Tales From a Technician

Having a pest problem is no laughing matter.

But that doesn’t mean pest control technicians don’t have a few laughs at their own expense. Anything can happen in their world, and most often times it does. For this week’s blog, I spoke with Jacob Denison. Jacob was a pest control technician before he joined our team at PestRoutes two years ago as our beta manager.

Here’s our conversation:

So Jacob, tell me a little bit about yourself? Where are you from? How did you get into the pest control industry?   I’m originally from California, but I moved to Dallas before I started kindergarten. I got my degree in 3D Animation from the Art Institute of Dallas. After graduation, I worked as an intern at a small animation studio …

Er…wait…what does that have to do with pest control…? Yeah, I’m getting to that. Like I was saying … I was an intern, and I only got paid if I worked on commercial projects. So basically, I worked for free for two months.  

You worked for free?? Yeah, it was a stressful time. My rent check bounced and I needed an income. That’s when a friend from church asked if I wanted to come work for him at his pest control business.  

Ah, ok. So how long did you work there? What did you like about being a pest control technician? I worked there for 4.5 years. There were a lot of things I enjoyed about being a technician. I got a lot of autonomy, I set my own schedule, and working outside on a beautiful day was a nice perk. I also enjoyed the face time with our customers.  

That sounds awesome. Was there anything you didn’t enjoy about the job? Well yeah, working outside in bad weather wasn’t fun and…dogs.  

Dogs? Jacob, what have you got against man’s best friend?  Well for starters…I’m not sure if it’s the uniform I wore, or the chemicals I used, but they always seem to go crazy when I arrive. One particular instance, I was with a customer and she wanted me to treat the outside of her house. She had a small dog that followed me from window to window and was barking at me the whole entire time. So I finally finished my job and I’m waiting at the door for the customer to sign the paperwork. The dog comes running to the door and the customer is trying to hold the door back with her leg. Well, the door swung open and the dog came charging through the door and jumped up and bit me!

 Bit you?? Bit you where?! (Jacob pauses …) In the … ahem … groin area.

WHAT?! Yeah…and to make matters worse, while I’m doubled over in pain, the customer offered to take a look at the bite. Needless to say, I politely refused.

I hate to ask, but…what is your relationship with dogs now that you’ve retired from being a technician? Sketchy … at best. 

Submit your story!

Do you or one of your technicians have a funny, interesting or unbelievable tale from the field? We’d love to feature it. Email TechTales@pestroutes.com with the following information:

• Technician’s Name

• Company Name

• Phone Number

• Email

• Your Tale

• Photo of the Technician

We’ll reach out should we need more information about your story.