spiders and why I hate them

I didn't used to hate spiders. I used to have the attitude of live and let live. You guys don't bother me and I won't bother you and we'll all live happily ever after. And for a while it worked. We all lived in the peaceable kingdom.

Until the day one of them crossed the line and crawled into my ear.

I can feel some you shuddering or getting that icky shiver up your back. I feel a little shuddery just writing about it. Because it was awful. I could feel that thing crawling around inside my ear - just like that bug in that Twilight Zone episode that drove that character CRAZY. Worse yet, I couldn't get it out.

I tried shaking my head, you know, like you do when you get water in your ear, hoping the spider would fall out and skitter away. No such luck. I tried taking a shower and letting the water pound into my ear, hoping I might wash the spider out. Still no luck. I thought of using a q-tip but I was afraid of pushing him further down where he might burrow and lay eggs and... *shudder*. Finally I had to go the emergency room to get the little bastard out, which they did using a bulb syringe. Amazingly, it was still alive. I told them to let it go but that was the last time I was nice to a spider.

Now, if I see a spider (inside, mind you, outside spiders are where they belong) it's dead unless my son is around to take it outside. And if it's one of those fast ones, it's definitely dead as fast as I can grab something to smash it with. But the worst thing is those fast ones I miss, the ones that get away. Because then I know they're there, somewhere, crawling around my house, my walls, maybe in my bed, and who knows when one might make it back into my ear.


Do you have any bugs you just hate? Is there a good reason behind your dislike or is it an irrational fear? And does that picture creep you out as much as it does me?