Cockroaches

[DDNatureLover]

I'm not sure if it's an actual fear of cockroaches, or that I simply despise them. I had never actually seen one until I moved down here to Texas. I'd heard of them, of course, but back home, they were considered a sign of filth, or of really old buildings that hadn't been cleaned or maintained. I had heard my aunt mention palmetto bugs when they lived in Hawaii, but I didn't realize those were actually what Texans call tree roaches, or big ugly nasty flying cockroaches. I am o.k. with lizards getting in the house, and I routinely dispose of spiders, tree frogs, etc., but I draw the line at snakes (yes, I had a baby snake in my last place) and cockroaches.


I don't go to theaters much these days, but when I first moved down here and went to an older theater, once the lights went out, I had to leave, because I could tell there were cockroaches moving around. When I first moved down here, I would not turn off the lights, because the apartment I was staying in had roaches. I learned that they come out in the dark, and scatter when the lights were turned on, so I developed a policy of keeping the lights on all day and night long. The people I was staying with had money to spray, but maybe they just didn't know what to do, since they were also from up North, and unused to the bugs. They didn't seem to be bothered by them the way I was, though. If I see one, I will then imagine I'm going to see more, and it drives me crazy until a few months have passed, then I'll run across another.


They live outdoors and in the trees here, and so it's not unusual to encounter them while walking, sitting outside, or sometimes eating outdoors, especially in places where there are trash cans. I don't like using chemicals, but I have learned that if I don't use pest control chemicals here, there will be cockroaches, and I'd rather ingest the chemicals than live with bugs. One thing that really freaks me out about the big ones is that they fly. I was renting a house one time down here that had been unoccupied for a while. The leaves had collected around the base of the house, and when we moved in and cleaned the leaves away, the roaches moved inside. I literally felt as if I was under invasion. I was home alone, and they swooped in and were flying all over the place. I went to a hotel and called pest control to bomb the place. 


I know I can't be the only one who doesn't like cockroaches. I don't know if I have an actual phobia, but if not, I think I'm pretty close to that line. 

 

[Choochoo]

I don't know if I'm scared of them or just don't like them as well. I think it's a bit of both for me because when they get close I do get kind of scared. When I was young I thought that I would get over it when I grew up but the fear never let me though at least I am not as afraid of them anymore. I think I saw a short documentary segment once about how we are programmed to be scared of certain insects and animals because of instincts and evolution but I forgot what it was specifically for cockroaches. It was helpful and a bit calming though since I felt it was at least just a bit natural. 

 

[HappyKoi]

Those things are awful!  When I visited a friend in a not-so-nice apartment, those things were everywhere.  I hate everything about them.  I can't even watch a movie with them without wanting to take a long, hot shower and clean my kitchen.  It's probably a contamination issue.  I don't want to get too far into it, but I've heard of roaches showing up in food that people cooked in dirty kitchens.  Ewww!!  I doubt that happens very often, but it's still icky.  If there was one in my house, I'd have to get someone else to kill it for me.

 

[DDNatureLover]

Ugh, I would sue if I ever found a cockroach in my food, assuming I was eating at a restaurant. If it was a friend's home, I'd never go back. I worked in clients' homes in the past and saw a lot of them. I learned to wear minimal clothing and not carry anything unnecessary into the houses. I wouldn't even bring my purse, just my phone and note pad, because that way there was less of a chance one would somehow get carried back to my car/house. I've seen them on the stove while people were cooking, and they didn't seem to be bothered at all. I can't imagine living like that. The worst to me are the flying roaches, because I imagine them getting tangled in my hair. 

 

[Allenafaith]

I hate these thing. I'm scared of them and they creep me out. Luckily we don't have many inside our house, they're just on the outside. They're just ugly and creepy looking. It's hard to explain. XD I see so many stories online of them crawling in people's ears and it makes me not want to sleep at night. 

 

[DylanRowan]

I don't get disgusted by them. They just annoy me. Most of the time, it's my family except my father the ones who get disgusted by them. The only fear I have of cockroaches is that I am afraid that they will get into my body.

