POISON OAK ETIQUETTEBecause Poison Oak is one of the worst afflictions mankind must suffer, there must be rules of etiquette for dealing with it.

IF YOU HAVE NEVER HAD POISON OAK:You may not joke about it.
You cannot say, "Don't you know what it looks like?"
You may not offer your advice on how to treat it.
You must show nothing but sympathy, and if it is feigned it must seem genuine.
Absolutely no smirking!
You are not allowed to intimate that the person who has Poison Oak deserved it, or is afflicted due to incompetence on their part.

IF YOU ARE IMMUNE:All the above rules apply to you.
You may never boast of your immunity, and especially never touch poison oak to demonstrate your immunity. I heard of a man who ate a poison oak leaf to show off. This is a justifiable motive for homicide.
If you cannot follow the above guidelines, please kill yourself now.

IF YOU HAVE HAD POISON OAK:You must show sympathy, and tell anecdotes about how bad you had it.
You may joke and laugh, as long as you make it known that you feel very deep sorrow at the affliction.
Feel free to imply that all immune people should be exterminated off the face of the earth.

Hmmmm, I am under the impression that usherall ? sp ? the active nasty in poison oak is less pronounced in the fall and winter months.

Okay, it's official. You can get poison oak at this time of year. As a service to my fellow cachers I sacrificed myself for this experiment.

Your Sacrifice is dully noted

Sorry. I'll try not to be so dull.

I'm going... maybe.

If you come into contact with poison ivy or poison oak, washing the affected area with liquid dish soap within two hours of contact may prevent you from getting an itching red rash. Arkansas dermatologist Adam Stibich wanted to see if liquid dishwashing soap, which is formulated to remove oil, would be a cost-effective way to get rid of the plant oil on poison ivy leaves that causes a rash when it gets on your skin.

Volunteer medical students rubbed poison ivy leaves on their forearms and then washed with dishwashing soap for 25 seconds before rinsing. The soap prevented a reaction in almost half the volunteers and reduced the inflammation in the rest by 56 percent.

In his study, Stibich used Dial dishwashing soap, buy any brand will work.