[cyborg]

I noticed there are hardly any intelligent responses to this story, which is annoying. Why is that? It does not occur to people that using gas, alcohol,etc. is common country remedy to remove not only nits, but ticks and other undesirable pests. I strongly suspect this woman is not from this country. I work with many rastas who have had kids catch lice at school. Lining the scalp with gasoline is an old method. Most people now use alcohol/apple cider vinegar soak method.

[mabelkitty]

IN THE HOUSE??? I doubt it. You can use gasoline for almost anything, but dreadlocks and lice IN THE KITCHEN don't cut it.

[Jeff Chandler]

It does not occur to people that using gas, alcohol,etc. is common country remedy to remove not only nits, but ticks and other undesirable pests.

Using alcohol is one thing; putting gasoline on your head is just plain STUPID, even if you're from the country.

[AQGeiger]

What would you consider an intelligent response? Stating that putting gasoline in the hair is a good way to rid the scalp of lice? The fact tht it is a common country remedy does not necessarily make it a good one. And you admit in your post that, as far as home remedies go, there are better ones than to use gasoline.

I'm sure it occurs to the majority of the posters on this forum that this was a home remedy at one time, since it was mentioned as such in the story.

Using this method near a gas stove, and putting one's hair above all else, including his safety, is far more stupid than the use of the gasoline alone.

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

It does not occur to people that using gas, alcohol,etc. is common country remedy to remove not only nits, but ticks and other undesirable pests.

And is done outside not inside the house. For one thing it would stink up the house terribly. For another, well, there is the "boom!" factor.

People who have lived around open flames, like kerosene heaters and lanterns, candles, open cooking fires and so forth tend be aware of the flammable properties of these fluids which means she is very likely from the USA where everything is electric.

[clamboat]

I noticed there are hardly any intelligent responses to this story, which is annoying. Why is that? It does not occur to people that using gas, alcohol,etc. is common country remedy to remove not only nits, but ticks and other undesirable pests.

While gasoline may be a common home remedy, it is not applied inside a home, and certainly not inside a small kitchen. If she had dragged a lawnchair outside and soaked his head we would not be having this discussion.

I don't question the efficacy of the treatment - maybe gasoline works just fine. But I am wondering if this would not have been avoided if there had been a man in the house. I'm not kidding, hear me out. I know I have become intimately familiar with how volatile gasoline can be through a number of thankfully harmless incidents. That has given me great respect for it, and all of those incidents are simply not things that most girls or young women would go through.

The first one I recall was as a boy scout when someone soaked the logs in a big bonfire in gasoline before lighting them. The gas fumes had predictably crept low along the ground in every direction from the logs. When lit, a ring of fire expanded out from the center of the fire, consuming the vapors that were low to the ground. We all just instictively jumped up when we saw this happen and noone was hurt. The flamefront literally passed under us that quickly.

The second time I was stripping some paint with an electric drill, a wire brush attachment, and gasoline. Why? I don't know, but I was, and it worked pretty well. At one time in a fit of idle curiousity I stuck the wire attachment on the end of the electric drill into the bucket of gasoline and truned the drill on. Instantly the gas all caught fire and I singed my hand and face. No big deal, but gee, I don't think I'll be that stupid again.

So maybe being a a boy and doing lots of smaller stupid things while growing up helps you avoid doing the really biug stupid things as an adult.