To Tan or Not To Tan

To all my Pasty, pale counterparts and toasty, tanned rivals:

What is this whole tanning buisiness about anyway. For any of you who do not know me, I have many a time been referred to such things as Casper or in the freckle season, Orphan Annie or Anne of Green Gables. Planning for my first trip down south at the end of April, I have taken it upon myself to do as everyone else and get a good base to help prevent (or rather limit) the tomato features I will don after one day in the sun. Last evening, Amy and I thought why not avoid the horrors of studying and go tanning. Well! We went to 6 places...or was it 7 trying to find a place to toast. All the places were jam packed with people, closed, or were coin-operated and too sketchy to lay my white ass down. What is with everyone tanning?!! Are there that many people going down south like me? Now I fully agree that having a little color is nicer than glowing in the dark but is it really THAT important? I don't pay a lot of attention to the whole skin cancer arguement or anything but I really find it bizarre that tanning has become as second-nature as showering (unless you are Amy). My last point to make (if I even made any above...it's really just a rant), is that I also feel like people stare at you in tanniong salons if you are pale and freckly like you should be there yet they'r skin is so leathery that it makes me wonder why they are there. My question to all of you is:

Why do we tan at the tanning salons?
a) because everyone else is doing it
b) because it looks great
c) because the thought of putting our naked bodies where someone else's has been is soooo rebelious
d) because you need a base before going into natural UV rays
e) what? tan? only with 45 SPF!