 

[explorerX7]

I not afraid of them but I am aware of the germs that they can distribute because are frequent sewer dwellers, therefore, I detest having them around so If I see them I will do my best to eliminate them. When I was a teenager I had a friend who feared flying cockroaches. It was strange that he wasn't afraid of the crawling ones but if a flying cockroach should present itself, he would disappear in a flash.

 

[DDNatureLover]

Ugh @explorerX7I despise both types, but the flying ones are twice as bad because they can approach you in two ways. 


I remember the scene from Brokedown Palace where the girl appeared to be going crazy, and it was because a cockroach had crawled into her ear...ugh. I also recall the scene from Just Married when they were in bed in Italy and the cockroach crawled on him. I laugh like crazy when I see it in the movie because it would totally freak me out in real life. By the way, those are two of my favorite movies. How odd is that, since I hate cockroaches, and they are prevalent in both movies? 

 

[TheKnight]

I used to have a great fear of normal medium-sized cockroaches. Little did I know that the new area I moved into had giant, flying cockroaches roaming about. I was deathly scared for a few months but I eventually got used to them. I still hate them but my level of fear isn't the same. They are nasty little critters. 

 

[Alexandoy]

I'm also averse with cockroaches. In fact, we never run out of insect spray for this purpose. We used to live in an old house that was infested with cockroaches and mice - those are 2 of my phobias. Just the sight of a cockroach or a mouse would make me cringe although I try to control it when there are other people around especially my wife. Now that we have our own home, we maintain sanitation although sometimes we find a cockroach or 2 inside the house. I have discovered that those insects are coming from our neighbor in the backyard. 


No matter how I think that it's only an insect, I really cannot come to terms with the idea that there is a cockroach in our home. 

 

[biege]

When I was a child, I love seeing cockroaches because I'm amused to see how fast they evade swatting/flying slippers, I also cry when I see them getting smashed, but seeing how people around me despise cockroaches, I grew up adapting the hate for these pitiful little insects. So guys, why do we really despise cockroaches? I know they are filthy but they aren't really deadly unlike mosquitoes.

 

[joshposh]

I'm not afraid of them per say.  I just don't like to be touched by something that has been knows to live in sewers and eat human feces.  Would you shake someones hand that has been rolling around in human feces?  Then why would you want to touch an insect that does the same thing?  

 

[TheKnight]

When I was a child, I love seeing cockroaches because I'm amused to see how fast they evade swatting/flying slippers, I also cry when I see them getting smashed, but seeing how people around me despise cockroaches, I grew up adapting the hate for these pitiful little insects. So guys, why do we really despise cockroaches? I know they are filthy but they aren't really deadly unlike mosquitoes.





 

I don't mainly hate them because of how they look or move. Even though that's one of the reasons, I despise them because they roll around in feces, sewers, and the most disgusting areas that exist. They can easily get into or on our food and ruin the entire batch. I'm definitely not eating anything a cockroach gets on. They can be deadly in a way. 

 

[Jasmin Cottontail]

That's horrible! I would also get out of the house if there are flying cockroaches everywhere. I hate cockroaches as well but I'm not really afraid of them. I just don't like them not just because they are dirty and causes bacteria but also because of their awful smell. There are actually some in our house but not that much, and I don't even know how to get rid of them. Ugh.

 

[janemariesayed]

One thing that really freaks me out about the big ones is that they fly.

While I lived in Egypt I had taken the bedroom at the back of my flat. It had a balcony with tall doors which I used to leave open. On the hot nights, my two dogs would sleep out on the balcony with the long nets swishing over them in the breeze. It was lovely to sleep with the breeze blowing over my face, as my bed was facing the door. Then, one morning, I woke up with a huge cockroach on my pillow next to me. OMG! It must have come in on the long nets that covered the balcony door. No one has ever seen me get out of bed so fast.

 

[misszerable]

I neither dislike nor hate these small creatures, but my pet cats love to chase them over the house and I hate sweeping their dismembered bodies off the floor! Yaiiikks! Thankfully, I've been seeing less of them lately and my cats are getting bored. I would surely not want to have them around but I also don't want to kill them directly by swatting. I would use insect spray from time to time, though, and that takes care of the few who are hiding in some out-of-reach corners.