Princeton Sicko Update & an Ant Invasion

Melissa Hung
July 1, 2005

Well, he entered a pretrial intervention program, avoiding jail time. WTF? That's all he gets for sexual offenses against women?

Maybe you're interested in new news, like the case of
Manlin Chee, a high-profile attorney who is now in jail for immigration fraud, but interestingly, was not investigated by the FBI until she very publicly denounced the PATRIOT ACT and the war.

Maybe you want to find out about stuff to do, like this free workshop for youth ages 13 to 19 at the Asian American Writers Workshop in July.

Maybe you want to know when you'll get your next issue of Hyphen. (September. We are very busy editing, copy editing, selling ads, taking photographs and starting on layouts right now.)

But you know, it's not like every day I wake up and have an Asian American day, or think about Asian American-ness. Of course the way I was brought up, the cultural heritage I grew up with, the color of my skin, my gender -- all that stuff -- affects who I am, how I am perceived, how I think, etc etc. But sometimes, I'm just a person with a problem, not an Asian American person with a problem. And today, all I really want to talk about is the fact that there are ants partying in my bathroom. OK, they're not having a party yet. It's not like there's food in my bathroom. But they're out there scouting.

I came home yesterday from a meeting (a Hyphen meeting) and saw one. Oh, such a bad sign. Where there is one, there will be many. They are coming in through a crack in the wall by the bathtub. Now, I live on the second floor, so they really had to work it to get up here. And it's not like I keep food in the bathroom, so I don't know why they're even bothering. I've got to stop them before they advance all over my apartment.

Come to think of it, I often see a lot of ants on the sidewalk outside my house. I don't mind them being outside. But if they're in my house, they've got to go, even the ones outside. I am declaring war. Anyone have any suggestions? I'd like to avoid nasty chemicals if possible. Though I'm not going to complain if my landlord brings in the exterminator.

Contributor: 

Melissa Hung

Founding Editor

Melissa Hung is the founding editor of Hyphen. She was editor in chief for the magazine's first five years and went on to serve in many other leadership roles on the staff and board for more than a decade. A writer and freelance journalist, Melissa has written for NPR, Vogue, Pacific Standard, Longreads, and Catapult. She grew up in Texas, the eldest child of immigrants.

Comments

Comments

claire wrote on Fri, 07/01/2005 - 11:41am
i have no suggestions that don't involve nasty chemicals, but you should know that windex, or generic glass cleaner, is nice 'n' toxic but doesn't stink up the place - and is cheaper than raid. get the landlord to bring in an exterminator, then spritz any scout you see with windex. will die pretty much on the spot and not be able to return to base and report on rave haven in your house.
erin wrote on Fri, 07/01/2005 - 2:28pm
jesus. did anyone test the sicko for sexually transmitted diseases before determining that this was a "fourth degree crime," not deserving of imprisonment? there are speeding tickets that cost more than $125.
mythago wrote on Sun, 07/03/2005 - 2:53pm
Oh, you have to love the explanatory e-mail send out explaining his absence: "Michael is sick." Yes, yes he is.
Anonymous wrote on Thu, 07/14/2005 - 12:16pm
try wiping all of the srufaces the ants are on with vinegar every day until they're gone. it took me 3 days to be rid of the ones in my home.
Melissa wrote on Thu, 07/21/2005 - 10:29am
Thanks. I think they must be attracted to the smell of my cleaning products, which are kind of fruity-smelling. I tried the vinegar trick and they're not around anymore. I also tried leaving them some instant grits outside -- a website said they would eat them and die from dehydration. But they've passed the grits up.