an exception. Otherwise, I don't want my lips on something your lips have touched. bleck.  

 What prompted this particular post? Well, I'll tell you! This weekend, I left for a day and a half of traveling and forgot my chapstick. Then, somehow, terribly, my car chapstick was missing. The horror! After an agonizing 18 hours or so, I eventually found a chapstick in my coat pocket. My lips are still recovering. . .

This prompted me to do some research in chapstick addiction, as I've read that it's a legitimate problem before. I learned tonight that while it's not an addiction like alcohol, say, our lips are easily psychologically affected.  As soon as we think about our lips the saliva on then dries, and we have the urge to moisturize them.

If we don't moisturize them, they can easily dry, crack or peel, because we continue to think about it and they continue to dry out. Jeez! It's clearly a lose-lose situation. This isn't a problem that affects everyone, but it apparently plagues many people all over the world.

I just happen to be one of the many. 

Really, I'm writing to advocate for addicts like me who are constantly being made fun of by our friends and coworkers for our ridiculous addiction. We are not crazy, we have a real problem. Be nice to us.

. . .And if you're wondering, yes my lips are incredibly dry and starting to burn as I write this. I think I'll go put on some chapstick. . .