On Monday another week of children's camp started here at Camp Camby. My job was to collect the money campers brought to spend at Snack Shack. I love that job. The table next to mine was the camp nurse. Kids brought in medications for her safekeeping, and also got their heads examined. . . . For lice. During slow spells at the snack sales table, I would watch the nurse at work.We'd only been at our stations for 30 minutes when an adult rushed through the doors carrying a young boy on his back. The boys legs stuck out straight on either side of the counselor. One foot had a flip flop on it, the other had a bloody napkin. Following close behind were 8 nervous-looking boys. They swarmed the nurse's table and the boy was placed in a chair. After initial examination, the nurse assured everyone that the boy wouldn't require stitches OR amputation (big sigh from the patient's friends). He just needed the wound cleaned and bandaged. I motioned to one of the witnesses to come over to my table to tell me what had happened. With great
animation, he explained that their group had gone out front to pose for a picture, and then on the way back, just happened to find a parked trailer and decided to high jump over the hitch. All had passed this feat - except for the boy now crying at the nurse's station.
At this point, children waiting for their lice inspection were piling up. I scratched my head wondering what to do (just the mention of head lice makes me itch). I had observed the nurse doing this job and felt I could help out. I moved over to that end of the table and announced to the first camper in line - I'll check you for lice. This went well for several heads - I was feeling confident. I would look at the child's nametag, and chat with them casually as I ran my fingers through their hair looking for unwanted guests. As I was checking Tommy's head, I mentioned to him I was just looking around for "bugs". He replied, "Oh, I haven't had any bugs for a LONG
time." Thanks, Tommy. Define "LONG". I passed Tommy anyway and let the next child sit down. He had a buzz haircut. That's the best kind for lice checks, in my opinion. I went over his whole head and didn't find lice, just some crumbs leftover from the cookie eaten on the way here. I noticed he wasn't wearing his nametag, so I said, "Hey, kid - you'll want to stop by the front table and find your nametag.". . . . "Oh, I'm not going to camp, we're just here to bring my brother." "Oh really", I replied- "well consider this your complimentary scalp massage. Have a nice day."
