The school which bestowed my valedictorianship, and where my sister the ex-mayor's wife retired, and where her daughter currently teaches...has been in the news. That's NOT a good thing. It's because some students took pictures of BEDBUGS crawling on the floor, and on a backpack!
That happened a couple weeks ago. The school notified the parents. Their stance is that the building is disinfected nightly, and that a concentrated effort is made in the area the bedbugs were sighted. Of course the parents are up in arms. I don't know the best solution here.
The school can't call in an exterminator every day. I have a feeling that the bedbugs are not so much a problem of the school, as of the students who carried them in. What are the odds that the students' homes are being disinfected to the extent of the school? Not odds that I would place a bet on. And I'm a GAMBLER, by cracky!
I imagine some people will point the finger at some disadvantaged students. While in reality, it might be some more advantaged students, who perhaps went on a trip over Christmas vacation, and picked them up unknowingly on a cruise or at a hotel.
Anyhoo...just one more reason why I am pleased as punch to be RETIRED!
Here's the deal. In our daily current events chat, Farmer H and I were discussing the bedbugs. Farmer H said,
"I googled them. They look like LADYBUGS!"
"They do NOT!"
"Have you ever seen them?"
"I have seen pictures of them. They had them on the website where I read the story. I saw the actual picture of the backpack, and the floor."
"They do TOO look like LADYBUGS! Here. Look at this!"
Farmer H shoved his phone under my nose. About six views of bedbugs.
"They don't look ANYTHING like a ladybug! First of all, they're elongated, not rounded--"
"That's when they're EMPTY! When they're full, they look like LADYBUGS!"
"NO. They DON'T! They're BROWN, not red or orange. And they have SEGMENTS on their hard shell part, not spots! They're not even the same shape!"
"They look EXACTLY like LADYBUGS!"
What a crackpot! Now he's trying to insinuate that my special friend, the ladybug, is actually a bedbug!
Farmer H is definitely the pooper at this party. If you know what I mean...
Every party needs a pooper.
ReplyDeleteAnd some parties need a pooper who will leave their mark on the toilet seat. Lucky you...
The whole thing makes me itch. Just like when there's a head lice sighting!
ReplyDeleteDon't bedbugs have to live somewhere where they can feast on people? The floor? Backpacks? Those must be hardy pests...
ReplyDeleteSioux,
ReplyDeleteI extend you an ongoing invitation to my party!
***
angie,
I had to assist the woman principal in "head checks" during my second year of teaching. We were a small school, with no nurse. The principal told me what to look for, and I'll be darned if I didn't FIND head lice on a kindergartener, the first class we checked! She was probably the best dressed and cleanest little girl in the elementary school. Head lice don't care! We sent her home with instructions, and I itched for days!
***
Sioux 2,
I read a while back that bedbugs can survive a long time without a host. Like in hotels, they can live under the mattress, and come out when they sense the warm blood of a host!
I can think of a current Justin Bieber song that would be a perfect response to that tidbit about bedbugs. Do you know which one I'm thinking of?
ReplyDeleteI always thought bedbugs look like lice, which is what they are, except they don't live on people, but mostly in beds.
ReplyDeleteSioux 3,
ReplyDeleteI'm thinking "10,000 Hours." That's how long they live without a host. Surely not "I Don't Care." Because I DO care if I get an infestation.
***
River,
Yes, the do look more like lice than LADYBUGS!
I repeat, we are married to the same man! I woke from a nap two days ago, the news was on and my idiot excitedly told me that the corona virus is now in Missouri, with on case in Columbia and one in St. Louis. I almost believed him, I mean, he was watching the news. I sat down to listen to the news and at the end of a later report about the virus, the newscaster assured the audience that there were still no reported cases in our state. Now, I don't know what he heard to get this notion in his head, but he swears he head this "on the news". Good thing he has been ordered to stay inside, he could have created mass hysteria here!!
ReplyDeleteKathy,
ReplyDeleteOh my gosh! Don't get me started on that corona virus panic! I'm pretty sure that if it was THAT deadly, we wouldn't be seeing it all over the news 24/7. There'd be something about a "flu" that was different from the vaccine, and we needed to wash our hands, and avoid crowds.
Like if a meteor was headed for Earth, and would plunge us into a sun-blocked ice age that would kill humanity in a year or two...it wouldn't be on the news. Just a mention that it was going to pass through our atmosphere, so people seeing it wouldn't worry. It's like somebody WANTS US TO PANIC and hoard toilet paper and bottled water and face masks.
Face masks are the new Cabbage Patch Doll, Furby, Nintendo Wii, and Tickle Me Elmo. Everybody MUST have them, and will pay exorbitant prices!