Rodents and roaches

An integral part of living in New York City, or rather an inevitable part of living in the city, is interacting with the world’s worst: the roaches and the rodents.

I wouldn’t describe myself as a very anxious person. If anything, prior to this particular incident, I was the hero of the household. I was the official and certified bug killer in my house for all women. While my sister and mother jumped on furniture and crawled away from the insects, I ran into battle. I freed the spiders, smashed the flies, and caught the centipedes.

So when I moved to the city, I didn’t expect any difference. Sure, there were the occasional rat on the subway tracks. My friends and I looked down, shared our disgust and got on with our lives. From time to time I even saw a cockroach crawling through the gutters. Again I was able to take one look, turn my face into disgust and move on.

Unfortunately, I came across a damn cockroach in my dorm room. My Solstice, my home, my beloved bedroom. I opened the door not knowing what to expect and was surprised by a pretty caterpillar rushing across the room. Maybe it bothered me so much because I knew if there was one, there were hundreds. Maybe a cockroach infestation. My once humble abode, humble but mine nonetheless, had been raided. It took me over 30 minutes to kill the cockroach. Not because of his intelligence, but because every time I moved a piece of furniture to extort it from hiding, I screamed and watched it scurry away. I was surprised at my inability to just get over it and smash it with my shoe. I was especially afraid of what a squashed cockroach would look like. As I stood on top of my bed, strategically holding my shoe so it could fall on it, I imagined what a smashed date might look like, or a bloody cockroach on the floor. Eventually I realized that he either smashed it or let a million other crawlers repopulate. It was just disgusting and quite repulsive.

But the cockroach incident prompted me to inquire about it. Why was everyone on earth so afraid of bugs? Cockroaches in particular? They couldn’t bite. Sure they were gross, really gross, but there had to be more. According to bugs.com, I realized that the fear of bugs is actually an evolutionary trait that humans have evolved over the years. In particular, the fear of cockroaches was created to protect us. Roaches and other bugs love old rotten food and other junk that can spread disease and harm people.

So the next time you’re standing on your bed staring down at that puny bug, which is probably more scared of you, remember that this is a sign. An evolutionary trait brought you to this moment of disgust to protect you.