# am I being oversensitive? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 3, 2010, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-being-oversensitive/545384 "2010-07-03T03:03:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2010, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-being-oversensitive/545384/41 "2010-07-08T13:49:05Z")
Burn the house down with everyone inside. ---
**Author:** ![raventhief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/raventhief/32/4_2.png) [@raventhief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/raventhief)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2010, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-being-oversensitive/545384/42 "2010-07-08T14:06:09Z")
Well, it’s nice to hear that I am not just being a PITA to think we deserved some kind of warning/discussion about the issue. Here’s the update - after three chemical treatments (2 there, 1 here) and 3 days without finding anything, I guess we missed one, it matured and the babysitter found lots of nits. Which means he couldn’t stay there. So we scrambled for daycare, and I think we mostly have it sorted out. His dad suggested they both shave their heads for the summer and he readily agreed. I wasn’t even there. He seems happy with the new short look - his mother is NOT. And also seems upset about the fact that he had to leave the daycare - she doesn’t want him “treated like he is contagious”. ---
**Author:** ![chela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chela/32/21582_2.png) [@chela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chela)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2010, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-being-oversensitive/545384/43 "2010-07-08T15:00:20Z")
Just so you know, I’ve seen kids with buzz cuts who’ve contracted lice. yes nits can stick to the tiniest of hairs. Get a nit comb and be persistent with it. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2010, 7:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-being-oversensitive/545384/44 "2010-07-09T07:21:25Z")
> [@](#): > > His dad suggested they both shave their heads for the summer and he readily agreed. I wasn’t even there. He seems happy with the new short look - his mother is NOT. And also seems upset about the fact that he had to leave the daycare - she doesn’t want him “treated like he is contagious”. But…he WAS contagious. Really. Here, send this to her—\>:rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2010, 8:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-being-oversensitive/545384/45 "2010-07-09T08:05:17Z")
A buzzcut won’t do, you have to SHAVE his head, in order for it to work. The nits can still live on a tiny amount of hair. You need to buzz the hair down to the scalp. Then get shaving cream and a few disposable razors and then shave the head as a man would shave his face. The head has to be totally smooth. If there is any hair the nits will live. In fact it’ll make it harder because the nits will be there and you can’t comb them out 'cause the hair is too short. So if you shave the head do it right. Lice are not particularly hardy. You can wash all clothes and bedding in laundry soap and make sure the water is at least 130ºF (55ºC). Take everything that cannot be washed (stuff toys for example) and put them in a sealed plastic bag for 14 days. The most important thing is to do the follow up treatment in 7 days and then again if necessary. Stubborn cases may need up to four complete treatments. ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2010, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-being-oversensitive/545384/46 "2010-07-09T17:19:01Z")
His mom thinks it’s perfectly okay to let her precious little sunbeam get ON A PLANE with FUCKING HEAD LICE? What a bitch. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2010, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-being-oversensitive/545384/47 "2010-07-09T21:53:03Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > They’re not bugs. They’re head lice. Pediculus humanus capitis, the head louse, is an insect. A.k.a. “bug”. Yes, they ARE bugs. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2010, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-being-oversensitive/545384/48 "2010-07-09T21:56:00Z")
> [@Sleeps\_With\_Butterflies](#): > > > [@Broomstick](#): > > > > No, they’re no worse and no better than any other lice - it’s American attitudes that tend to cause the worst problem as lice are associated with poverty, lack of hygiene, and moral degradation. Of course, wealthy people who shower multiple times per day and are living saints can get them, too - they just would die rather than admit it. > > My oh my, there’s no bitterness here, no sir. Me-ow. I do not subscribe to the current American meme that says the rich are better than the poor, have inherently better bodily hygiene, or are immune to human ills. It’s not bitterness, it’s recognition that anyone can get head lice, and having or not having them is not a measure of your worth as a person. ---
**Author:** ![Alice\_The\_Goon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Alice\_The\_Goon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alice_The_Goon)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2010, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-being-oversensitive/545384/49 "2010-07-09T22:02:08Z")
> [@Markxxx](#): > > A buzzcut won’t do, you have to SHAVE his head, in order for it to work. The nits can still live on a tiny amount of hair. > > You need to buzz the hair down to the scalp. Then get shaving cream and a few disposable razors and then shave the head as a man would shave his face. The head has to be totally smooth. > > If there is any hair the nits will live. In fact it’ll make it harder because the nits will be there and you can’t comb them out 'cause the hair is too short. So if you shave the head do it right. > > Lice are not particularly hardy. You can wash all clothes and bedding in laundry soap and make sure the water is at least 130ºF (55ºC). Take everything that cannot be washed (stuff toys for example) and put them in a sealed plastic bag for 14 days. > > The most important thing is to do the follow up treatment in 7 days and then again if necessary. Stubborn cases may need up to four complete treatments. What? You don’t have to shave heads to treat lice. And OP, what’s this about you didn’t get any notice? You state in the OP that you were informed at least 3 weeks beforehand, and also right before his arrival (?) by his aunt, and you imply that what you’re pissed about is that the \*mother \* didn’t call you, the aunt did. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2010, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-being-oversensitive/545384/50 "2010-07-09T22:49:09Z")
> [@Alice\_The\_Goon](#): > > What? You don’t have to shave heads to treat lice. > > And OP, what’s this about you didn’t get any notice? You state in the OP that you were informed at least 3 weeks beforehand, and also right before his arrival (?) by his aunt, and you imply that what you’re pissed about is that the \*mother \* didn’t call you, the aunt did. I think he meant that if you are going to go the shorten hair route, it’s not enough just to cut it short, you have to shave it off. Also I think the OP was mad because the mother wasn’t going to say anything–it was just by chance that the aunt happened to let them know. If she hadn’t, they would have had no idea. Plus, it IS the mom’s responsibility. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-being-oversensitive/545384.md?page=2)