Pesky things
On one of the papers I was reading next to my bed there was this big black beetle-thing just sitting there. It wasn't a roach or waterbug or anything I knew - too narrow and grasshopper-like in stature. I was surprised Medley hadn't taken care of it, but since it wasn't moving, I guess it didn't interest her. I went to get the Raid.
When I sprayed it, it still didn't move, so I thought it was already dead. But then when I lifted the paper, it slowly curled in one leg. With my free hand I opened the window and tossed off the paper outside.
I've become such a wimp. I remember my fascination with bugs when I was a kid growing up on the farm. The awful, terrible things my brothers and I would do to them... so many dissections! How many insects died in vain for our amusement!? I guess there really wasn't that much to do on the farm.
I've always had this grandiose fear of moths. I was never a fan of hairy insects that could fly, and out in the country, some of them could get pretty big. Now bugs - most bugs - just generally creep me out. Not like I'm scared of them or anything. I'll still collect a spider off the wall and put it outside. I just don't want to wake up next to a big black beetle, that's all.
Oh, and as far as killing them goes: If they're disgusting, they die. During my much more crunchy twenties, when I was a strict vegetarian, had long hair, and wore torn up jeans, I did have a no-kill policy towards all living things. But I've grown since then. Now there are days where I wish it were legal to shoot rats in the subway. Don't get me wrong, though, my childhood days of torture are over. I do my best to let ladybugs go free, and I also never pull the wings off flies. Well, not since I was nine, anyway.Labels: daily grind
posted by Skylight at 4:10 PM
2 Comments:
Very clever, my friend. That made me smile. Can I borrow Medley if my apartment mouse comes back?
I did the crunchy vegetarian thing for a long time, too, and ended up severely anemic. The point at which I finally reconsidered and renounced my strict, neo-liberal pacifist attitude was when someone mentioned to me that strict pacifism means standing by and doing nothing when someone is hurting or killing member of my family or a good friend. Could you let that happen? I couldn't. I'd shoot that person dead without a second thought. I'll never be a conservative, but I'll also never be the liberal I used to think I was.
I still pick up spiders and let them out, though.
Medley's up for hire anytime. She's such a whore.
Crunchiness is all behind us, yes. But it's still cool to have a past like that, isn't it? I like looking at my long-haired photos and thinking "Wow, I really was quite the hippy."
Glad you weren't offended that I linked without asking. I meant to, but... okay, I really have no excuse!
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