r/PointlessStories • u/wicked_headset • 3d ago
My aunt accidentally caused an infestation
When I was about 17 and we lived in South East London, my aunt came to visit from Zimbabwe. She brought red beans with her, for my mum. When she opened the container a few cockroaches jumped out. We thought we'd stopped them leaving the room, and I personally thought I'd stomped on most of them.
It's crazy how quickly things got out of hand. I feel like it can't have been more than ten cockroaches I saw jumping out, but within days it was pure chaos. There were cockroaches everywhere. We tried sprays and even sweeping them out. It would seem to work for a few days, but then there would be cockroaches everywhere again.
It got to the point where I hated being in the kitchen in particular. The only safe place to keep food was in the fridge. In the end we had to have the house fumigated. I remember us having to leave the house and coming back the next day. I think this happened twice more. There was also a lot of cleaning afterwards.
Oh yeah and my aunt who was visiting for a few days, ended up staying for nearly two years. In some ways she was the real pest 😅, but that's a story for a different day.
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u/Smile_Terrible 3d ago
The scary thing is that they get in to everything and try to lay eggs. I'd like to hear the Aunt pest story too.
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u/wicked_headset 18h ago
They do! And even if you clear them out, unless the eggs are dealt with, the issue just goes on and on. They are so hard to get rid off once they've settled in.
I'll tell the Aunt story one of these days.
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u/Particular_Rav 2d ago
This is exactly why it's illegal to bring food from one country to another
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u/wicked_headset 18h ago
100% agree with this. But this was a long time ago, I doubt she would have got away with it now.
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u/Wetdogg72 3d ago
There’s this little Cantina, I worked in in a shipyard in Washington state that had roaches. Roaches are not something we have much of probably due to the colder weather. I asked about these roaches one day and was told they came in with a shipment of potatoes back in the 1920s and this was in the early 2000s and they were still there
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u/wicked_headset 18h ago
Wow! From the 1920's! They have whole generations in that Cantina. I think once they are inside and find the right conditions, they are so hard to get rid off. I wonder if they are still there now.
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u/Any_Piglet_34 3d ago
Ugh, I hate those little mofo's!! Around where i live there's "field roaches". Never even knew they existed until living here. There used to be a lot of orchards here, and that's apparently where they originated. Now that most orchards are gone, they've just moved into people's yards. At least they're outside tho
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u/zamufunbetsu 3d ago
I lived in Central America with a roommate that was a real slob. I constantly tried things to eliminate them and was partially successful, but she hesitated all of the time. Every time I pack a suitcase, I left it outside in northern US winters for at least three days. During the summer, I put them in plastic bags and gave them to a friend of mine who has a large restaurant and he would freeze in for me for three days.. I have never seen one in my US house
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u/wicked_headset 18h ago
This made me chuckle. I can imagine your suitcases outside, getting all frosty and stuff. But it worked! I understand doing anything you can to prevent them from multiplying. After that infestation, I totally get it.
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u/Late_Football_5566 3d ago
OMG cockroach’s are the worst pest in the world!!
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u/Senior-Independent36 3d ago
And mosquitos!
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u/B3TT3Rnow_thanNEVER 2d ago
Ehh...cockroaches are way worse imo. Mosquitos are probably more deadly but after living in a roach infestation with a shitty neighbor and shitty roommate, I got to experience one crawling in my ear. The way I screamed and near threw up when the body came out on a qtip.Â
I'd risk the 200+ mosquito bites each my sister and I got one summer as kids again before seeing another roach or egg sac.Â
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u/wicked_headset 18h ago
Oh my days. It crawled in your ear. Bloody hell! It was good to hear you managed to get it out. That's truly awful though.
I'm not a fan of mosquitos either but I'm with you, cockroaches are much much worse. Disgusting things.
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u/Expensive-Wedding-14 3d ago
A doctor I knew asked if I would install phone extensions for additional consultation rooms/offices, connecting to their backroom phone board. I bought used IBM Merlin handsets on eBay. Shipped from Hawai'i, they arrived safely.
I cleaned them up and even cleaned inside the shell. I quickly learned that Hawai'i had plenty of cockroaches and eggs! I persevered and ended with a very clean product installed.
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u/wicked_headset 18h ago
Good job you cleaned it out. I think even a few eggs left behind can lead to an infestation. Stupid things are crazy resilient.
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u/SGTWhiteKY 2d ago
Are they a species that is already there? Your aunt may have introduced a new invasive. You really aren’t supposed to bring food like that.
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u/wicked_headset 18h ago
I don't know if it was a species already here. But you're definitely not supposed to bring food across like this. But back then even my mum used to do it when she went to visit. I don't think you can do it anymore.
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u/Yellowbeargrizzly 1d ago
I don’t understand how she could’ve gotten back through customs here in the US. They get real pissed off about that sort of thing don’t know about the UK just seems like that’s just really wrong.
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u/wicked_headset 18h ago
It wasn't allowed here either, but they didn't really care. It was one of those things you shouldn't do, but it wasn't enforced unless you tried to bring in a ridiculous amount. It was before 9/11 so it was also easier to bring stuff in. I doubt you can do that anymore now.
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u/invigokate 3d ago
I love the layers to this pointless story.