I may have no right to chime in here as, to the best of my knowledge, I have never encountered bed bugs. But check as others have said when you get to your room, then relax. If you get bites (from bed bugs or something else; it has never been clear to me from complaints I see here and elsewhere if they really were certified bedbugs) then don't worry; as far as I know they cause a rash, not a fatal illness. Take whatever precautions you're supposed to take once exposed to avoid carrying them elsewhere, then get on with your life.<\/p>\n
I think they were far more common in the generations of our immigrant ancestors, perhaps even taken for granted, and I think some of the horror, embarrassment associated with them have to do with the fact that this is something we associate with poor immigrants, not our superclean, successful selves. I could only laugh when I read the accounts of people who got them in their Park Avenue apartments. Should they or should they not tell their coop board or neighbors? SHould they or should they not fire the immigrant household employees who may have brought them in (on the other hand, it could have been their own clean selves on that safari to Namibia).<\/p>\n
Immigrants learned to deal with them and maybe we should too.<\/p>\n
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