Roaches: Stronger Than Reagan

There is a roach in the hallway outside my office. It's large, it's a little confused and it's a resounding endorsement of the idea that roaches are The Terminator of insects.

Tony and I first saw it this morning on our way back from Whole Foods. We haven't really had a vermin problem here since the Great Mouse Epidemic of 2004, so I was genuinely eek!ed to see Exhibit A: Large Roach. It was lying on it's back in front of the ladies' room, legs and antennae flailing. It was sort pathetic and yet still gross.

"Step on it," Tony told me with the subtext being Because I'm not going near it, ew ew ew!

No. Thanks. And besides - it looked like it was having enough trouble without me crushing its exoskeleton with my Payless flats. I did wonder, though, how a roach comes to find itself the wrong way up on the floor and not smashed or otherwise still hanging in there for good measure.

"There's a roach outside the ladies' room if anyone wants to check it out," I announced to the office. Perhaps not surprisingly for my office, someone did.

A couple of years ago I would have said that it appears to be true that roaches are like Reagan - the just refuse to die. Man, that was such a good joke - I used it for a long time and, and it had so many hilarious applications. Then Reagan had to finally up and kick it. So annoying.

When G and I were coming back from getting lunch at the deli, I was quite surprised to see the roach again - it was cautiously crawling across the linoleum, past our office door. We sidestepped it yet again, since I really don't see any reason to get yuck on my shoes. Also? Ew ew ew!

I have to admire that our friend the roach managed to not only right itself (I assume no easy task) but stumble all the way down to the hall to the offices of the UNITY church. While it did seem disorientated and unsure as to why in fact it was not dead, I assume it has found sanctuary somewhere since it was no longer in the hall when I went to the trash chute just now.

Then again maybe someone from the UNITY church decided that all God's creatures aren't equal after all.