It's highly, highly unlikely that there's precisely one rat who is now dead

Yup. Most rats are either pregnant or building condos in the walls. You never find just. one. rat.

Aren't rats a health department type of problem? They spread disease. If there is a serious problem and the building management isn't taking care of the problem, would the health dept. be able to force them to do something?

I have no idea. I'm not sure what the health department could do, really, since there are rats on campus, due to the fact that we're in the middle of the city, and there are people and food everywhere. I don't even know if the problem is really serious. I am so not in the loop.

Do you have a dustbuster at the office?

No. I don't even have one at home, because mine was pretty and purple, and thus was stolen by a crappy roommate. And I can't find the housekeeping lady anywhere.

The crumbs should be swept or vaccuumed up. Rodents, like bugs, rarely exist alone in an evironment. Don't leave any food of any kind in or on your desk, or anywhere in your office. If you want to go even further, you could go buy some boric acid and leave piles of it in the corners.

Okay. It's good to know that there are many many more rats, and yet at the same time, my skin is only crawling more.

I don't think I'll be able to talk USC into getting rid of all the vegetation, unfortunately.

Also, they could get an exterminator to leave poison out. There were rats outside of this building, who were living off the garbage laft by the construction crew next door, and our exterminator put poison baits out in the lot and said that will cut down on them. Thank GOD our building is well-sealed, plus there was so much food next door that they didn't have any reason to come in.

These are California rats, so they live outside.

Now imagining rats with teeny teeny sunglasses. They spend their days surfing.

Alibelle, I think you might need to find another place to work. I would not work at a place that had a known rat problem so bad that open trash cans were not workable. Rats are not an acceptable side-effect of working in an office.

On the subject of social standing and pederasty, the crux of the Boston Diocese scandal is that so many people knew that there were bad seeds, and didn't know what to do about it, and did nothing, and thereby let the problem continue. Like, not even the hush money cases -- of which there were several -- but a bad guy moving away to California, and his supervisors sending along recommendations to the CA dioceses that there was no problem him working with children.

Alibelle, they have to keep the vegetation, I was just saying that so you would know that the rats live OUTSIDE. Like coyotes and opossums and all the other city-adapted creatures we have around here.

I hope Ali's visitor is the rare just. one. rat, for her sake.

Trudy, if you mean by "easily" "is a valid interpretation", then you're right. If by "easily" you mean "obviously", then you're wrong, as I can think of at least one other valid interpretation, namely starfucking

Exactly. Honestly, I tend to favor the starfucking interpretation. (If MJ wasn't rich and famous, but still related to children as he apparently does -- that is, viewing prepubescent boys as friendly equals -- how many parents would be comfortable leaving their children with him, even if they absolutely knew no molestation was going on?)

I think the key is just to make sure there's no food in your office. Also, probably don't go in there at night.