Stung by a Wasp

Lots of people I know are 'Nellies' around flying insects. My own brother still flinches like he's been hit by a Taser gun when a bumblebee flies by his head. However, nobody I know has as much of a right to be afraid of stinging insects as Eddie. Poor kid. He really is a magnet for stinging insects.

Let me explain. There are multiple incidents in my poor son's life when we are in big groups of people, and inevitably, we hear someone shrieking in pain. And it's always Eddie.

Example number one: Camping at Cunningham Falls. We are camping with three families, eight children between the ages of 4-9. All of the children are playing in the woods, and none of them are disturbing any wasp or yellow-jacket nests. In fact, it is late October. There are no insects around. Suddenly, Eddie screams bloody murder, as a yellow jacket has crawled up his pants leg and stings him on the leg.

Example number two: Cub scout meeting at home. It's January around 8 o'clock at night. It's like 40 degrees outside. Certainly no insects around. Around 10 kids are playing on the front porch, swinging on the porch swing, being wild, and of all of them, Eddie gets stung by a wasp. After the fact, I find a nest under the porch swing and remove it.

Example number three: Cub scout meeting again. Last Friday. Eddie rings the doorbell to his den leader's home. The door opens, and Eddie begins to walk inside. He then feels legs crawling near his eye, and he gets stung again! After the sting, they see the wasp crawling on Becky's arm, and she kills it.

There are at least two or three more examples that I can't specifically recall, but this poor kid has been stung at least five times in his life. And he's never been overtly bothering these insects (not like a kid who is stupidly playing around a hornets' nest).

He's either very unlucky, or very tasty.