I have never understood the concept of suing people over trivial things.

It seems like when something goes wrong people are just looking for someone to blame.

No longer is a trip on a slippery sidewalk or a spilled hot cup of coffee an accident.

Nope. If you’re in America someone is going to pay for it and pay a lot.

The most recent lawsuit trend that caught my eye is both timely and ridiculous. People are suing hotels that have bed bugs.

In one case in 2008 an opera singer initiated a $6 million lawsuit against the Hilton Corporation for enduring more than 150 bites.

Bed bugs used to be a common pest, but despite our overzealous use of DDT and other chemicals over the past century that decreased the population these little unwelcome critters have come crawling back with a vengeance.

But didn’t those people who ended up with bites after a night in a hotel accept responsibility? Those people chose to travel and stay at those hotels and ultimately subject themselves and whatever unknowns there might be.

Yes, bed bug bites are irritating, but the attempt to gain some sort of financial satisfaction we may end up sacrificing more because hotels are going to extremes to limit customers bringing in bed bugs. The process of removing these bugs is complicated, uncertain and expensive.

Bed bugs survived years of pesticides and are extremely difficult to locate. These tiny bed bugs can go without eating for months on end and can literally hide in cracks.

To protect themselves from possible lawsuits some hotels are now starting to require people to take showers before they enter their rooms and exchange their luggage.

Over the past few years the University of

Illinois has had some bed bug problems, but nothing huge. And while I have heard of a few off-campus cases of bed bugs, Eastern residence halls seem to be bed bug free. But other universities are not quite so lucky.

A recent bed bug lawsuit was reported in

January of this year, when students of Portland State University in Oregon reported a severe infestation in one of the campuses popular apartment complexes.

I assume there will be a certain degree of danger when I go out into the world. Now whether that is uneven sidewalks or bed bug bites, that is undetermined.

But isn’t that the point?

The moment you step out your door in the morning, the world is out of your control. Deal with it or stay inside.

Emily Steele is a senior journalism major. She can be reached at 581-7942 or

at [email protected].