Yesterday was not the very best of days, for no big reason, just lots of little bumps in the road. You know, One Of Those Days. Some days are like that, even in Australia.
So when my friend, who is a teacher in a boarding school, and who I went to visit this weekend, called me and started the conversation with "I have bad news," I braced myself for something traumatic. Obviously, it was only another of the endless little bumps.
"There's been another outbreak of lice. I don't have it, but one of the kids in my house does."
Ugh. Ugh ugh ugh ugh ugh ugh ugh.
Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeew.
Nobody died.
But Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeew.
Th school nurse said for my friend to tell me that I probably was not infested, but that, as a precaution, I should probably soak my head in vinegar.
Naturally, I was too worn out to do that right away. I did what any responsible louse-head would do. I called another friend to see if she wanted to get a beer. She could not. More bumps in the road. Sigh.
So by about 8, I had given up on my day and put on my pajamas and went to do the vinegar thing.
Obviously, all I had, vinegar-wise, was balsamic with some herby stuff in it and red wine vinegar. A few experiments with the best way to soak one's head in red wine vinegar later, my bathroom looked like I'd murdered someone, and I was on the couch, playing solitaire in my pajamas and smelling like a giant pickle (not for the first time, either*), when my friend called back to say she would, after all, like a beer.
The moral of the story is that I can clean up a murder scene, shower, dry my hair and get dressed in about ten minutes if there is a beer in it for me.
*The first time was in a tent on Masai Mara, having gotten the worst sunburn of my life snorkling at noon on the equator. Yes, vinegar is good for sunburn. No, smelling like a pickle does not make you the most popular gal on the safari van.
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
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5 comments:
Oh, man. James has been soaking his fingernail in vinegar nightly to try to clear up a fungal infection that was "irremediable:" it did not respond to the prescription medicine taken for 3 months. So this weekeend/week we went on a long trip to see my roots in Texas, and when we went out to my grandparents' ranch in West Texas we brought a tupperware container of apple vinegar, the lightest-color vinegar my East Texas grandmother had in her cupboard. Apple vinegar sure smells stronger than white vinegar. And now so does my suitcase. So Lucy, I'm thinking of and smelling you.
I forgot to say that the vinegar treatment is beating the hell out of the fungus. I'm sure it will do the same with all the animals crawling on your scalp.
A few folks have commented to me not-here, presumably because they don't want to be associated with their thoughts publicly. I thought it was worth addressing their questions and comments anyway, for the rest of you.
How does one rinse their head in vinegar?
In my case, one tries to do it over the sink, makes a big mess, and then kneels over one's bathtub and puts one's head down and shakes vinegar onto the hair, then rubs it in good, then starts crying because there is a tiny bit of vinegar (or maybe vinegar fume) in one's eye.
You're assuming aerated blood at room temperature behaves the same as red wine vinegar -- a testable hypothesis, of course, but some experiments just shouldn't be done.
True, indeed.
Would you like my tomato sauce bath story?
I don't believe this vinegar treatment for lice thing. I fear you've fallen into the clutches of a quack nurse. We've been through several lice "visits" with our kids and nothing convinces them to leave short of chemical shampoos, nit picking, and washing every bit of clothing and bed clothes in hot water followed by a long stint in a hot dryer.
Vinegar is for salad.
I think we'd all like your tomato sauce bath story.
I also think, and fear, you're right about the lice. I think this nurse, who's dealt with a couple of outbreaks at the school lately, knows it, too. My understanding is that vinegar is just a preventative measure, for folks who don't actually have any signs of an infestation yet, along the lines of, "this is much less of a pain than all that rigamarole, and it might help."
So far, I have seen neither louse nor nit. Which is good, because I do not have a hot dryer.
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