Heed the warning signs

ILLUSTRATION: FOURLEAFLOVER/ISTOCK / GETTY IMAGES PLUS/GETTY IMAGES

Funny, most people would think the wildest bed bug experience would be one with thousands infesting a previously untreated space, or the filth encountered at a customer’s home that may have contributed to the infestation.

Looking back, my horror story was my own experience with having them, even after years of treating for them. I knew exactly how it occurred, and at the time, what I could have done to prevent getting them.

Adam Hazen

I stayed at a resort hotel for a meeting sponsored by a pest control company. I saw the signs then, but wrote them off, assuming a very nice, globally known, high-end resort can’t have problems, right? I came home to indications the very first night that in hindsight, I knew were probable signs. But I ignored them because I was at home, my clean home.

Two days later, I left home to travel again — with the same carry-on in tow I had placed in my room beside my bed — to a company meeting at another hotel operated by a large chain. At the new hotel, I noticed the signs of bed bugs once again.

I retraced my steps from the prior five days, and knew exactly what had occurred. I notified hotel management and went home to begin eradication.

By the way, that carry-on did not make it home with me!