Monday, December 10, 2007

The Roach Saga continues

As you know, I've been dealing with roaches in my classroom. Today was my breaking point.
I began to feel anxious from the moment I approached school on my drive. I know every morning, several will scurry around my desk, run across the walls, fall from the cabinets. Last Friday an administrator walked me into my room- they've taken to doing this with me because they know so many roaches appear in the AM that they'll just receive a nearly hysterical call from me anyway. Saves time to just go in first. So, the administrator walks in- from the door I see one clear across the room- that's how big it is. Paul immediately takes off after it. As soon as that one is killed, I point him to the second. As he's killing the second, a third FALLS down from underneath the cabinet. When I saw that thing fall, I was OUT. I go into the classroom next door and can hear him stomping to kill yet another one.
After a while, I go back in- he opens a cabinet and I see the roach walking on the underside of the cabinet door and scream to tell him where it is as this roach too falls down onto some student books. Paul kills it. I'm a wreck. I spend the rest of the day sick to my stomach. Anxious, nervous, sick. It's too much.
Monday comes. I'm especially nervous because I know it's been all weekend and there's bound to be a big crop waiting for me. I walk in alone and stand by the door surveying for movement. I wander out into the hallway and the custodian comes to me and enters the room. He immediately goes to my desk where there's a big one waiting patiently to scare the crap out of me. Jeff goes to kill it and says, "Oh this one can FLY". Oh HELL NO. Oh my god!! FLY? So he kills it, I'm freaked out.
I get through the morning much like most of my days lately- thinking I'm seeing movement from the corner of my eye. I sit down to eat my lunch, look over and there's a roach on the wall right next to me. Another teacher kills it.
8th period. A girl comes to make up a lab- she's leaning to look into a microscope and a roach crawls by her face! She's a cool girl, it doesn't freak her out, but she talks about it which sends others around her to see the roach. As one girl is standing there, a roach JUMPS, YES JUMPS onto her ARM. She freaks out. Now the whole class is running, screaming, freaking out. Some kids are disgusted, some kids are now looking to make this a much worse experience, and start looking for more. They find them. They kill them. They bunch them up in tissues and start chasing the screaming girls around the classroom. I'm yelling at the top of my lungs to stop, but to no avail.
One girl starts talking about going to the school board.
I email the admins and tell them how terribly awful it is. Anyway, the end result is that my room is being "treated" again. To my knowledge they've told me its been "treated" about 15 times. This "treatment" doesn't work.
So anyway, I'm told I have Brown Bandit Roaches. When you look up their characteristics, it says this:

BROWN BANDITS looks similar to the German roach. They can be distinguished however by the presence of two lighter bands running across one side to the other of the base of the wings and abdomen. The adult males can fly in these species. Also they have been known to jump when disturbed.

Oh my god. If a roach flies up on me y'all I'm out. O-U-T. I can't even think about how insane I'd go if one got on me.
Thought I'd share.
I'm being moved out of my room for a few days for the room to be "treated". Please pray that it works. Please!!

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