The past 24 hours have finally identified for me a line that once crossed will make me never want to go back to work here, ever. Period. Final.
It wasn't stripper guy, who regaled me with a tales of beating up 8 guys, firing some strippers, and then the cops with a helicopter showed up.
It wasn't African American instructor who is once again failing all her African American students and giving A's to the white ones that flat out don't deserve C's.
It wasn't crazy dude with a swastika tattoo that claims the KKK are his arch enemies and writes all his papers about them.
No, instead, it was finding out that the student next to me was crawling with either head lice or bedbugs (or heck, both) after being in the computer lab all hour. It was coming home after finding this out (from another student, who wanted me to confront her about the buggyness), stripping naked in the garage, throwing my clothes in the washer, scrubbing myself in the shower till I nearly bled, removing all "unecessary" hair from my body, and having to research whether they were likely to be able to jump all while trying to remember if she had touched me at any point.
Look, I'm probably overreacting. But regardless, if I do indeed get infested myself I'm done. I'm out. No more.
Make sure you dry everything you can on "high," because the washing machine alone won't kill either lice or bedbugs.
ReplyDeleteNot that I'm defending the buggy student, but you could keep a very clean house and be very clean personally and still get either. Head lice and bedbugs are not associated with dirt.
It would probably be wise to go ahead and buy head lice shampoo and give yourself a preventative treatment. You also might see if there is an anti-head lice spray that you can treat your lab chair with.
ReplyDeleteThe good news is that bed bugs aren't likely to hang out on a person. They really only interact with humans to bite them (a couple of times) then they crawl off to hide in crevasse somewhere to rest, digest, and breed. So you aren't as likely to get bed bugs from human to human contact. If your bags were touching OTOH the bed bugs might have hitched a ride home.
The CDO (that's like OCD but the letters are in the right order) rule is to never place your bag/body on a non-sanatizable surface which is close to a wall. That means my laptop bag is never on fabric. I like to put my bags on hard surfaces that aren't particularly hospitable to creepy crawlies. There are lots of other rules but this is the only one that specifically applies to this post.
PS I've read that 120 degrees F is high enough to kill bed bugs. So wash on hot and dry with the heat on. Alternatively you can freeze 'em out by dropping the temp to 0. But wash on hot with hot dry is probably easier.
ReplyDeleteStella is generally correct about even clean people can get these pests. But my dad, the pest prevention Ph.D., says that 99% of pest control is santitation. What he means is that you can control pests by breaking the life cycle. For instance, vacuuming and immediately dumping the bag in the outside trash (then cleaning the vacuum) can significantly reduce eggs and lavae populations. The reduces the number of adults later. Then you eliminate hiding places where possible. Vacuuming all your fabric stuff will take out some of the adult population, too. Doing this frequently will make it very difficult for the population to survive and it will also make chemical treatments more effective.
Y'all should see CMP when the cats get fleas.... I'm told it's a sight to behold.
The sketch of the black female instructor reminds me of Uncle Ruckus on "The Boondocks": a self-hating black man who thinks white people are a gift from God. Please say it isn't as bad as that.
ReplyDelete@Streinkov I've gathered that it isn't as bad as that, but I haven't been able to figure her out either. I think she believes in challenging them to be as good as her, but fails to realize that she's really standing in the way of their success.
ReplyDelete@everybody else. Thanks for the tips. From everything I understand, the lice are unlikely to jump, but I'm still skeeved out.
The student in question can't help but not be very clean. She doesn't really have much of a place to shower, lives between a few different places, and when I say she's "at risk" I mean it: she's not a snowflake at risk of dropping out because we aren't recognizing her brilliance, she's at risk because she has nowhere to really call home and because despite her best efforts to keep school and "everything else" separate, sometimes not knowing where she's sleeping at night screws things up. She's really one of those people attempting to succeed despite everything else that I'd like to beat snowflakes over the head with.
Regardless, I can handle weapons and drugs and stoned students. I can't handle potentially getting lice or other bugs. I suspect my line is somewhere in a complete other galaxy from most people. Heh.
The student in question could be in a stable living situation and still have bedbugs. They've become an epidemic in some cities, for a variety of reasons. It's not helpful, I know, but do keep in mind that bedbugs don't spread disease, they just feed on human blood (not that that's helpful, they do still skeeve people out).
ReplyDeleteThere are some good bits of information on the CDC website:
http://www.cdc.gov/nceh/ehs/publications/Bed_Bugs_CDC-EPA_Statement.htm
http://www.cdc.gov/nceh/ehs/Topics/bedbugs.htm
Does your school have a gym with showers? Maybe talk to the student, give her some shampoo and a few (clean and NEW) towels and point her to the showers???
