Friday, May 13, 2005

Good for ME!

Example

Here it is again. Another story about how America is slipping back towards a third world lifestyle, now that DDT has been eliminated. Bedbugs are making a comeback, and not just in sleazy hotels.

from Reuters: "Although common in many countries, bed bugs were all but eliminated in America in the late 1940s and 1950s when the insecticide DDT was used to rid infestations in hotels, houses and boarding rooms."

Due to the transient nature of the comedy business, I travel a lot, and have spent countless nights on strange beds courtesy of the hospitality industry. Having been bitten by bed bugs at a hotel that shall remain nameless (only to protect my reputation-- I refuse to publicly admit that I ever stayed in a less-than-five-star establishment) I can assure you that DDT exposure is far less annoying than little bloodsucking insects crawling all over you in the middle of the night.

For those of you who are skeptical, and are certain that there must be something equally effective at controlling bed bugs, but less dangerous: Let me point out that any substance capable of killing insects is still going to have a big scary chemical name. Why look for something else, when we know that the old reliable is highly effective? It is probably your dirty chemo-phobic hippie lifestyle that brought the bedbugs into these hotels in the first place.

2 comments:

Tim Slagle said...

John,

If it works so good, then how come you keep scratching yourself?

Anonymous said...

washing bedding in hot water (120+ F) also kills them (and destroys their eggs). Simple, but true.