Today I watched a man read a book while he picked the lice from his hair one by one and ate them. There must be some part of them that he didn't fancy, because after chewing the louse for a few seconds, he'd pull some part of it back out of his mouth and flick it onto the carpet. Perhaps it was some sort of husk.
I called my friend over to observe him, in case I was misinterpreting the tableau. I'd only ever seen monkeys cracking lice in nature documentaries and wasn't completely sure if this was an accurate approximation of a human being doing the same thing.
She said she'd be seeing it forever, so I guess it was.
UPDATE:
From the mailbag:
That anecdote is one of the most disgusting things I have EVER read in my life. I hope you were able to throw that nasty, sub-human sumbitch out on his filthy ass.
What? I'm planning on applying for a grant to study him.
Posted by floridacracker at July 23, 2005 06:11 PM"And there we were, ladies in the midst."
Posted by: marc at July 23, 2005 08:03 PMI think I'm gonna ralph.
Just saw Deliverance for the first time yesterday. Are you sure you ain't in Georgia somewhere?
Posted by: Bill from INDC at July 24, 2005 02:43 AMWhen he answered me, "Go ahead and call the cops!", it was in a Yankee accent.
Yeah, it was bad. I was so sickened, I was shaking. When my friend said, "I'm going to be seeing this forever," she didn't look too composed either.
And to be fair to monkeys, I've only ever seen them do that when they were grooming each other and being sociable. This was total lack of both grooming and sociability. It was degradation.
Posted by: Donnah at July 24, 2005 09:18 AMAnd to be fair to monkeys, I've only ever seen them do that when they were grooming each other and being sociable.
This was like the louse-eating equivalent of drinking alone, then?
Is this some dude sitting on a porch in your neighborhood or something?
Posted by: Bill from INDC at July 24, 2005 10:02 AMThis is a man sitting in my place of business.
Posted by: Donnah at July 24, 2005 10:19 AMAll those platitudes about doing such and such for 'your fellow man' so often seem oblivious to who exactly that guy is. Well you just kicked it up another notch, because THAT'S a new one.
I have to wonder, though: If said individual can get away with doing such anti-social things, in the realm of social order what is there to stop someone from walking up with a can of Lysol and just fumigating the dude?
Posted by: John Climacus at July 25, 2005 12:10 AMThere's nothing to stop anyone from doing it. It would, however, be a type of assault and repercussions would no doubt follow.
Posted by: Donnah at July 25, 2005 12:14 AMI went to an orphanage once in Mexico, as a volunteer with a group who did that regularly, and one of our tasks on a Saturday was to de-louse the children. Head lice are horrid and horrible and even more horribly, far more common than a lot of people understand, at least among humans who live without plumbing, and/or who don't bathe except once a week or even monthly (or worse!) in hot climates.
Anyone who lives in the open, sleeps on the ground, and then goes without bathing is going to catch some bugs, but head lice, you catch from others already infected.
Pretty horrible...I know I had to throw my clothing away after I returned and that was before I went back into my house, just to avoid bringing back the odors, bugs and memories involved. Was awful...but the kids there didn't think too much of the problem, which I found even more horrible. Very sad, very, very sad.
Donnah...I hope you don't see too many like this guy. Or get too close if you do because head lice jump.