Bats and Bedbugs

If you ever work in Vail, you leave with a lot of stories.

Bats and Bedbugs

Molly had been a skier and her participation had landed her a job as a Vail based sales rep for a ski company. The job had originally been filled by a big time Olympic and World Cup skier. She had hired Molly because Molly was also a skier, although not so renowned, and Molly also knew how to deal with Excel spread sheets. Something that the home office in Denver was now demanding from the office.

The two would set up a tent at the various ski events at Vail, Beaver Creek and Copper Mountain to exhibit the company's latest equipment and apparel. They also had a demo shop in Lionshead. Sort of a private ski rental store that would loan out the company's latest equipment to the right people. The right people being active Olympic skiers, World Cup types, and certain families that would come to Vail for a month or so every winter and buy all new equipment and clothing before hitting the slopes. The competitors and legacy shoppers.

The operation was successful and soon grew to ten women. Molly and her boss hired their friends who then recommended their friends. Molly's boss then quit for high paying jobs managing resort condos in Florida, leaving Molly in charge. Which was expected given that she was the only one who knew how to keep up the spreadsheets and process the invoices.

The office and ski shop was located underground, under Lionshead Plaza in Vail, in a location that was referred to as “Hitler's Bunker”. A few hundred yards away was the Vail Marriott, a $950 per night hotel where many of the legacy shoppers either rented suits or owned them outright. The Marriott maintenance guys found the office full of single, attractive women and were drawn to it like flies. It never dawned on the guys that the women were single because most were gay. But be that as it may, there were many lunch time pizza parties and such in the office conference room.

The women loved to hear the guy's tales of the Marriott. It was an old hotel, built in the early 1970's, and like most old hotels, even very upscale ones, it was infested with bed bugs. Every few days a mattress had to be carried out and deposited in the dumpster in the Vail boneyard across the road. The rooms above, below and to the right and left of the infected room were then closed off and fumigated. A special guy came out from the pest control company, one well versed in bedbugs, and oversaw the operation.

The maintenance guys had little vials with bedbugs in them at various stages of development. They would check the bathroom sinks and compare what they found to the vials. Apparently, the bedbugs liked to be slightly squashed so they were rarely out in the open. Always in a tight crack, or under a mattress. They were only visible when they blundered into the sink or the bathtub and were trapped there. When one was found, the radio call, “Code 64!!”, went out and the maintenance guys scrambled. In the winter the hotel was almost always at 100% occupancy, so there were always guests in the infested room. The guests were told there was a plumbing problem and moved to another suite.

The problem with this was that the guests clothing and luggage had usually been in the room for a day or two, and it was now also infested. It would infest the next room, but probably not fast enough to bother the guest. But it would also infest the guests' home when they got back.

The Johnson family had just arrived in Vail. They flew in every year from Connecticut and were quite popular with the women in the office. Mr. Johnson, known as Steve, worked in financials in New York. His wife Merriam was a true socialite, working many charity and political causes. And she was the one that could tell an interesting story about the people she worked with in the city. The success of both came from being good with people, and they had all nine women in the office eating out of their hands.

The couple got good, honest recommendations on the new equipment and their three kids got free ski lessons from Olympic contenders. Once per visit they would take the entire office out for dinner at Montauk, a wonderful seafood restaurant in Lionshead. And when they left, there was always an extremely generous tip to be divided up.

One morning, Merriam came into the shop and asked to try a new type of back country boot. She'd walked around in the boot the day before and now wanted to try it in downhill mode. Rachelle, one of he women in the office was helping her.

“The boot is warm so you don't need heavy socks. In fact, you don't want them. It's better to have the boot tight.” Said Rachelle, an avid back country skier.

She helped Merriam remove her heavy wool sock and offered one that were almost like silk.

“Just something to hold the perspiration”, Rachelle added.

“I have a funny rash”, said Merriam. “Look at my ankle. That just started today. The kids have it too. Have you ever seen it?”

There were small red dots all around Merriam's ankle.

“Maybe, let's see the other ankle”, Rachelle said.

Merriam pulled off her other sock.

“You're at the Marriott. Right?”

“Yes.”

“I think those are bedbug bites”, said Rachelle. “Did you feel itchy stuff down there last night?”

“Oh my God yes!” Merriam gasped.

