A Bug in the Tuxedo Shop

I work at place called Tuxedos by Tina Marie. My boss is a little old lady named Eileen. We rent out tuxes, sell dresses, do alterations, and manyother related things. Anyways, one day last week Eileen told me that when she brought the shirts home to wash them, she saw a bug on her washing machine. She was quite frantic as she told me about it, insisting it had been a cockroach. She's so cute. I asked her what she did. She told me she screamed and before she could get it, it escaped with haste under the machine. She tried to describe it, so I asked her if she was sure if it had been a cockroach. Then she wasn't sure, but she was still afraid to touch the laundry after that. So she had me look up in the phonebook places that might handle bugs. I looked under pest control and showed her the list of numbers. She picked out a few places. As I cleaned the shoes at the front counter, I watched her call each one. Each person she talked to got the complete story of the bug on her washing machine. It made me laugh. Then she described to each company she had called what the bug looked like. Some people needed to get second opinions, some asked her specific questions about it. She still wasn't sure what it had been. She didn't think the bug was in her house beforehand, but was certain it came in with the shirts, which must've meant it had been in the shop.

The next morning I looked up different insects online that might possibly be the one she saw. I googled cockroaches and insects, and went to the websites of the companies in the phonebook. Eventually, I printed out a few pages with pictures for Eileen to look at. I went into work and showed her. She still wasn't quite sure, but she saw some that were similar. She did decide that it maybe hadn't been a cockroach, after all. Still, she sent me to K-Mart to pick up two huge containers of Ortho's Home Defense, the kind with the pump and liquid spray. She used one to spray around the store and saved the other to bring home. I was quite amused by all these precautions.

Some day in that same week, I saw a centipede-like thing quickly making its way across the floor toward the dresses. I called for Eileen, not knowing what to do except kick it away from the dresses. Eileen came, screamed in bewilderment, telling me not to let it get away. She hurried to the back and returned with a styrofoam cup and tuxedo brochure. She left it to me to capture the creepy-crawling beast on the carpet. Not wanting me to kill or hurt it, she had me take it outside. I then labelled the cup "Professional Bug Catching Equipment" on one side, and "Bugs Only" on the other at my boss's request. I stuck the brochure in the cup and placed them under the front counter behind the register, in case another event of similar proportions arose. That was all last week.

Today...

Not too much to do. Some try-ons, pick-ups, calls to make, dresses to steam, errands to run for Eileen, the usual stuff one does while working at the shop on a slow summer day. But at some point in the day, a little brownish beetle was spotted slowly creeping across the carpet. I called Eileen over and ran to get the cup that had been conveniently left behind the counter. She was freaking out even more than the first time with the centipede. She just kept screaming, "No! No!" Even when I asked if it had been the bug she saw, she said it was, but continued screaming, "No! No!"

"Eileen, what should I do with it?" I cried, holding it in the cup with the paper on top, beetle inside.
"Noooo! Noooo!" She yelled frantically.
"Should I bring it outside?" I wasn't sure if she wanted it to show a professional of some kind.
"Nooo! Nooo!"
"You want to keep it?"
"NOOO! Bring it outside!"

So we both ran outside. I was laughing this entire time, mind you. Before I let it go she said, "Wait! Don't let it go yet!" She made her way to the printer man next door. I was inclined to follow, but she said, "Stay there and watch the shop!" So I ran back to the door, pondering what I would do if a cutomer decided to show up while I was holding an insect hostage in my hands. But Eileen came back shortly, followed by the printer himself. He took a look at it, told her it wasn't a cockroach, and politely returned to his store. I let the bug go and all was well. That was a highlight of my day. The rest of the day held some interesting things as well, but those will stay in my collection of merories that don't get written out.