Sunday, June 12, 2011

Whadduh Woman! Conquering Maggots


maggot – the legless, soft-bodied, wormlike larva of any of various flies of the order Diptera, often found in decaying matter (www.thefreedictionary.com)

Ugh!

Anyway, I’ve come in contact with these little creatures. My trash can is at the curb in front of my house after being emptied by the trash collectors. The lid is open; odd, but no big deal.

As I begin to pull it over to close it, my olfactory senses are punched with a hard blow. Simultaneously, my eyes are transmitting the disgusting sight of maggots to my brain, which instantly gives me the heebie jeebies.

The trash can has been smelling a few days, but the hectic pace of my life would always cause my thoughts to be elsewhere. For five seconds as I emptied trash into it, I just assumed the smell would leave when the contents left on trash day.

But…

“Gosh! Umph! Great!” I utter as I hesitate, prolonging the inevitable.

I’ve got to clean it.

I roll it up the driveway where a faucet and hose is near. I go into the house, get the Clorox, come back out, hose in some water, and pour in a little bleach.

I roll the can back to the curb, gently put it on its side, and then lift it from the bottom to form a tilt to empty the bleach maggot soup into the sewer drain.

The stench is still unbearable, exacerbated by the ninety-four degree weather.

Peeking in again, I notice a material stuck to the bottom, like thick wadded string. There’s also an orangey brown substance on the inside wall.

*sigh*

I’ve got to clean the whole can.

“Hmmm…”

I’m not sticking my arm in there!

Think Anita.

A broom.

I see two in the garage, and we hardly use them. (preferring the vacuum)

Back out again with my broom and dishwashing liquid. Hose in water and add soap; then swish, brush, swish. Back to curb. Empty.

String and unidentifiable substance still there.

Repeat process.

Stench has lessened.

I leave the can in the driveway, hoping the sun will cure it.

A few hours later…

Still stinky. After the trash is collected again, I’ll spray more bleach at the “substance,” even though I’m not sure if it is the culprit.

And, my days of not securing the lid with a bungee cord are over. Gotta keep our animal friends that live in our back yard wetlands, out of my trash can.

What have you done that qualifies for “Whadduh Woman?” (Translation: What a Woman!)

26 comments:

Hilary said...

Hats off to you, lady! No way I would have cleaned out that can. I have, however, stuck my hand down the shower and bathroom drains to clear some clogs. I can't even tell you how gross that was. No smell, but the texture of whatever was slipping through my fingers *shudder*! Definitely "Whadduh Woman"! I think we need T-shirts!

Dori said...

Our trash can is nasty! At least we're done with diapers (thank the good Lord!), but there's still the cat litter and food scraps that aren't compost-able. Ugh! I can't stomach the maggots...so for you to clean those out? Superhero status!

I'm usually the one out in the back yard scooping up the dog poop...not just for our pet dog, but also the police dog. Two big doggies produce a LOT of poop! Between dogs, cats and potty training 2 kiddos, I've spent far too much of my life dealing with someone else's poop! That's gotta be "Whadduh Woman!" worthy!

Buckeroomama said...

Ugh. I would've chucked that and bought a new trash can. Seriously. Kudos to you for even trying to clean it.

Anita said...

Buckaroomama,

LOL

The trash can belongs to the company that supplies the service. Once we asked for a new one because the one we had, had a broken wheel. They replaced it with another that was equally bad - but the wheel worked.

It has a bar on it that the truck attaches to; in other words, we have to use theirs.

SuziCate said...

Oh, yes the trash can gets so nsty, esp. in this crazy hot weather. You are quite a woman. I will keep going out to man holding man breath until the hubby finally washes it....I am sooooo bad!

Tammy @BeatriceBanks said...

Bravo to you! I'm embarrassed to say how many trash cans I've thrown away to avoid such a task.

Stephanie said...

BLECH! We had to deal with those nasty creatures on summer when we had a garbage strike. There really is nothing as gross as a bug that can make you puke:) Well done my friend!

Arlee Bird said...

I don't qualify for any "Whadduh Woman" kudos, but this was kind of disgusting.

One summer we had some meat trimmings in our kitchen trash can and forgot to dump them in the outside can. I noticed maggots dispersing themselves away from the can and looked inside to see the yucky creatures making their way out. I immediately destroyed the maggots that had escaped and dispatched the sealed trash bag to the outside trash can. I took care of the problem before it got really bad, but it would have been even more disgusting if I had not.


Lee
Tossing It Out

Midlife Mom said...

