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I jest, I think?!? Perhaps I’ve not fully recovered from my recent mind-boggling, mind-numbing journey to hell and back. Suffice it to say it felt like boot camp to this over-the-hill, suburban, empty-nester mom. I went from aging gracefully to battle-axe within a few short days. Ergo my advice to you. Bed bugs? Embrace the little buggers with all your mind, body and soul. That’s what my daughter’s decided to do if any of the critters hopped along for the ride to her new digs. Know what? I agree wholeheartedly!

Let me begin at the beginning, always a good place to start. A couple of months ago, my daughter suffered tiny bites to her arms which itched. Initially she chalked it up to being outdoors enjoying the warm weather. Especially since she’s sensitive to mosquitoes. Over time she suspected the culprits might be fleas, or even chiggers since she lives in the south. But when she googled information, it became clear that bed bugs might be to blame.

An Orkin rep met with my daughter after she notified her apartment’s management of her suspicions. Since the pest control company regularly treated the complex as part of a maintenance contract, my daughter was predisposed to believing everything the rep said. Based upon the discovery of one larva embedded in a seam of the boxspring of my daughter’s bed, she was informed that she needed to remove all clothing and decor from the apartment in preparation for treatment. Doing so would facilitate Orkin’s ability to treat all walls, carpeted floors, closets, table tops, dresser drawers, insides of cupboards, and of course, beds, sofa and other furniture.

Understandably overwhelmed by what she needed to do, my daughter, whose right hand was in a cast since she’d broken it during a rehearsal 2 weeks prior, felt she had no choice but to comply with Orkin’s instructions. The woman indicated the apartment would undergo treatment toward the end of the week. With barely 3 days to accomplish the task my daughter went into high gear renting storage space, buying plastic bins and packing up everything as instructed. Because her dancer friends were in the theatre rehearsing for their final performance of the season, my daughter had to pretty much go it alone. Fortunately one friend who isn’t a dancer was able to help out when she wasn’t working. 

Not wanting to subject herself to any further bites, my daughter slept on her couch; her girlfriend bunked down on an air mattress. A day or two after the Orkin rep’s visit, the young, assistant manager for the apartment complex called to say that Orkin’s quote was exorbitant, so another company was being asked to bid on the job. Unfortunately its rep could not come until the following Monday. Needless to say my daughter was upset since her apartment was in total disarray, and she’d already spent several hundred dollars to prepare for Orkin. The assistant manager knew this because my daughter told her what she had to do, when the young lady called and asked what the rep had said. At that point, my daughter was not told to hold off, so she proceeded.

Accompanied by the apartment complex’s assistant manager and regional manager, the rep for All America Pest Control told my daughter she needn’t have evacuated the apartment of her furnishings. He claimed his company would’ve worked around them in treating for bed bugs. He too found another larva in the boxspring mattress, and proceeded to tell my daughter that she needed to live normally, which included sleeping in her bed. If she didn’t, the bed bugs would follow her to where she slept, thus infesting other parts of the apartment. You can imagine her reaction, although mine would’ve left no one wondering how I felt. My daughter is more restrained, for sure.

You know who got the contract to treat the apartment for bed bugs, don’t you? All America Pest Control because they came in with a more conservative approach and price quote. Two weeks after my daughter notified management of possible bed bugs, treatment was rendered. The only items that she could see that were treated were her bed and the bed in the second bedroom, the sofa and one piece of luggage. She was told that closets couldn’t be treated because she’d not rid them of everything. I guess the rep forgot to tell his crew that he stopped my daughter from continuing her evacuation of everything. When the rep explained they’d have to come back in a few weeks to check if they’d been successful, and then again a few weeks after that, you can understand my daughter’s wariness as to whether or not the bed bugs were eliminated. Compared with what Orkin’s rep had said about treating the apartment above because bed bugs travel through walls and that the apartment management would be asked to change out the switchplates because bed bugs like to hide there, my daughter did not feel All America Pest Control had done as thorough a job.

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Between sleeping on the air mattress, since my daughter was bitten while sleeping on the couch, which meant her girlfriend boarded at another friend’s, and taking friends’ offers to sleep at their apartments, my daughter was only at her apartment during the day continuing to bag everything up to transport to her storage facility. As she put it, she felt like she was in a “war zone,” and that the bed bugs were winning. It gave her the creeps imagining that they were lying in wait for her. Evidently, they don’t make their move until a body is resting. They don’t like disturbances, you see. I guess they could be aptly named “vampire bugs.” They suck your blood while you sleep.

Stay tuned for the next installment of my yarn. Believe me, it’s not a “tall story,” more like a thriller with twists and turns…

thanks for hanging in there…hugmamma. 😉