Bitten

It began with a few bites. Itchy, swollen, and red, they looked like mosquito bites. Then the bug appeared. On my bed. I trapped it in a seltzer bottle. A quick review by an expert confirmed my worst fear: I have bed bugs.

As every New Yorker knows by now, the city is infested, from Alphabet City squats to Park Avenue penthouses. As one Times writer put it, "Bedbugs are back and spreading through New York City like a swarm of locusts on a lush field of wheat." I have heard the stories and I have braced myself--because I knew it was only a matter of time before they got to me.


photo: my flickr

I may have to join the Bed Bug Club--seen here at the corner of 3rd and Smith in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn. This odd storefront has been described by the Times as "a junk shop-cum-neighborhood hangout with a potpourri of images on its window, which is both message board and memorial: faded clippings of ground zero, a photo of firefighters digging in the debris, another of the mass exodus across the Brooklyn Bridge, a picture of the 1936 New York Yankees championship club, with Joe DiMaggio in the middle, like some somber saint..."

If anyone knows anything about this mysterious storefront, please share. But, more importantly, as my nightmare begins, if you know a good exterminator or have helpful tips, please let me know. As I write this, the sun is going down, the vampires are stirring in their hiding places. I don't want to go to bed.


To those also suffering, I have found the following links useful:
New York Vs. Bed Bugs
Treatment Prep

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