Yeah I know I didn't really catch the plague but it sure did feel like it. In actual fact I had just caught head lice. I don't know where I caught my annoying little friends but it was during my time in India that I discovered them. What makes the situation even more peculiar is that I wear the head scarf in public so catching them from a stranger in close proximity is quite a leap (unintentional pun). I have a theory that I caught them whilst in an Indian hospital. Indian hospitals are not as clean as you would expect and I doubt they change the pillowcases with each new patient. However I am not writing about where I caught them. My issue is how others treat you when you as an adult catches a disgusting plague of head lice. Because let's face it. It does not matter when kids catch them because we all know kids are disgusting.
So during my trip in India I noticed I had an insanely itchy scalp. At first I thought it was sweat because we were trudging around in 40 plus heat. I then thought that it must be dandruff as I still itched once I returned to our air conditioned room. Finally once returning to my in laws house I reached up one day and grabbed a big fat louse! Yep thats what you call individual lice. I proceeded to tell my sister in law that I had head lice. I will never forget how everyone reacted. Instead of telling me what treatment to use I was told I had caught them because my hair was dirty. I must admit I do not have luscious Indian locks of silk as my hair is wavy and occasionally frizzy. But I do wash my hair every second day and it is very healthy. This knee jerk reaction was shared by everyone in my husbands family and reminded me of my teen years when you dare not tell a soul besides you mother if you found a louse. I find this reaction is quite common worldwide so I am not insulting my in laws who are beautiful and lovely people.
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| Use conditioner instead of expensive treatments. Then comb the suckers out |
It got me thinking about society and how easily we judge each other. Instead of coming to the rescue we like to point out where the person went wrong. It's not that you choose to have head lice but rather the head lice choose you. Head lice don't care what type of hair you have, they are opportunists. The'll take a free meal and a new home whenever the chance arises. That is why it's not fair to blame the host of a new colony of head lice. It was out of their control. Best thing to do is to tell the person you'll help them out whether it is breathing in chemical fumes whilst you treat their hair, combing meticulously, or squashing the little critters. A helpful phrase my mum said to cheer me up was "Head lice only like healthy hair". A lie (they like what they can get) but it certainly did help. Because let's face it, having head lice pretty much sucks big time and the last thing you need is someone judging your hygiene.
I said good riddance my lice. They died through countless treatments of conditioner and combing. I can't help worry taht I have caught lice every time I get the odd dandruff but next time I hope to take it in the same stride as my 8 yr old neighbour. On returning to Australia I saw at her home on a school day. I asked her why she was not at school and she told me she too had caught head lice. We sat there in the sunny afternoon chatting and comparing numbers. Ahhh I miss childhood.
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