Dear LFTP: lice, a poor dad, and the hat game

• What should I do about the dad who knowingly put my loved ones at risk of lice?

Mike reads a Dear LFTP letter from a woman caring for two girls whose dad is poor: she took them to a hair salon to feel pretty, the stylist found an infestation-level lice case, and the dad knew all along without warning her. Ben says the outrage seems misplaced - she already knew what he was like - and Mike gives the dad the benefit of the doubt: probably malice-free ignorance about lice rather than a plot, and don't make him look bad with gifts that invite comparison. They advise her to inform the school, since lice policies affect many families. Ben jokes about making the dad a lice-treatment distributor - 'teach a man to fish,' the old gypsy wagon that brings the problem and the solution. Dan interrupts to play the hat game, having everyone trade hats. Secular's answer: parenting's joys include hygiene, the dad should have warned her and may be neglecting the girls in other ways, so alert the school; it cites CDC (12 million U.S. lice infestations a year, not caused by poor hygiene) and kidshealth.org (head-to-head contact spreads lice).