Lice and selfishness

On the way to school today, Fred said to me "You know Dad, there's advantages of being bald." (So delightfully straightforward).
"Yes, I suppose you're right," says I. "What ones can you think of?"
"Well, you don't get head lice." So we talked about head lice for a bit. The subject of how they lay eggs in your hair came up.
"That's very selfish of them," says Fred.
"Well, they're just doing what comes naturally," I replied

Selfishness is something I think about quite a bit. It's something that often has a lot of guilt attached to it, but is it actually a constructive way of looking at things? I always come back to the example of aeroplane safety drills, where they tell you to put on your own oxygen mask before trying to help others. If you don't, you're just another body thrashing around for breath. You're part of the problem until you've looked after yourself.

So what head lice reminded me of this morning is that we need to care for ourselves - and it's 100% natural. You could even see them as nature's reminder to wash your hair on a regular basis. (Had to get that in for Fred's benefit, just in case he looks in. Plainly not for mine.)