As I was making brownies for dessert this evening, I went to grab something out of the cupboard, and noticed a horrible, icky, spider climbing up the cupboard I needed to get in to. I hate spiders, and I’m tremendously afraid of them (and no I don’t need anyone to tell me that I shouldn’t be…I am and that’s all there is to it). Usually I won’t even go near them…instead I’ll have one of my brave sons come and dispose of it as they wish (usually get it into a cup and put it outside…yeah, they are pretty nice). But no one is in the house. Not one son. So, that means I have to do it MYESLF
So…I took a deep breath, grabbed a mug from the other cupboard, and some kind of stiff paper thing. Then I placed the mug over the spider, and then slid the paper underneath. Then was the hard part…I had to take it over to the outside door, open the door (without letting the paper slip even a quarter of a quarter of an inch because you know that thing will get out if I do), and then get it out onto the porch. I had a hard time opening the door because I was scared to death of letting that paper slip, let me tell you. But I did it. I got that blasted thing out of my house, and I did it all by myself. Yes, I am very proud of me
My daughter is like you, only she’s not quite as merciful when it comes to disposing of the “eight legged freaks”! IF she deals with herself, it’s off to arachnid heaven for the poor dears.
You do realize that the common house spider will die a long, slow, and painful death when not actually inside a house, right? They have evolved to really only be able to live in human homes. Instead of a quick, humane, lethal blow, you have sentenced this poor helpless arachnid to sure hell-fire torture, the likes of which have been banned by most advanced cultures for hundreds of years.
No, no, no. It will not die a long, slow and painful death. It will die a quick (though perhaps somewhat painful) death by being a Happy Meal for a bigger, meaner outdoor spider.
Awwww…come on guys! Now I feel horrible! I may not like the icky buggers, but I don’t wish a painful and torturous death on them…unless they come too near me. Then I don’t care.
Well Done, Izz! The Buddha would have been proud of you. And Mahavira too.
Don’t believe these calumnies about House Spiders. They just happen to like that kind of music.
I’ve just watched some US crime drama thing where a murderer uses funnelweb spiders to kill his victims. Now I just know I’ll wake up in the middle of the night thinking there’s a frickin spider on my ceiling or something.
Tip if you don’t want to get near the damn things (like me). Get a vacuum cleaner and suck the buggers up. Then just empty it outside or get someone else to do it later.
Myth: > “I’m very kind to spiders; when I find one in the house, I put it back outside instead of killing it.”
Fact: > You can’t put something “back” outside which was never outside in the first place. Although some house spider species can survive outdoors, most don’t do well there, and some (which are native to other climates) will perish rather quickly when removed from the protective indoor habitat. You’re not doing them a favor.
I hadn’t put much thought into how scary a spider might be until I saw what one of my herb teachers called a Wolf Spider while we were out working on her herb farm.
It was about the size of a fifty cent piece, carrying an egg sack and dashing about on the sandy dirt.
I swear it seemed like that thing was following me because I kept seeing the same sort of spider running about all week end.
One of my UU friends tells me she once went to a class on Buddhism where the teacher spoke about respecting all sentinent beings.
My friend had grown up in the rural South. She said she could respect most living things but drew the line at mosquitoes.
(In addition to mosquitoes, chiggers and ticks are on my kill list also.)
Anyway, she also mentioned that she’d heard that just hearing the name of the Buddha was enough to provide a higher life form incarnation in one’s next life.
Sooooooo, her method of dealing with insects was to release them of their karmic low birth by saying “go to Buddha” just before slapping them (as a favor) to death.
I imagine any name used to explain a concept of the Divine might work just as well.
Maybe it’s not too late…I’ll have someone go and look for it. I would, but you know…it’s probably mad at me now. And there is nothing worse than a spider that’s mad at you.
Congratulations on facing and overcoming a phobia. That is an accomplishment and no joke about it.
Don’t feel bad for the spider. The issue Gonzo brings up only applies to certain spiders, not all. There’s 8 species that are commonly found indoors and outdoors both. Yours might have been one of them.
Izz–you have successfully completed your qualifying “solo spider relocation” and can now be inducted into the emmminent society of people who don’t squish things unnecessarily.
I’ll happily allow myself to be inducted, so long as one of the requirements isn’t having to allow some icky, wiggly, gross thing with too many legs crawl on me. There I shall draw the line, and squishing shall have to be reinstated.
I may not like the icky buggers, but I don’t wish a painful and torturous death on them…unless they come too near me. Then I don’t care.
