Not the ideal vacation event

Tuesday, 6:31 pm

By Kate

Aug

09

2005

So, the phone rang a little while ago, a trans-Atlantic phone call. It came from the Dad who left a few days ago with his family to meet extended family in a lovely vacation spot. We’re talking a really, really nice vacation spot where out of the ordinary occurrences aren’t received well.

But sometimes life happens.

One of the six cousins announced this morning, “My head itches.” And then another one said, “Yeah, mine, too.”

And what do you know. Every last one of them has head lice. No one knows who was the first or where they came from—whether picked up locally or transported from various summer camps or where. In any case, the Dad was trying to diplomatically find out where one could get lice removal products and what they might be called at the local apothecary without starting a stampede of really upset clientele. Moreover, trying to diplomatically tell the establishment that everything thing that isn’t nailed down in the rooms must be laundered and treated or the problem will become their problem when future clientele develop the problem makes the management just a wee bit hostile.

This has to be pretty near the top of the list of horrible vacation scenarios.

In any event, the phone call was a heads up, so to speak. I have now completed the lad’s head check and all is clear here. I appreciate the phone call and I surely do feel for what they’re going through. Someday they may look back and laugh about the experience—kind of—but not today, that’s for sure.