So there I was in my afternoon classroom for my last class of the day. This classroom happens to be housed in one of the older buildings on the campus. It’s unattractive, the wall is peeling, the heavy vinyl curtain is ugly, and it doesn’t smell all that great either.
I can put up with all of that. But today, while I was attempting to teach a lesson, we noticed several yellowjackets bumbling around in the room. They may have come in when we did; I’m not sure. Anyhow, they began harassing students randomly, hovering over their heads and disrupting the flow of the lesson. When one finally landed on a poster above the chalkboard, I got up on a chair and whacked it with a folder. Unfortunately, all I did was make it angry and it flew off, eventually settling on a student’s notebook. I asked him to hold still, then slammed my folder down on the bug, smashing it to death and knocking the student’s stuff onto the floor into the process. (He wasn’t upset; he had asked me to destroy the thing.)
Another yellowjacket got up on the ceiling over my desk, so I got up on a chair again, but couldn’t reach it with my folder, so wound up throwing a book at it. It fled to the window, where another student killed it by whacking it with his hat.
While it was on the windowsill, it was still moving. I thought I could finish it off with a good dose of textbook, so I brought it down with full force–and SMASHED a good-sized hole in the window! Ah, the sound of shattering glass…
And this was a paperback, mind you. I hate to think what would have happened with a hardback!
I went outside to call Maintenance on my cell phone, and some guys came not too long afterwards to look at the window. I hope someone can find the nest/hive which can’t be too far away, as well.
Yet another YJ came into the room at some point, then disappeared. And I saw still another wandering into a lab class when I was leaving.
If they want me to pay for the damages, I will. But if they can’t get this YJ problem under control, I will certainly ask for another room.
Now that I’ve had a few hours to reflect, I should have called Maint. in the first place. Apparently, I thought I could terminate the buggies on my own.
It actually makes me yearn for spiders, flies, even crickets.
And I don’t usually destroy my classrooms…
Viva Viva! Death to yellowjackets!
I’m the pied piper of flying stinging insects.
When I was in high school I worked for a lawn maintenance company. Those fuckers were the scourge of our existence. They make their nests in the ground and God help anyone who mows over one and gets them all worked up.
We used to vie for the honor of pouring a bit of gasoline down the hole and torching them.
Ah yes…I’ve been Googling for info on these things. Underground is a possibility. They could even be inside. I’ve also seen some little dark shapes under the ceiling light panels and can’t tell if they’re dirt smudges or dead yellowjackets; that’s why I’m wondering if they’ve gotten into the walls.
I'm almost afraid to open the door again on Wednesday....