Can I Keep My Bedbug Friend From Moving?
You have problems, I have advice. This tip does not contain powdered sugar – in fact, it does not contain sugar and can even be slightly bitter. Welcome to Tough Love .
This week we have someone who is terrified that their friend is coming and flooding their home with blood-sucking creepy crawling insects.
Mind you, I am not a therapist or any other health professional, but just a guy who is willing to talk about it the way it is. I just want to give you the tools you need to enrich your damn life. If for any reason you don’t like my advice, feel free to file a formal complaint here . So let’s get on with it.
Hi, Patrick,
A friend of mine works at a job where he is prone to bed bugs. Perhaps other unpleasant things, such as lice, cockroaches, fungal infections. But bed bugs are confirmed. I am very uncomfortable that he comes to visit me in my house. I’m not 100% sure about his hygiene after work. Am I acting unwisely to keep him out of my house?
His cat lives in my house for the foreseeable future, and both of them are happy that he will come here to visit. If I got infected in my home, none of us would have the money to deal with it properly.
Thanks, Freaked Out
Hey, pissed off :
Bed bugs aren’t a laughing matter, and everything else isn’t all that great either, so I get it. The fact is that this is your home, and you do not have to let in those who make you feel uncomfortable. Your home should be where you feel most secure. If he, in his contaminated work clothes, destroys the warm, fuzzy feeling your home should provide, you need to voice your concerns.
However, I’m sure your friend doesn’t want to be exposed to bed bugs and the like, and you don’t know that he has bed bugs himself. Also, it is not very pleasant to tell people that they cannot enter your house because you think they are disgusting. However, you can discuss the topic with him and politely express your concern (after all, he is your friend). I wouldn’t talk about hygiene, as you put it, but you can ask him to wash the dishes thoroughly after work and change his clothes before coming to play with the mittens. Tell him that you are worried about infections for yourself and for the cat, and it would not hurt to mention the monetary aspect. Explain that if any contamination occurs, he must pay to destroy it. You say that he has no money for this, and this is all the more reason for him to be careful.
Or, if it really bothers you, Frick, establish a law and tell him that he cannot come to the cat because of his work and the risks involved, then be prepared for the possibility of losing a friend. …
Now I want to talk about cute little mittens. If a cat does live in your home for the “foreseeable future,” then it’s your cat, Freaked, not his. This is how pet ownership works (maybe not legally, but still). And since Mittens is a cat, not a child, it will not be good or bad for a cat if Bobby the Bedbug never comes to visit. Mittens will do just fine whether they see the triple four again or not. Because mittens are a cat. If Bobby the Bedbug cannot see “his” cat, he can take it back and take care of it himself. Otherwise, this is your cat, living in your house, where you are the supreme ruler of the whole country.
That’s all for this week, but I still have a lot of frank and honest advice. Tell me what is bothering you? Does work upset you? Are you having problems with a friend or colleague? Is your love life going through rough times? Do you just feel lost in life, as if you have no direction? Tell me, maybe I can help. I probably won’t make you feel warm and misty inside, but sometimes you need tough love. Ask a question in the comments below or email me at the address you see at the bottom of the page ( please include “TIP” in the subject line ). Or tweet me #ToughLove ! Also, DO NOT WRITE TO ME IF YOU DO NOT WANT YOUR INQUIRY HAS BEEN REMOVED . I don’t have time to answer everyone for fun. “Until next time, figure it out yourself.