Chapstick

 




Chapstick


The plastic tube sits in the pocket of my winter jacket. The “secret” inside pocket to be specific. It has been there for a long time. One thing about chapstick is it never spoils. It is a semisolid cylinder of vaseline in a plastic case that has a screw-driven dial on the bottom which as you apply it lets you push more forward until it runs out. But it never seems to.


I usually lose the thing before it ever runs out. You only need it a few times a year mainly in the winter. At least for me as an adult. When I was a kid I needed to use it more frequently. Chapped lips were one of those discomforts of childhood like chafed thighs from your corduroy pants. 


I cannot remember the last time I applied chapstick, to be honest. It has been a few years. I am not even sure if I have any in my big coat pocket if I was to go and check. 


I do have hand sanitizer though. Freshly filled bottle from my wife. We need to be armed with it these days as the deadly virus continues to run rampant in this country. The result of four years of an incompetent failed president. We will have over 300,000 dead by Christmas. It is surreal. And we are on the precipice of the worst winter in modern public health history. 


We have to cross the rickety rope bridge that dangles over the virus volcano. On the other side of the bridge is the vaccine waiting for us, dangling the temptation of normalcy. So we do not have to wear masks everywhere we go in public. So we can have friends and family members inside our homes again, But we have to cross this bridge. And it feels like the bridge is collapsing with each step we take forward. 


As I write this, Christmas is less than three weeks away. We usually put some chapstick in the kids’ stockings. They probably have a lifetime supply of it by this point. If they could find them. I doubt they know where all the little plastic lipstick shaped containers are. 


Waxy, it slides over your lips leaving a protective film behind. It can be flavorless, or not. Fruity, or bubblegum. The flavorless has slight petroleum after taste. It is probably wise not to ingest it despite the claims of “non-toxic” on the side of the tube. 


If only defeating corona was as easy as defeating chapped lips. Spread the vaccine on your lips. Enjoy the waxy film. Then go to the movies. Go to the bar. Have your family over for dinner. Stop worrying where your son is going. Put on your chapstick. It will make it all better. If only.

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