Today's good deed

[soc_puppet]

When I got to work today, there was a small wasp or yellowjacket or something of that ilk buzzing around the bakery ceiling. It took two attempts, but with the aid of a small step ladder, I managed to pull the old "cup-and-paper trap" on the ceiling and successfully released it outside.

It wasn't much, but the presence of bees and wasps and the like can make some people panic, even if they aren't allergic, and I figured spending a few minutes on a relatively quick catch-and-release was better in the end for all of us. (Especially since I can easily imagine it having otherwise gotten squished for the crime of getting lost in a building...)

Comments

[gwydion]

I'm allergic.

I'm also someone who stays perfectly calm and still when being buzzed.

I hated when they'd get into the classroom while I was teaching. They'd all indulge in over the top panic. (some of them would have allergies and/or phobias, but a lot of them just enjoyed the disruption and the drama. I could see the difference, but it didn't matter.) I'd explain that flailing about would make it more likely to get stung. Designate a calm kid to run to the office in case I got stung. Then I'd calmly climb up there and cup and paper them out a window. It was always worth it.

Faster in the end then swimming upstream with a room of hysterical kids and I can only hope the modelling of calm competence helped. It certainly added to my rep in a positive way with the kids.

[soc_puppet]

The bakery where I work shares some space with college baking classes. There was a student a semester or two ago who had very bad airborne peanut allergies; she couldn't be in the same building as peanut products if they were cooking or baking, or even had been just recently! As a result, I kinda ended up on high-damage-prevention-mode when we get new students or employees in the bakery, and on Wednesday I double-checked with the instructor before heating up some peanut butter monster bars in the oven (to thaw them out faster so I could cut them). So when I was trying to get the wasp(?) under control and out of the bakery today, allergies was the first thing one of my coworkers guessed as my motivation 😂 But no, I've seen way too many otherwise calm situations dissolve into complete chaos when a bee or wasp is in an enclosed space, regardless of allergies, so getting it taken care of while things were still calm just made the most sense to me.

Sounds like you were a very good example for those kids!

[gwydion]

I's a situation generally made far worse by panic.

[mistressofmuses]

I'm always glad to be the one to try and do a quick catch and release for the various bugs or spiders and such that get into the office sometimes. I appreciate that they don't usually worry me too much, and so I can keep them from freaking someone else out, and keep the bug from getting squished.

[soc_puppet]

Same! It's not always practical at work, but sometimes things fall into place and I can help a little critter make it back to the outside world. Previous work highlights include a massive dragonfly that was attracted to one of the indoor bug-zapper lights (it was tired enough to need a rest on the outer casing long enough for me to catch it by hand, and probably used up a ton of energy zooming away at speed when I released it outside, but that's energy it was still alive to recoup) and a medium-small toad that had stopped on a rag that was catching water drips from a freezer and probably gotten too chilly to move comfortably.

[mistressofmuses]

Those are excellent rescues! I'm glad you saved them.

Mine are usually less exciting - grasshoppers, bees, spiders, crickets. Once a mouse.