Unfounded Fear

Does this image make you jump? I don't know where I first made such a bad association with roaches but since I became a vegetarian 5 years ago I have feared the day I would find one in my home and be faced with the decision to end it's life or find some other alternative. Looking at this jpeg makes my skin crawl. But why this unfounded fear? They are the "other" and I've never known a time I was not terrified by their familiar shape and freakish movement, yet they really can't harm me. As pests, they, like mice eat our food and leave toxic droppings but they don't bite, sting, or do any of the things that some bugs do which cause human fatal results.

Here is what Wikipedia says about the little guys. When I read that wasps sting and subdue the roach to drink a small portion of their blood and then leave them slightly alive to house the eggs of the hungry wasp larvae -  Link to Roaches - I suddenly began to feel a small bit of empathy for the hideous little things. How do I learn to love the roach?

My landlady recently turned on the heat in our apartment building and for the past two mornings I have been faced with that brutal decision in unfounded terror. Yesterday morning, with a little ingenuity and teamwork, my boyfriend (Buddhist, pacifist) and I (vegetarian, pacifist) managed to corral and capture a 2+ inch roach from its discovered location on the towel ring in my bathroom inside a plastic cup, where he slid my T-mobile bill between and transported the unloved creature across the street and into an abandoned field. He got lots of affection for his bravery and kind intentions. I myself, have not even mustered that bravery. But he makes me want to work on it.