“It's bed bugs”, said Rachelle. “You can see my doctor over in Avon. He knows what the bites look like. Sometimes I get them when I go to the Marriott.”

“Give me his number!” Said Merriam. “And here, I won't be needing these boots today.”

Merriam returned to the shop about noon.

“Where is Rachelle?”

“She's at lunch”, someone replied. “She should be back any minute.”

“Does anyone here know anything about bedbugs?” Merriam asked.

“The Marriott has them”, Molly offered. “Are you staying there?”

“Yes, god d****t! I just got back from the doctor. And the kids and I all have bedbug bites.”

A bell went off in Molly's head to shut up, but she considered Merriam, Steve and their three kids to be friends.

“Then they're in your luggage now. And your clothing. They've probably laid eggs there. I don't know how you handle that, but I wouldn't want that stuff back in my house. Once they get in someplace, you never get rid of them.”

“Oh my God!” shrieked Merriam, as she stormed out.

It was quiet for two days, and then a representative from the Marriott HR showed up up and asked if she could meet with the crew as a group. Her somewhat nasty and insistent attitude gave Molly the urge to suggest that she simply go call a meeting with her own employees and leave this office alone. But she knew Vail had a lot of leverage over the office, and so she agreed to the meeting.

Once they were seated around the conference table, the HR rep opened up with, “Who told the Johnsons that the Marriott had bedbugs?”

Rachelle was about to raise her hand when Molly's look cut her off.

“I think that was the doctor over in Avon”, said Molly. “Or at least he told her that she had got eaten alive by bedbugs the night before. Her and her kids.”

“Someone here told her that the bedbugs were in her luggage and clothing. Who was that?”

“Well they are, aren't they?” Asked Molly.

“Who was it?”

“It could have been anyone. Maybe the doctor.” Molly looked around the table. “I think the meeting's over.”

Molly waived to the women around the table, “You guys get back to work.”

“The meeting is not over”, the HR rep cried.

“Yes it is, get out of here you guys”, Molly answered. The eight women filed out.

“This isn't over”, said the HR woman as she rose from the table.

Again it was quiet for several days. Then a representative from the main office of Molly's company showed up. The Denver office.

“There is a lot of trouble with Vail”, he began. “Did anyone here set those people off about bedbugs?”

“Merriam Johnson asked about some funny bites on her ankles and we recommended that she see a doctor over in Avon.” Molly answered.

“Well, all hell is breaking loose. Vail wants this office closed, or at least wants it restaffed with new people.”

“It's that serious?” Asked Molly.

“Yes, and we depend on them a lot. We sort of have to keep them happy. And they think someone here set those people off about the bedbugs.”

“Well, there were bedbugs. Or at least that's what the doctor said.”

Well, maybe you shouldn't have sent that woman to the doctor. You did do that. Right?”

“Yes”, Molly admitted.

The Denver guy left and it again became deadly quiet in the office. Molly could tell when things would work out because there would be a constant stream of phone calls asking silly questions about an incident. This time there was nothing, indicating a major decision was being made without their input.

After three days of this, Merriam Johnson came in.

“I'm eternally grateful for you guys telling us about the bedbugs. Without you I would have just taken that stuff home and the house would have been infested forever. I talked to a pest control guy and he said that's what would have happened.”

“What happened to your stuff?” Molly asked.

“Vail and the Marriott paid for it”, Mrs. Johnson answered. “It got burned and they bought us enough new clothing to get home.”

“I'm glad it worked out.”

“It wouldn't have without you”, said Mrs. Johnson. “We'll certainly be back next year to see you.”

Molly couldn't help herself and sobbed, “We probably won't be here next year. They're getting rid of us.”

“Why.”

“Because we blabbed about the bedbugs.”

“What? Don't those people ever stop? I'm going to have a good talk to them. And I have some friends who can give them a call.”

Molly and the rest waited for the ax to fall, but it never did. They didn't hear from the home office for a long time. And when they finally did, the bedbug incident wasn't mentioned.

In the meantime, the Marriott maintenance guys had brought over pizza and proudly showed off the nets they had made from a broom handles, heavy wire and pillow cases. Bats had invaded the hotel and the city of Vail mandated that they be caught alive and released. Which was much more fun than hauling out bedbug infested mattresses.

Reviews

[genocide]

so is this story just about putting bedbugs inside someone's room and mattresses being infested with bugs I just don't get it