After Successful Visit From Exterminator, Student Buys Pet Mouse to Fill the Void

When Caroline Jimenez (W '19)  saw a rodent scurry boldly across her kitchen floor one evening this semester, she did what any concerned renter would do: call up her landlord and put in a maintenance request for traps.

Finally, two weeks after the visit from the exterminator, the furry trespasser was captured and thrown away with the trash. "I was so relieved," Jimenez said. "I was glad I wouldn't have to worry about it anymore."

But over the following month, Jimenez's relief slowly faded to sorrow.

"Sometimes I'd be up late, and I'd impulsively look under my stove, half-expecting to find the mouse there," she said. "I know it's crazy, but I just felt this..." she paused, gazing mournfully into the distance. "It was like a void had opened within me."

"I have two roommates," she continued. "But with the mouse gone, the apartment felt empty."

So, last week, in an an effort to "feel whole again," Jimenez ordered a replacement mouse on Amazon Prime. And within less than two business days, the mouse-shaped hole in her heart had been filled.

"It was one of the best decisions I've ever made," Jimenez insisted. "I guess you don't know what you have until it's gone."