The Benefits of Bedbugs

Originally uploaded by M1khaela

This via flickr from:

Mikhaela B. Reid * Angry Cartoonist
cartoons@mikhaela.net * www.mikhaela.net

Click the cartoon to see it in a larger size!Similar Posts:

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Bedbug Hotel

Originally uploaded by Frank Synopsis

From the film “Nancy Drew: Reporter,” which was released in 1939, before DDT swept through such places.Similar Posts:

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Monty (cartoon) on bed bugs, December 22, 2007 by Jim Meddick.

Bed bugs as the subject of a Monty cartoon, this week.

Thanks go to meckman for pointing this out in a forum post!Similar Posts:

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We were part of a radio station’s answer to a trivia question, and we had no idea!

It was 1015 The Point in Tampa, Florida’s Nearly Impossible Question, and we have no idea when, but suspect it was after Tampa’s News 10 mentioned us last April.

Anyway, this is old news. Eight months later, bed bugs have had a lot more press, as they’ve continued to spread. This means bed bugs are becoming so well known they may soon not be as eligible for the “Nearly Impossible Question.”

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Nicholas Brown, of the Huffington Post, has bed bugs. He’s telling the world in what will be at least a two-parter.

Here’s a snippet:

Day 2

Jihad walked up the stairs today and our neighbor, Isabella, began — without provocation — to discuss the serious issue of bedbugs and how they are affecting New York. Jihad told her that we have bedbugs and her eyes lit up like a child’s on Christmas.

“You have bedbugs!” she said aghast, but somehow also terribly excited. “Well they are impossible to get rid of!”

Jihad thanked her for this tidbit but she insisted on coming upstairs and called me out into the hallway. “Yes?” I said.

“I hear you have bedbugs,” Isabella said.

Undisguised examples of Schadenfreude are rare in society. Usually, people will tuck it away under a façade of sympathy. When you see one, it’s a really special moment.

“They are impossible to get rid of,” Isabella said, smiling.

Interestingly, Brown’s neighbor’s first instinct is not to wonder if she has them or might catch them. It’s wonder and excitement at someone else’s misfortune.

Bed bugs aren’t impossible to get rid of, but it’s not easy either. You need dedication, help, tools, and for everyone to cooperate (whether it’s your roommates or family or your neighbors and landlord).

The tone of this piece, as well as the neighbor’s reaction, suggest that word is really getting around about bed bugs. That in New York, at least, we’re getting past the point where people haven’t heard of bed bugs, or don’t believe they really exist. That is good news in the sense, in terms of awareness being raised, but bad news in that it came at the price of many people having to deal with this problem.

I look forward to reading the next installment and hopefully finding out that the only pest they have to deal with now is the nosy neighbor.Similar Posts:

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Margaret Cho is bringing her touring burlesque-style variety show to The Zipper Factory in New York City this week. Bed bugs came up near the end of this interview with Tony Phillips in Boston’s online journal Edge.

The context is that interviewer Tony Phillips is apologizing for not having more suggestions for Cho’s stay in NYC:

Tony Phillips: So I wish I could have been more helpful with the New York tips, but I do want to leave you with this: stay out of Bushwick. It’s this trendy ‘hood in Brooklyn and I’m quite sure people will try and drag you out there, but stay away. There’s a huge bed bug problem. It’s all over Gawker today.

Margaret Cho: What? They have bed bugs? What the hell are bed bugs?

Tony Phillips: It’s very Ashley Judd. They’re these little bugs transmitted through bedding and they suck your blood. I mean, share needles, fine, whatever. But who the fuck is sharing bedding?

Margaret Cho: Your trick is going to bring a pillow. Nuh-uh, that’s nasty.

Tony Phillips: It’s fat Janet nasty.

Margaret Cho: And so New York. I can’t wait.

Some observations:

On the one hand, there are still people who do not know bed bugs exist. (People who are fairly tuned in to the media and who live in major cities, mind you.)

On the other hand, there are people who know nothing about Bushwick except that it is infested with bed bugs. (Not exactly accurate, but a testament to the power of a Gawker article.)

What’s most striking, though, is that everyone talks about the bed bugs as if they are elsewhere. Watch out for bed bugs in NYC? Tony, my friend, watch out in Boston.Similar Posts:

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