Friday, December 19, 2008

Welcome Back, Cockroaches.....mi casa es su casa

I do really hate cockroaches and all of their little friends...the ants, crickets, black widows, etc. I don't like them anywhere near my home or surrounding fence line. The enemy. However, after today, I will welcome them back. Maybe not with open arms but I will no longer be using all means necessary to ban them from mi casa. Here goes the story, a story I must tell because no one is home for me to vent to and I have already cried my eyes out to the corporate office for the pest control company. Maybe I overreacted, you decide, but I am still one angry mama bear.

I have always had my home sprayed but after Tate was diagnosed with autism, I became aware of the dangers of pesticides and chemicals so I switched to an earth friendly company. I made sure that they sprayed only on the fence line or house line, no where near toys, fruit trees or the garden. They assured me that they would never spray in that area. So, I went with it. Then, a cute little college bound boy came soliciting his bug spray company and in pity , I decided to go with him. He assured me that they would never spray near my garden, trees or heavy traffic areas. I felt OK with this as we have black widows and I don't want them sharing my backyard picnic bench with me or my children. I know I should probably do away with the pest control all together, but I thought I was getting sprayed responsibly. Today I realized that I made a mistake.

I came home from my 1st graders class party and saw the bug spray truck outside. First, I noticed that my entire driveway and walkway was completely hosed down, soaking wet. My front door, the handle, the windows, the stroller next to the door. All of it, drench. I went in, taking off my offending shoes and looked in horror at my back yard porch. All drenched. Kids shoes, bikes, picnic bench, toys, etc. Nothing left untouched. Then, I thought in horror....my garden. Please, don't be in the garden! He was headed out back to his truck. I ran to him and asked if he was in the garden.

"Oh, no mam. I knew that looked like food you would eat so I only sprayed around it and on the soil by the plants. I only sprayed the bottoms of the fruit trees, not the leaves also."

My heart sank. I went in, shocked. I looked in the back. My soil was soaking. My plants, misted. My fruit trees, wet with chemicals.

Call to the company. I want my service cancelled. I explained why. He informed me that I couldn't get out of my contract. I was still under control at this time. I asked for a supervisor. He said he would have one call me.

Heather from corporate called and said she talked to "Daryl" the bug man and repeated what Daryl had told me. She said that the chemicals do not hurt humans. Here is where I came unglued. Here is where I lost it altogether.

SAFE! Are you kidding me? Are you going to take a drink of it or let your children sit in a stroller drenched in it? Do you want to eat lettuce from the garden that you planted months ago and nurtured daily so your children can eat food that has not been sprayed with bug spray only to get that hard work stolen from you? Do you understand... Heather.....that a little bug spray goes along way and that for children with autism it is even worse? Do you understand that I have paid thousands of dollars in bio medical treatments to get these pesticides out of Tate's body and paid $600 for special orthopedic shoe inserts that were just hosed down with chemicals!

I was a nut case at this point. I could barely talk. Tears streaming down my face. How could she understand. How could she understand that everyday I am fighting a battle to remove autism from my child's life and in this one small instance of a routine pest control spray she just knocked us back one giant leap to recovery. I wanted her to know that what the world deems as "SAFE" is a joke. That there are 1 in 100 , at least with autism and that it is because we are making that happen. I wanted her to tell her employees that spraying our food, our toys , our strollers is NOT ok.

She was sorry. I asked again....I want my service canceled. She reminded me that I would have to deal with bugs. I told her, ma'am....I will take my cockroaches if that means I will have clean lettuce to eat.

Welcome back little pesky friends. Until I find a natural solution to rid you off my premises, enjoy your stay. It may be short. Please stay out of my house, a nice warm bush will be sufficient.

14 comments:

Terri Burges Hirning said...

Oh Shari! I am SO SORRY you had to deal with this. I know, it is SO frustrating when people spew the party line about these things being "safe". Safe takes on a whole new meaning when you have a child on the spectrum (or any child for that matter) and actually understand the toxicity of these "safe" things in our world. Dilution is the solution to pollution. Hopefully we will get some more rain soon and it will help wash that stuff away. I do not blame you for being upset, that is awful!!!! I think it is funny that he knew enough NOT to spray something that looked like "food" and yet they still call it "safe". Well if it is that safe why can't we eat it???

ShelleyG said...

Shari this is so sad! Have you considered a chicken or a turkey as a 'pet'? Turkeys eat lots of bugs and are natural pest control and fertilizer. Probably not an option in your neighborhood, but it might be worth checking out??? I am so sorry-how frustrating!

Megan said...

poor Shari! I'm so sorry you had to go through that. Take a deep breath. This to will pass. I feel your pain! So so sorry!

The Glenns said...

I don't mind bugs....gives my boys a challenge.

Tracey said...

Wow.. how disturbing! I am so sorry.

Abby Runyan said...

I've been to scared to use any pest control and now I'm glad I havn't given in. That really stinks, so sorry.

Linda said...

Oooooh, that's awful. I would be so ticked too. We don't get our house sprayed - the other day a big scorpion fell out of our a/c vent into my sink while I was standing there. AAAHHH! By the way, we were looking at some old Merrill Christmas albums and found a picture of you in it. It's fun. I'll have to show it to you!

AMIT said...

Its nice written.

BPO work from home

hyrum♥chelsea said...

I seriously am getting tears for you!! That is so awful. I bought the book Extreme Gardening by Dave Owens (the garden guy) & it has lots of helpful natural stuff to get rid of bugs. :)

The Lees said...

I hate that this happened to you. And I like Shelly's suggestion. I would LOVE to see you with some chickens. It's true, they do the trick. Brian buys a pesticide from a supply store and sprays our house himself. It's cheap, easy, works great, and he controls where it goes.

autumnesf said...

So so sorry! People just do not want to open their eyes and see.

Good luck with finding a new control!

Maya said...

in a obviously american way kill every thing

Colleen said...

I am a friend of Laurie's, and I just wanted to say that my heart broke as I read this blog. Being passionate about something regarding your children is just not something that people seem to get, but I get it. I even made my husband sit down and read the blog because I haven't been able to get it out of my head since I read it. I think about it at the most random times, and I just get so mad that someone would try and tell you what is best for your child. My thoughts and prayers have been with you during this holiday season!

Chandler Treasure Chest said...

Shari! Oh my goodness, I totally feel for you on this topic! I don't have my own home, and luckily, I think all the cockroaches have migrated towards QC with the Mormons...(JK) BUT I don't know if you know this, but I am paralyzed with fear by all bugs!!! Just seeing pictures of them gets me paranoid and I get the chills...I know, I need help. But I hope everything goes well-I'm going to have a bug-man on speed dial sometime in my life, but I'm glad to know I don't want them spraying everything! :) Hope all is well.