When the subject turns to politics in this industry, I'm always fascinated to watch pest management professionals (PMPs) tie themselves into knots discussing their conflicted feelings about government and the role it plays in their lives. As we rush headlong into our quadrennial election ritual (where we pretend to pick the man or woman we think can best lead the free world) the discussion usually heats to fever pitch.

When the manufacturers have products they believe will help you, they bring them to market

We're going to relay your stories to your peers in a little department we like to call "Q&A Around the USA."

Silent Spring forced the industry to move beyond its traditional baseboard jockey image to a professional one.

At age 37, I've finally reached that point in my life where I find myself inextricably tangled in that odd web connecting my wildly misspent youth and my rapidly approaching middle age.

When my home life and my work life accidentally intersect, it can be an unexpectedly jarring experience. Such is the case right now as I prepare for two partings that I knew would happen some day, but never realized how quickly they would come. First, I'll address the personal one.

Seriously, David? Seriously? I give you 20 minutes of my life that I will never get back, explaining to you the whys and wherefores of the bed bug problem, how it's grown in the past three years and how I know — because I'm talking to pest management professionals (PMPs) daily who actually are treating the problem.

I'll never forget the first conversation I had about the environmental movement in this industry. Sitting in the lobby of the Crystal City Marriott during the National Pest Management Association's (NPMA) 2004 Legislative Day for the first time, I found myself talking with a group of pest management professionals (PMPs) about the challenges facing the industry.

Bug Off Pest Control Center's New York Pest Expo is just one example of the positive impact distributors have on this industry.