If you can’t get to a private place, but you know the tears will fall anyway, you can try to keep it a secret by crying silently. Although you likely won't be able to keep the tears in, you can do your best to keep the noise in.  To do this breathe deeply, but do it as quietly as you can. This isn’t supposed to be a deep sigh, but rather you want to keep your breath moving steadily so you won’t sob. Don’t hold your breath! Eventually, you will have to breathe, and if it has built up in your chest, a sob may come out with it. If a sound does escape, try to play it off as a cough or a sneeze if you can. This will depend largely on your specific situation, but you should try to get as far away from the center of attention as possible.  If you are at work or school, sit at your desk, and try to make it appear as though you are casually reading something on your screen or desk. Place your hand on your forehead, as though you are shading your eyes from the sun. This will make it more difficult for others to see what your eyes are doing. If you are in a more social situation, pretend you got a call on your cell phone, and walk to the most private area you can find. Keep pretending to talk on the phone so that people will pay less attention to you. If you have managed to keep the attention off of yourself, you can casually dab the tears away. You can use a tissue if you have it, or your sleeve. If you are wearing a short sleeve shirt, just use the back of your hand. Avoid rubbing! It will be tempting to just rub your face and eyes to try and stop, but this will only add to the redness and swelling that naturally occurs when you cry. In this case, you probably don’t just want to let it out. Instead, you will want to gain control of yourself. You can try to stop yourself from crying by smiling, which can help to trick your brain into happier thoughts.  Think about a funny thing that happened recently, or about something you are looking forward to. If you can’t think of anything, try to become very focused on what is going on around you. This will help distract you from what is upsetting you. You can also quickly write down your feelings in a notebook or on your phone so you can move past them. If you are somewhere where it will be noticed if you don’t rejoin, then at some point you will need to get back into it. How you do this will depend on how you’re feeling.  If you’re feeling much better, and you aren’t worried that you will cry again, then jump back in. It may take a couple of minutes for you to get back into the conversation normally, but don’t worry about it. If you’ve successfully completed all these steps, it’s unlikely that anyone will notice that you were crying. If you’re worried that you might cry again, try to join in, but minimally. Don’t try to be super involved in the conversation. Instead, do your best to look happy (smiling as best you can might also help you feel better), and listen to the conversation. This may also help distract you from what is causing the tears. If you’re at your desk at school or work, simply go back to working as you normally would. You are at an advantage in this situation because there won’t be any expectation to be social. Take a few minutes to cheer yourself up after crying, for example, by watching a funny video, or looking at things you enjoy on your phone or the computer.

Summary: Breathe as deeply as you can. Make yourself as inconspicuous as possible. Dab your tears away as they fall. Distract yourself. Rejoin the group.


No matter what size the paint spill, carefully use a putty knife or any sort of flat tool to scoop up paint that is sitting on top of the carpet, not yet soaked down into the fibers. Scoop up as much excess paint as you can without spreading the paint around. Wipe off the collected paint with paper towels and throw them away in the garbage. Use a paper towel or clean rag to blot and absorb as much wet paint as you can. Lift your towel up and down and gently dab at the paint. Adjust the towel so you are always dabbing at the paint with a clean section. Don’t rub or try to scrub the paint out; that will merely spread the paint around and push it deeper into the carpet. Mix a cleaning solution of 1 cup (240 ml) of warm water with 1⁄4–1 teaspoon (1.2–4.9 ml) of mild dish soap. Use another clean towel to drip on a small amount of cleaning solution onto the paint. Let the cleaning solution sit on the carpet for a few minutes. After the solution has had some time to soak on the paint, dip a clean paper towel or rag into the cleaning solution and continue to blot at the wet paint. Always adjust the cloth so you are blotting with a clean section. Keep blotting at the stain until your cloth no longer absorbs any of the paint.  Blot from the outside of the paint, moving inward; this will prevent you from spreading out the stain even further.  If the stain still remains, repeat the cleaning process with the soapy water, or move on to using vinegar to blot at the paint. Vinegar works well with removing water-based paints like latex paint. Once the paint stain is removed, use a clean paper towel or rag to blot at the wet area and soak up any remaining moisture. It should take about a day for the carpet to completely dry. You could even set a heavy object on top of layers of paper towels or rags to soak up moisture overnight. If the stain is persistent and can’t be removed completely with all of your cleaning efforts, consider calling a professional carpet cleaning service to clean the rest of the remaining paint. A professional carpet cleaner will have the necessary cleaning chemicals and tools to adequately remove any lingering paint stains.

Summary: Collect excess paint. Blot the paint with a clean cloth. Mix a cleaning solution. Blot the paint with the cleaning solution. Dry the area. Call in a professional.


These bugs are not the easy to pick off one by one. However, using petroleum jelly makes your glove sticky, which helps pull the beetles off the plant.  These beetles have a yellow body with black stripes or black dots. They measure 0.25 inches (0.64 cm) in length. Drop the beetles into a bucket of water with a couple of spoonfuls of dishwashing liquid. You can use a simple handheld vacuum to suck beetles off the plants. Alternatively, use a reversed leaf blower to suck the beetles out. You can also buy a vacuum specifically made for insects if you're worried about harming the plant, as these are generally less powerful. Vacuum all around the plant, including the underside of leaves. Make sure to empty the vacuum when you're done. Seal the contents in a zip-top bag, and take them to the trash. It may be tempting to take out spiders you see, but they are natural predators for pests like cucumber beetles. Wolf spiders, in particular, eat a large number of these beetles, and the beetles tend to avoid the area if there are wolf spiders around.  Of course, you should still be careful around spiders. By and large, though, if you leave them alone, they'll leave you alone. Wolf spiders are venomous, but they usually just cause some redness and swelling when they bite you. They aren't as harmful to humans as spiders like black widows or brown recluses. Ladybugs take care of a number of garden pests, including cucumber beetles and aphids. In the case of cucumber beetles, the ladybugs eat the pests' eggs, discouraging growth. Start with 1,500 ladybugs for a typical home garden, though you won't harm your garden by releasing too many.  Many organic garden stores sell ladybugs to release in your garden. Place the ladybugs in your refrigerator when you buy them, which will slow them down a little. Spray down your yard thoroughly, and release the ladybugs in the evening. Taking these precautions will help keep them in your yard.
Summary: Pick the beetles off by hand using gloves coated in petroleum jelly. Suck up beetles with a vacuum. Leave the spiders in your garden. Introduce a predator like ladybugs.