The New York Times Ethicist, Randy Cohen, fielded a bed bug ethics question today.

The question:

Last summer, I visited friends at their chateau in France – good company, excellent food, but a lumpy mattress full of bedbugs. Badly bitten, I said nothing, but I know I’ll be invited back. How can I politely tell them about their infestation? Or more politely, must I remain silent and simply decline the invitation? –Joan Shore, Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

Cohen’s response:

You’re waiting until now to tell them that their house is infested? What would you do if the chateau were on fire, mention it demurely in a few months? If this situation involved only your own comfort, you could keep silent, but because other people are at risk, you must speak up. Here’s how you tell them: You tell them – on the telephone, using a fake accent and a false name. No, no – openly, honestly, calmly. I can understand your desire not to embarrass your friends or imperil your relationship, but I hope they will value your candor and realize that having bedbugs is not a moral failing.

Joan Shore is lucky she did not take bed bugs home with her. Perhaps, bitten last summer, she did not know what they were. There’s been a lot more press since then. Anyway, good for Cohen for reminding readers that bed bugs are “not a moral failing.”

Oh, to be someone to whom the lumpiness of a mattress would be seen as being as notable as its infestation with bed bugs…Similar Posts:

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