21st century Tanning Salons

     I have a vitamin D deficiency.  I tried taking prescribed supplements, but it's not working very quickly at all.  Anyway, after reading about the deficiency it scared the hell out of me and I did what I've sworn off for over a decade; went to the tanning bed.  Dom Dom Dommmm!  Yep, I did.
     We've all had our brains trained to believe the sun is bad and any exposure to the sun's rays will surely kill us.  After doing some research, I found that the effects of not getting sun exposure can actually be much more harmful than going to the dreaded tanning salon.  Skin cancer has a low mortality rate.  Vitamin D deficiency on the other hand can contribute to heart disease, diabetes, stroke, cancer, depression and anxiety just to name a few.  These are things I'm predisposed to as most of the rest of the country is.
     Walking into the salon I felt like a little girl in a candy shop.  You have to understand something first.  The last time I went to the tanning bed was 14 years ago.  I worked at a hair/tan salon and tanned for free.  The tanning beds were plain white and the size of a small coffin.  The only cooling was that of a pedestal fan oscillating nearby which didn't help much.  I used to sweat my ass off for that tan and tried to pretend it was relaxing to lay and bake in this tiny capsule.  Once I moved away to college, tanning lost all of its appeal to me and that was the end.
     Now I find that not only are there larger beds, but there are like 5 different tanning options.  First we have fast tan which is similar to old school tanning but I've been told the beds are indeed nicer and larger.  A step up we have faster which is even bigger and nicer still, then we have fastest.  Fastest is the only bed I've used so far.  This bed looks like a space capsule and has neon lights on the outside that change colors.  The bed is at least twice as big and old school beds and has controls inside and right above your head.  You can access the radio or your ipod and listen to speakers built in to the top of the bed, separate face tanning controls, inside a/c and fans.  These fans are so strong that I was actually getting cold today.  This bed even mists you with water while you tan.  Unbelievable.  The other two options are instant tan which is supposed to give you, well, an instant tan for the weekend or date and of course the fist pumping spray on tan.
     The only bed that has the vitamin D bulbs are the fastest beds.  I'm paying a little more than I like, but hopeful that this will improve my levels faster than these pills which are an over dose each time I take them and make me so so sleepy.