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Bed bug survey for New Yorkers

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alissaphoto

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Posted 2 years ago
Sat Oct 30 2010 14:16:55
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Hello all.

I am a journalist in New York City and am investigating the bed bug issue in NYC.
I have created a survey to determine how much New Yorkers have been affected by this problem.
I am guessing most of you have had experiences with the bugs since you are on this website, please share your stories.
Here is the link: Bed bug survey

Thanks!
so unsettling

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Posted 2 years ago
Sat Oct 30 2010 15:27:03
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I am not from New York, but read the intro. Bit of a bias there. It might put some people here off, as we are suffering miserably from these bugs.
DeedleBeetle

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Posted 2 years ago
Sat Oct 30 2010 18:07:27
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i'm from nyc.

i don't want to be part of a "serious" survey managed by a comedic website.

By the way...all of my mothers-in-law were saints, not the pests of the family...the family pests were the men i married (not including current hubby, of course). Actually, first husband wasn't really a pest...but the point is that i personally don't care at all for mother-in-law bashing.
The Reluctant Entomologist

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Posted 2 years ago
Sat Oct 30 2010 18:24:29
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Yeah, no offense, but I also don't like what your intro implies that you'd like to do with this information. (I'm assuming you're actually even going to be coming back to this site to read what I'm saying, which may not be the case).

And I'm not just bothered by this because I (like most of the people here) have personal experience with bbs -- which, by the way, I don't get; I notice that your very first question on the survey is whether the person responding has experienced an infestation firsthand.(I assume, even based on what you've said here, that you'd look into the nature of this forum before deciding it was a good place to try to find a variety of types of participants to determine "how many" NYers have dealt with this. I don't see how this website could help you with that).

Besides, in my case (fairly unexceptional), for instance, the problem easily took $6000 out of my pocket. The whole point of this site is that people here have tangible reasons for knowing this is not a joke and are looking for a compassionate audience who would understand what we're going through.

I also just wonder whether you've ever looked at bedbugregistry dot org . Under "hotel," just type in New York, NY, and the top of the page that comes back says "Found 150 hotels in New York NY with bedbugs" -- and those are just the ones reported. (Also, while I didn't open every single report listed there, the ones I did open, from random points in the beginning, middle, and end of the list were all from this year).

There's at least one building on every block of my street that made the list, too, and I have inside knowledge that not all of them with recent infestations even have.

Considering that this is a growing problem and that another survey in Cincinnati , of all places, in the past couple of yrs came back with 1 in 6 people having recently dealt with bbs, I'm a little flabbergasted that anyone would start off a research project with this particular bias. I do wish you luck with your research, as long as you plan to keep an open mind and search for the truth.
alissaphoto

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Posted 2 years ago
Sun Oct 31 2010 17:21:18
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To the reluctant entomologist,

I am sorry if you found the survey offensive. I certainly did not mean to put that vibe out.
I understand that this is a serious problem, and have several friends affected by the issue. I use humor as a way of addressing something that affects all of us.
My point was that whether or not we have bed bugs, they have come to seriously affect everyone, in that we either have them ourselves or are terrified of getting them. I am concerned that the media has exacerbated this fear, because, as I mentioned in the article, there has been relentless coverage of the issue that has created a lot of paranoia in people who don't yet have infestations.
The purpose of the survey is to determine how many people are actually dealing with this, and how that has affected their lives. From what you have written, I can see that it has affected you seriously. I appreciate your feedback.
As to the other articles on the blog, it is a group project, part of a graduate program, and the other surveys are not mine.

Thank you.
Richard56

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Posted 2 years ago
Sun Oct 31 2010 17:53:12
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My point was that whether or not we have bed bugs, they have come to seriously affect everyone, in that we either have them ourselves or are terrified of getting them. I am concerned that the media has exacerbated this fear, because, as I mentioned in the article, there has been relentless coverage of the issue that has created a lot of paranoia in people who don't yet have infestations.
_____________________-
Honestly, haven't seen the survey and got bogged down (short male attention span ) where it asked me to sign up or something. That said, for discussions sake, I'll take the above statement at face value and say I agree with it 1000%. Bed bugs are a growing problem but an even bigger problem in it's wake is people thinking they have bed bugs when they don't. The suffering these people go through can be even greater than the actual bed bug sufferer in that the real bed bug sufferer can get relief through a PCO (pest control operator) while the person who thinks they have bed bugs (but doesn't) can continue to suffer for an indefinite period of time.

And it's not just the media fostering this problem (although it's a big part) it's also irresponsible and greedy PCO's and dog teams who really don't take the time it requires to do a proper inspection or give a proper explanation to those in fear. Fortunately, there are big exceptions -- and some of these PCO's post here -- but many other PCOs are all too ready to treat based on the client's fear rather than on what should be their own expertise.

Richard
alissaphoto

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Posted 2 years ago
Sun Oct 31 2010 22:15:08
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DeedleBeetle - 1 day ago »
i'm from nyc.
i don't want to be part of a "serious" survey managed by a comedic website.
By the way...all of my mothers-in-law were saints, not the pests of the family...the family pests were the men i married (not including current hubby, of course). Actually, first husband wasn't really a pest...but the point is that i personally don't care at all for mother-in-law bashing.

Hi DeedleBeetle,

The reason the survey is on that website is because it is the group site of a grad program. I don't have any control over the content of the other articles or the theme of the site, I'm not big on mother-in-law bashing myself (or anyone bashing for that matter.)

Anyway, I made the survey as a way for people who are dealing with the bugs to have a vent about it. Or, to hear from people who don't have bugs, but still feel affected by the "plague" that is spreading across the city. Would love your input.

To Richard56-

Thank for your input. I hadn't thought too much about the role that PCOs play in this and you make some interesting points. It is a complicated problem indeed.