A Buggy Souvenier
Bedbugs apparently have an affinity for Christian school conference attendees. Last year in KC they found us. This year in Topeka they found us again. Not all of us, mind you. If the hotel desk clerk was well-informed and telling the truth, this is the very first time bedbugs have been found in a Topeka hotel.
We had made some jokes and some bold statements about how carefully we intended to examine our rooms before we unpacked for the night. All seemed well. But don't you know, the bedbugs waited till 5:00 AM of the second night to make an appearance. In a room at the opposite end of the hotel from where we stayed, one alert person felt something crawling on his arm. Five bedbugs later, the hotel clerk had been called in to observe them--all among the sheets, mostly squashed ones, but at least one that was still moving. Squashed bedbugs make an unsightly bloody splotch when they're dispatched, I'm told.
I left my still-packed suitcase on the porch overnight after I got home, except for a batch of laundry that went straight to the washer. This precaution seemed sensible, given the fact that it took several days last year before the bedbug bites developed into welts and we figured out what caused them.
Bites are inconvenient and a bit uncomfortable, but the real fear with bedbugs is the chance of transporting them into your own living quarters, where an infestation can be extremely hard to get rid of.
I'm disappointed that staying in hotels has suddenly become risk-taking behavior. I liked it better when it felt like a luxurious treat. Nevertheless, I will do all I can to minimize the chances of inadvertently giving bedbugs a free ride or a free lunch. And, as this blog post demonstrates, I'm outing them so that others can take any precautions they desire.
We had made some jokes and some bold statements about how carefully we intended to examine our rooms before we unpacked for the night. All seemed well. But don't you know, the bedbugs waited till 5:00 AM of the second night to make an appearance. In a room at the opposite end of the hotel from where we stayed, one alert person felt something crawling on his arm. Five bedbugs later, the hotel clerk had been called in to observe them--all among the sheets, mostly squashed ones, but at least one that was still moving. Squashed bedbugs make an unsightly bloody splotch when they're dispatched, I'm told.
I left my still-packed suitcase on the porch overnight after I got home, except for a batch of laundry that went straight to the washer. This precaution seemed sensible, given the fact that it took several days last year before the bedbug bites developed into welts and we figured out what caused them.
Bites are inconvenient and a bit uncomfortable, but the real fear with bedbugs is the chance of transporting them into your own living quarters, where an infestation can be extremely hard to get rid of.
I'm disappointed that staying in hotels has suddenly become risk-taking behavior. I liked it better when it felt like a luxurious treat. Nevertheless, I will do all I can to minimize the chances of inadvertently giving bedbugs a free ride or a free lunch. And, as this blog post demonstrates, I'm outing them so that others can take any precautions they desire.
posted by Mrs. I at
9:55 PM
1 Comments:
Several days (?) ago I read an article in the Hutch News online version about an epidemic of bedbugs in New York City. Apparently they do not stay in beds or hotels, but also are seen in touristy places like the Empire State Building. People are canceling reservations and trips because of a fear of bedbugs!!! Exterminators are bewildered with how hard it is to get rid of them. Now also in KS?
Jo
By
Anonymous, at 10/31/2010
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