Word experts are unsure where the term bug came from.  One guess is the Middle English word bugge, something that’s scary.  Or, it could come from the Scottish, Welsh, and Irish words meaning goblin.  You get the drift.  Bugs aren’t popular.

Let’s start with some examples of the ugly: ants, cockroaches, fleas, mosquitos, spiders, termites, ticks, and wasps.  The ugly truth is that termites cause more property damage annually than floods, wildfires, and a hurricane—$5 billion per year.  Hmmm…seeing a termite is the equivalent of a black cat crossing your path. 

Oops!  We forgot bed bugs.  Reportedly, in the 1850s, sailors discovered a way to keep their ships bed bug free.  We don’t recommend it.  Their solution was cockroaches.

Anyone planning to go to Paris for the 2024 Summer Olympics might think twice.  Locals are losing their cool over bed bugs.  Viral posts on social media describe a crisis, yet pest control experts are shaking their heads.  They say the pests have only moderately increased and blame the media for the bed bug frenzy.  We’d be in a frenzy too if bunches of that bug in the photo above were crawling all over us!  Parisians fear the scare could keep spectators away from the Olympics and hurt France’s economy. 

Even if French exterminators go wild, bed bugs could still be crawling across Parisian hotel sheets during the Olympics.  They can go for a year without a meal and are expert at hiding.  Sacré bleu!

The bad?  A computer bug.  Geeks like to point to 1947 when a programmer found a dead moth in a Harvard University electromechanical computer, whatever that is.  She and her staff called it a bug to describe the problem.  It was a bug.  Literally.   

But they weren’t the first to call a problem a bug.  Nope.  Decades earlier, Thomas Edison used the word to describe a glitch during the process of innovation.  Edison is recognized for his contributions to many inventions.  The word bug is still trendy.  Not so much telegraph and phonograph. 

Reportedly, 80 percent of the world eats bugs and many cultures consider insects a delicacy.   No thanks!  We’ve griped about the promotion of insects as people food before.  But, some good news?  If a bunch of us aren’t enamored with eating bugs, apparently cows will?   The insect-farming industry is expanding rapidly across the globe to replace traditional animal feed.  

And, there’s a plus!  Feeding insects to livestock reduces the animals’ environmental footprint.   Think cow farts.  A single cow passes between 154 to 264 pounds of methane gas per year, warming global temperatures.   Insect feed reduces that methane.

Wait!  The Department of Agriculture just awarded a grant to research if black soldier flies that feast on dairy cow manure can then be fed to animals.  Can you turn manure into a cow, chicken, or fish???  Researchers are excited about transforming manure into a resource.  So, the expletive “let them eat sh#t” could become a reality?  Oh, wow, we hope not! 

And, lastly, let us put a bug in your ear…about the Rolling Stones’ recently announced 2024 North American tour.  It’s sponsored by AARP—the organization that used to be called the American Association of Retired Persons!  AARP is “dedicated to empowering Americans 50 and older to choose how they want to live as they age.” 

Mick Jagger is 80.  Keith Richards is 79.  Obviously, they choose to age on stage and in the spotlight.  Do we oldies choose to be in the audience clapping, screaming, reliving our younger days…and turning off our hearing aids?  AARP hopes so, offering tickets to its members days before the general public.  Woohoo!  Check the cities the tour hits. 

So, our Wrinkled Wisdom for today?  Watch the 2024 Summer Olympics on television.   For some positives about bugs, you can always attend Bug Fair 2024 at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, a festival “celebrating our winged, multi-legged, and squirmy friends.”  We’ll take a pass.  Maybe invest in one of the companies processing and selling bugs for animal feed and keep those insects off our plates!  Admire cockroaches, which can live for two weeks after losing their heads.  Beware of candied cricket garnishes on some tequila drinks.  Buen apetito!