Is It Contagious?

A first-grade boy bites a sixth-graders finger. It breaks the skin. The older boy is okay with that; I'm not.

I tell the younger boy, “There are two reasons we don’t do that. One, people just don’t go around biting people. Two, your mouth is a germy place. You can cause bad infections.” Then thinking about universal precautions, I add, “If you had HIV, you could give it to your friend.”

The firstgrader's brows knit together for a moment in thought, then he offers helpfully, “Well, I do have dust allergies.”