ReplyDeleteRe: Killing nasties...ironing helps, too, because of the heat. I learned it in Starve-istan.
ReplyDeleteAs gross as it is, if this student is practically homeless, it's probably not his or her fault. It's really not comparable to a student carrying weapons or being strung out on drugs. And if it's any consolation, bedbugs and lice aren't as lethal as a knife or a gun. Actually, I don't think it's possible to die of a bedbug or lice infestation. So if you can handle a student carrying a knife or gun to class, I'm sure you are brave enough to handle bedbugs and lice. You could give the student a bottle of de-lousing shampoo and point out that he or she can shower in the school gym. However, proceed with caution, if you don't have absolutely clear-cut evidence that the student actually has head lice. It could be perceived as insulting enough to make trouble for you, if it turns out the head lice/bedbug infestation is just a rumour.
ReplyDeleteWhile I realize that anybody can end up with bed bugs, etc. it does sort of matter that it's an at-risk student. I did have a student who missed a lot last term because she had them. The school wouldn't let her attend. She's ended up dropping out. The at risk student in this case is less likely to have internet access at home (I know this one doesn't) and we're probably going to lose her. Despite being personally skeeved out and recognizing that the public health issue at hand is more important than her personally, it still hurts that she probably won't return if she does have to leave till things are taken care of.
ReplyDeleteOh and there's no gym, no showers. So no go there.
ReplyDeleteHow about a dorm with communal showers? Maybe a kind classmate could help...
ReplyDeleteThis is rather sad, though I can't blame the school for not letting lice-ridden students attend classes. And frankly I wouldn't blame a dorm student (assuming there are dorms) for not wanting to allow this person into the communal showers. It may seem heartless but the bedbug infestation is pretty severe in some parts of the U.S. and entire dormitories have been shut down because of it. It is a conundrum. Maybe if she can get to a public library, she can keep up online until she's de-loused. Perhaps the campus health services (assuming there is such a thing) could help out. Anyway the de-lousing really ought to be her priority.
ReplyDelete@Programming Patty: "...[T]he de-lousing really ought to be her priority." Really? This young woman doesn't know where she's going to sleep tonight and taking care of bugs should be her priority? Forgive me if I sound rude in disagreeing with you, but I think that finding some stability ought to be her first priority. I have been in the "uncertain about life" situation and I found that finding stability helps people to find the courage to take care of themselves.
ReplyDeleteMathsquatch out.
@Patty and @Mathsquatch -- Yeah it just sucks all around.
ReplyDeleteWe're a commuter campus. No dorms, no health services. Our advisors would be happy to help, but they'd also ask her not to return.
So yeah, it's a pretty cruddy situation for all around. I'm hoping that she knows what's up and takes care of it over the weekend. If I do see anything monday I'll tell her kindly. That's all I can do!
Well, I would include de-lousing as part of "finding some stability." Stability, to me, includes access to bathing facilities. Perhaps a social services office could refer her to a shelter where she could shower and perhaps get some emergency health care that would include a de-lousing? Now I realize that bathing and de-lousing is not as critical as avoiding starvation or finding a place to sleep, but I wouldn't consider it low down on the priority list. It's difficult to find stability if you are filthy and lice-ridden. Most people will be unwilling to help you if you smell bad. Starving and sleeping by the side of the road is infinitely worse than merely being filthy and lice-ridden, but it is not that easy to find stability if no one's willing to get within ten feet of you. The homeless people that drive everyone else away (in the large metro area where I live) do so not because they are homeless or even hungry, but because they are filthy and they reek. Not saying it's their fault, some might not even be homeless, just crazy, but it still makes life difficult for them and they are not perceived as stable persons. So I do believe access to bathing facilities is part of a stable life, but that's just my take on it.
ReplyDeleteI hope the student returns to school and can find some sort of social services office or even a hospital ER to assist her with finding a place to sleep, food, and yes, a shower and de-lousing. I have to give her credit for attempting to earn a degree while being homeless. And to the proffie, too, because it's kind of him or her to take an interest; it doesn't seem like she has too many allies.
@Programming Patty: I agree. I read the original comment as, "de-lousing should be her goal above all others." I agree that it is something that is up there on the list. And, I wish there were more services to help those who really are trying to get on their feet (Whether they are trying to get back up or just getting up for the first time.)
ReplyDeleteMathsquatch out.