Some thoughts on bugs in general...

I just killed a centipede in the hallway (which my girlfriend and I lovingly refer to as "pedes") and it made me think of some of the more awkward encounters one can have with a bug.

Here are just a few in no particular order (of course):

• When you're walking somewhere and you almost walk into a flying/hovering bee or other stinging insect. This is almost like when you're crossing the street and a car pulls up at the same time and you both give each other the "go ahead" motion with your hands and both parties are demobilized until one or the other decides to move first. I've had instances where I've stood with a bee or wasp hovering in front of my chest for up to a second or two (which is too long to spend with a bee in my opinion). I've also spent the same amount of time or more standing at a crosswalk waiting for the driver of a car to "man up."
• When you kill a bug and it disappears. This is agonizing because you are unsure of where the dead bug went or if it survived the attack and is hiding somewhere plotting it's revenge.
• When a bug is high up on the ceiling and you are trying to kill it by throwing a towel or slipper at it. The amount of time spent missing the bug can be frustrating and can lead one to believe that the bug is making fun of them. This is similar to the item above only a little worse.
• When you are viewing a bright screen in a dark room and a bug won't find another light source to mindlessly fly into. This is one of the few occasions where I will actively hunt and kill a bug.

I'm not usually bothered by a bug's presence unless these criteria are met:

• The bug is gross (see list below).
• The bug is bothering me by either continually attempting to make physical contact with me or trying to land on whatever screen I am watching in a dark room.

A list of bugs that I define as gross:

• Centipedes
• Silverfish
• Earwigs

I don't really mind cockroaches because I have never had to deal with them personally and I never bother to kill spiders. Spiders are the police of bugs and I usually let them do whatever the fuck they want.