There aren't many things on this earth that I truly hate. For that matter, there shouldn't be many things on this earth anyone should truly hate. I believe life should be lived with as little spite as possible and we should strive to see the good in all and refrain from hate in any form, for any living creature. But I friggin' hate cockroaches. I dont know what it is exactly that I hate. Perhaps it is their habbits of sneaking and crawling behind sugar canisters so you think they are gone untill you pick up the sugar canister and they fall to the floor with a greasy thud just before they pitter across your toes to their abode in the refrigerator coils. Maybe its because I'm jealous that if we were to have a nuclear catastrophe, my flesh would be boiling with cancer and they would still be happily feeding off of the crumbs in my toaster. I dont know why, I just know I hate them and would prefer they live somewhere other than my house.
The Terminex guy knows my name and I have discussed, extensively, my hate for roaches. He comes twice a month, but tells me that in North Carolina, there really isn't that much one can do to keep the occasional water beetle out of the house. I guess water beetle is the synonym for cockroach in the south because I've never heard a North Carolinian admit to having a roach or two hanging around. Maybe they are too good for roaches. Maybe they don't know any better. I'm betting on the latter, because these reddish-brown, poodle sized, winged insects are not beetles, nor do they live in the water. They live behind my fridge. Maybe if I started calling them fridge beetles, or sugar canister roaches the locals would catch on and agree to a compromise.