Disclaimer: my apartment does not have bedbugs. At least, I don't think it does. Eddie told me the other day that some people have them and don't know it because they're not allergic to the bites. This could be hearsay, or it could be the truth – either way, I'm not itchy and haven’t seen any crawling around. Dave and I bought all of our upholstered furniture new, so in that sense we're safe.
Still, you never know. A movie theater in Times Square was closed recently because of a tribe of bedbugs that had taken over its seats. I heard rumors that a downtown Victoria's Secret had to close its doors for the same reason. More and more chairs and mattresses encased in plastic bags and layers of tape and bearing handwritten "Bedbugs" signs are appearing on sidewalks. I saw some beautiful wooden furniture out for trash pick-up the other day, with an affixed note proclaiming that it was all free but that the apartment had bedbugs.
This is not the beautiful wooden furniture I mentioned - I failed to photograph it - but rather a picture I took from Google.
Apparently they can jump from one person to another, from someone's purse into yours… Pretty scary. I have no idea how hard they are to get rid of, but I'm guessing that it must be no walk in the park if people are panicking so much. The New York Times ran an article recently about the social ostracization that a bedbug infestation will earn you. Say goodbye to party invitations and lunch dates. One woman says that she crosses the street if she sees any furniture on the curb at all. I can picture her zig-zagging all over Manhattan, because there's furniture out for disposal everywhere. She's probably doubling her transit times.
So wish me luck, friends. And if you can get a good deal on a sturdy biohazard suit, let me know.
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