Iridescent

“Glow in the dark’ nail polish,” the waitress in her twenties wiggled her hands as I admired the sparkles. “Cup your hands around my fingers. See the glistening light? And it’s totally safe!”

My unadorned nails, often into messy things, are as much ‘me’ and decorated ones are for many. But the phrase ‘totally safe’ and ‘glow in the dark’ took me back to World War II’s radium jewelry popular at the time.

My dad got me a blouse pin. I held it up to an indoor incandescent bulb, or sun’s brightness outside, then quickly went into the front hall closet. Pushing against overcoats on bulky wooden hangers, I watched my pin emit greenish light. Of course, radium, they said, was safe. Even some wristwatch dials could be read in a very dark room! 

I Googled the iridescent nail polish: super phosphorescent pigment.  “...crystals absorb any ambient light...”  If zinc sulfide is used, it won’t glow as long. Non-toxic. Non-radioactive. And any light, including ultraviolet, will charge them. 

Ultraviolet. My parents had a lamp; thick dark goggles had to be put on before my dad would plug it in. Was I getting sunlight in the dark winter days? He monitored the minutes, then shut it off and placed it on a high shelf in his personal closet. The goggles went to the same place. I might have sensed ‘danger’ from ultraviolet but was having fun as if it were a game. During adolescence, the ultraviolet also treated acne. Why did I need to protect my eyes? No one ever told me. During a college chemistry class, I learned an inert gas and mercury were present inside that device, and when my dad plugged it in the electricity reacted with the mercury to produce UV light. Had to be safe as any student could get UV acne treatments at the school’s infirmary with a doctor’s note. The chemistry professor said goggles prevent the cornea from being burned. I asked about my childhood jewelry and its greenish hue, and the instructor informed me phosphor, made from silver and zinc sulphide, mixed with radium actually caused the color glow. 

Radiation. Safe. No surgical incision. No anesthesia. ‘New’ medicine. Since there were no pills to help repeated sinus infections, after World War II, I was placed in a lead-lined room with sandbags at my head to keep me from moving it.  Alone, it was frightening when a heavy door closed and I thought I was abandoned and couldn’t escape. Destruction of the sinus ‘disease’ was completed. 

There were fun x-ray machines in some shoe stores; people could see the amount of room left between their toes and shoes’ tips. Fluoroscopies had continual beams passing through the body, with no need to develop a cumbersome image, and many medical internists allowed patients to enjoy viewing this total body experience with the same ‘fun’ as in the shoe store. Safe. 

Eating raw cake batter, putting uncooked eggs in a drink were part of my children’s pleasant memories. No longer safe. 

I cupped my hands around the young girl’s shiny manicured nails. Her face showed excitement with sharing the magic. “It’ll glow for about half an hour after I put them by light and seeing them in a dark bedroom is wonderful. And it makes a greenish color!” I wanted to let her know about the phosphor that produces that color, thought about my long-ago chemistry professor, yet didn’t. 

And hearing ‘it’s totally safe’ is a phrase that also took me back in time. I merely smiled, and then said “beautiful.”