No, really, it was self defense!!

My daughter, Jenni, reminded me of another bug story that is permanently etched in our family memory. In Tucson, when it's hot (which is 9 months out of the year...) we have a lovely little visitor that we call a Sewer Roach, also called the American Roach. They are big - up to 2 inches - ugly, stubborn, and virtually unkillable. As anyone from Arizona knows, if you smack one with the bottom of your shoe, all you end up with is a pissed off roach! They come up through the drains so we all learn very quickly to NEVER leave a drain uncovered. To this day, I can't bear to see an uncovered drain in sink or bathtub. Also, a generous sprinkling of Borax helps.

Well, one day my friend Linda knocked frantically on my door. When I opened it, she has this rather horrified look on her face.

Me: What's wrong?

Linda: ohmigod, ohmigod, ohmigod!!

Me: Are you okay?

Linda: The grossest thing just happened. I was taking out the toaster to make breakfast for the kids. In the bottom of the toaster there was a sewer roach. So I plugged the toaster in, and pushed the handle down!

Me: What happened?

Linda: I don't know - I heard sizzling and I was afraid to look!

So we trotted back to her apartment, unplugged the toaster, and ran back to the alley to deposit the whole thing in the dumpster. Never did look inside. Went back to my place, covered all the drains (you know, in case his relatives came a-lookin' for him), and tried not to think about how stupid we must have looked!