Eeeeeeewwwwwwww! I hate maggots! You deserve a medal!!!!!Amazing the things we use Clorox for!!! We don't get maggots very often here as it is so cold for most of the year but once in a while they manage to survive until I get at them! Yes, I think we as women should have a T-shirt that says Whadduh Woman!!!

Tracey said...

Oh, gack! I would have waited for my husband to get home.

But, when it comes to vomit, I'm your girl. We had a flu here last year where all three of my kids (too little to make it to the bathroom) were heaving at the same time. My husband was out of town and I think I went two nights without sleep. Sheets, towels, carpet, hair. It was everywhere. One child tried valiently to get to the toilet but forgot to lift the lid. That was a doozey.

I was proud of myself for making it through. Then I collapsed into a pile and got sick myself.

Aubrey said...

Hi Anita! Congratulations on that. I don't think I'd be able to accomplish the same task without throwing up.:)

Toyin O. said...

Kudos to you for cleaning the trash can, I usually throw them away.

Eileen Astels Watson said...

I feel for you, girl!

Maggots are gross.

Me? Lately? Does scooping up horse poop count?

Annie Z said...

ooo yuck! I had my nose wrinkled up for the whole reading of this post! Yucky!! :):)

I gotta say one of the worst things I had to was clean up the beheaded and bloody mouse that one of the cats had brought in to the house while I was at work one day. Yuck!

But yea, cleaning yucky trash cans is certainly up there at the top of the list. Oh and leftovers that you have forgotten about in the fridge! ooooo

Chapters From My Life said...

Wow!!! Once a cat had left behind left overs of mouse in our attic and maggots were trying to creep out from there. I had to wear a mask before cleaning it up but I did it... looks like I am there among warriors like you. All had to happen on the day I had my exams. Ewwwww

K said...

Whoa, that is one nasty sight and sound that hopefully won't be permanently etched into memory! The things we mamas have to conquer. I'm wimping out and having our Orkin man come over today to remove a bee hive that's inside the eave of our roof.

Cynthia Wilson James said...

Okay, your post is sending me to check my outdoor trash can...ahh..thanks...blessings and smiles.

Rebecca S. said...

Would you like to hear another maggot story? Maybe not. Last summer we arrived from a ten day road trip to discover the kitchen had been taken over by grain weevils - little tiny brown insects that love to live and muliply in, obviously, grains, sugar, anything in a cardboard box, etc. It took me a week to rid the kitchen of all traces, and a fair amount of bleach. The kitchen island, which is on the small side but full of drawers, was the worst and is still banished to the garage.

Abby said...

Aw, that's just nasty. I think I've done similar things, but don't come anywhere near to touching the stuff. Just turn on the hose to the highest blaster pressure it will take and keep on sprayin!

Midlife Roadtripper said...

When my trashcans were "trashed", I'd hope for my children to become unruly. Instead of beating them, I'd make them clean the trashcans. Very humbling for them. Didn't screw up again for quite some time.

I hate when something is disgusting and you don't quite know what it is.

Bonnie said...

Thank you for your comment on my blog. I completly agree with you that no matter what our beliefs or race we can always find common ground. Except for that trash can...no way could I have stomached that!! I feel sick even thinking about it, you are one brave lady :)

Just Two Chicks said...

Ew! You probably don't want to know what I've done that's been comparable to this, but I'll tell you anyway.

I once taught special-needs pre-k. They put us right next door to the regular-ed pre-k so the kids could interact with each other. One day the regular-ed teacher was having a fit over a child who had repeatedly been sent to the nurse because she had lice, but the nurse wouldn't send her home because there were only eggs... she didn't see any live bugs.The mom was treating her head, but not combing the eggs out... this needs to be done to prevent another outbreak.

I felt bad for the little girl, because though I had never had lice, I did have a mother who was the talk of the school for her bad parenting, and they talked right in front of me. I guess they thought, since I was little,I wouldn't get it... I got it alright!
Anyway, I told the teacher to send the little girl over to me, which she gladly did. I gave her play-dough, finger paints, crayons... she did these activities, while I sat behind her and pulled the eggs from her hair... it was painstaking and my head was psychologically itchy the rest of the week!!!

yonca said...

Funny! I did the same thing today:) Bravooo to us:)))

Alena: Oh, Its Just Perfect! said...

You are BRAVE BRAVE BRAVE! I'm all squirmy just reading about it ;) Hope you are having a wonderful day!

4 Lettre Words said...

Love, love, love that you used "heebie jeebies"! :)

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