December 2006

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I'm not sure I've ever been glad to have allergies before, but I definitely am seeing my allergy to pesticides as a positive thing today.

There is apparently a bug problem somewhere in this building. The management sent out a letter yesterday (umm, delivered to my door while I was out shopping, so not much notice) saying that the problem had reached such a stage that they had called in the exterminator for an extra visit.

Bear in mind that I have not had a bug problem. Nor do I have one tonight, but my nose is a little unhappy with the effects of the pesticide coming in from neighboring units through shared utility openings. It's not too bad.

We were all to empty our kitchen and bathroom cabinets, replacing the contents only after the pesticide had had time to dry. We were told not to wash it off, that it was harmless.

Whether that harmless claim is true or not, I don't know. I do know there's no way in hell, even if I weren't allergic to the stuff, that I would have gone along with not washing the cabinets. I don't have time or health insurance to be a guinea pig.

But I don't have to wash any cabinets. I just put my saved-from-the-last-several-times note on the door, asking that the apartment not be exterminated due to my allergy. Making tenants sick is not on the list of things maintenance people (who have to accompany the exterminators) are supposed to do, so skipping my apartment was not a problem.

The reason I'm seeing this allergy as a good thing is that the cabinets are currently the neatest places in my apartment. As cluttered as I can let the rest of the place get, I do not allow that craziness to invade the storage spaces.

They're the one segment of my apartment that could be called company-ready at the moment. If I could find guests who only wanted to be seated in with the china and glassware, I'd be entertaining every day. If those same people wanted to sit instead with the staple food items, I'd be happy to let them.

And the notion of bringing all those dishes and staples and shampoo and toilet paper out of their proper homes just so they could be in harm's way (not to mention mine) is just horrifying! I'm sorry for anyone who has had to deal with the cabinet chaos today. It probably was not on anyone's list of items for holiday preparation.

I'm sorry, too, for those who have left for the holidays already and may well return in January to find chaos created by maintenance people "helping" by emptying the cabinets.

On that note, I'm going to end this and go get some antihistamine.