Bugs

How do you feel about bugs?  Do you like them?  Hate them?  Or are you indifferent to bugs?  I guess we all have our reasons for how we feel about bugs.  I have a friend who has a phobia about bugs.  Her fear of bugs goes back to a childhood trauma; bugs literally take her back to the scene of a crime.  She has gone to therapy and is now able to sleep at night without nightmares and able to enjoy a hike in the woods.  She doesn't appreciate seeing any bugs though and I can sympathize with her.  Another friend of mine has a phobia about spiders.  Although a very independent woman, she has to call for help if she is home alone and sees a spider.  She jokes about it but I can tell spiders are a huge barrier to her peace of mind.  I am generally okay with bugs as long as they're not inside the house.  I can tolerate a spider or two in the house if they're small or medium in size.  But I will poison the sugar ants in my kitchen.  If I am aware of wasps building a nest under my deck I probably will knock it down or spray it with pesticide unless a killing frost is expected soon in which case I would let it go.  If ground dwelling bees build a nest in my lawn where I mow I will get rid of it but if it's in an area I don't mow I will leave it alone.  I try not to over use pesticides but I do use them once in a while.  I think I am more tolerant of bugs than some. We humans have altered this planet too much already.  I actually think some germs are good for me.  I don't buy any products that I know have antibiotics in them.  I won't buy germ killing dish soap or hand soap. I have to read quite a few labels before I can find a product that doesn't kill bugs.  If I am going to clean my hands I'll use soap and water and not germicide hand cleaner. I purchase products with probiotics which is a more appetizing way of saying I buy food with bugs.  I have to admit that some people's attitude towards bugs bugs me.  I am bugged by how much bugs bug them.  To tell the honest truth, I've been sassy about it as well. One friend of mine was planning on spraying pesticide into a flower pot and smothering the plant with sand to kill the eggs of the bugs she saw in the dirt.  How did she see the bugs in the dirt?  They weren't easily visible.  She had to stir up the dirt with a spoon, wait a minute, and squint to see tiny insects moving in the soil.  Seriously?  These tine subterranean bugs bugged her?  This was a plant that spent the summers outdoors.  And in about six weeks it will be outside again.  Of course it has tiny bugs in it.  Twice in the past month, when people are freaking out about bugs, I've said to them, "Do you realize you have mites in your eyelashes?"   Judging by the pained look on her face, I probably went too far. But she does have mites in her eye lashes; just saying.