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Thursday, March 28, 2024
The Observer

Squashing the stinkbugs

When I imagined what it would be like to live in an all-girls dorm, I thought it was going to be great. I thought of the advantages, such as the toilet seat would always be down, it would be cleaner and it wouldn't smell like a dirty sweat sock. But, I failed to acknowledge the fact that there wouldn't be any boys to take care of the bugs and spiders.
At home, I had my dad take care of any bug issue that was in sight. From the time I was a little girl, if I saw a bug in the house I would just scream and I just knew that my dad would come to my rescue. But when my roommate and I discovered a stinkbug invasion in our room at the beginning of the semester, my dad couldn't come save us.
During the middle of the night, my roommate discovered a stinker perched upon her pillow and she was less then pleased. So began the stinkbug invasion of 2013.
We kept asking each other, "Where are all these stinkbugs coming from?" Later, we uncovered the source - our window screens were crooked and there was a vast gap where the bugs were entering. Upon this discovery, we decided to call for help.
So with all of this in mind, I would like to use this column as a thank you note to all the people that have helped my roommate and I in this difficult period.
Thank you to our lovely hall director for climbing the many stairs to assess our situation. She called house maintenance, which then led to many people coming to our dorm to try and rectify the situation.
Thank you to the house maintenance staff for replacing and tightening the screws on our windows. You had the forethought to check the security of our second window, which I am sure prevented the entry of additional smelly intruders.
Thank you to the cleaning staff of my dorm. You not only do a superb job making sure that the building is clean on a daily basis, but you went above and beyond your duties to take the time to spray our windows with stinkbug repellent. I really appreciate all that you do and I am sorry that I was still in my pajamas when you came in.
Thank you to my neighbors for dealing with our hullabaloo over the past couple weeks. My roommate and I would like to thank you from the bottom of our hearts for helping us dispose of the bugs. We are so grateful that our neighbors are not afraid of bugs.
I love living in an all-girls dorm and wouldn't trade it for a bug-free one. Plus, I've gained some memorable moments that I can share at future dinner parties.