Bedbugs!

Blame it on global warming. Er...climate change...whatever they're calling it these days. ;)

I think the bedbugs should have stayed anonymous.

Yeah, but you also hate children.

Babies, Andy. I hate babies.

And Maverick. Oh, wait...

Did someone say "Meh"verick?

Will you be my friend?

Speaking of which, Ffej seems to have gone away. Did he get himself banned, or did he just stomp off in disgust?

I'll be your friend Andy if you be mine! Something tells me you're a friend of Dorothy too! :-)

Vater said:
Blame it on global warming. Er...climate change...whatever they're calling it these days. ;)

I blame Joni Mitchell and her song about the parking lot. They banned the use of DDT, which was the most effective method of killing the bastards. Supposedly, bedbugs are becoming resistant to other commonly used methods of elimination.

Isn't that another thing the media loves to report on? The super germ, super bug, super virus, cow, plant, or whatever that can't be destroyed and will ultimately destroy life as we know it.

EVERYONE PANIC!!!

RGB: Do you ever blame anyone other than the media for everything?

Well, the "media" is probably more influential than anything else in how a lot of people live their lives; probably even more influential than even most people's parents or family. I get it, RGB.

But sometimes bedbugs are bedbugs and "the media" just reports it.

Exactly my point. Sometimes news is... wait for it... news. Much of the sensationalism in our culture isn't from the nebulous "media," it's from the stupid people who consume it.

I don't believe your odds are any worse than they were.

I did a little digging on this subject a week ago in another context. It does appear that reports are going up, in a fairly broad sense, around the country. This could just be because more people know what the little bites might be from, or it could be because they really are more prevalent. I'm guessing it's a mixture of both.

But, in absolute terms, the odds of suffering from a multitude of other travel issues (like dying in a car crash) are still much more likely. Check the mattress if you like, but mostly you just see dust bunnies.

Sorry to bring a thread back to life, but I just wondered how this all worked out for everyone.

It's been two years. Was it unnecessary alarm or was there a legit issue? Did it personally affect anyone here?

My take? I stand by my first post in this thread it was 2010's "threat du jour" - something we like to get all worked up about and the completely forget.

My cousin has bed bugs in his NYC apartment.

Somebody in my building had bedbugs. Landlord brought in an exterminator with a special dog to search for bugs in my apartment. I had none. Not sure if anyone else in the building did, but life seemed to move on for everyone.

I've never encountered bedbugs or know anyone who has. I've also never seen a cockroach unless it was on display behind glass, and have never been stung by a bee. 25 years old- I've lived a charmed life.