Skip past a list of characters

def skip(self, chars=spaceCharactersBytes):
        """Skip past a list of characters"""
        p = self.position               # use property for the error-checking
        while p < len(self):
            c = self[p:p + 1]
            if c not in chars:
                self._position = p
                return c
            p += 1
        self._position = p
        return None