No Cockroaches Allowed

Brian and I listened to an episode of “This American Life” on our way up to Astoria, OR the other weekend.  This particular episode was about people who have a fear of going to sleep, for one reason or another.

One of the interviews was a family from a lower-income, inner city background.  Their living space was infested with cockroaches, and they just couldn’t seem to find a way out of it.  

It had become a somewhat common occurrence for them to have to go to the emergency room in the middle of the night because a cockroach had crawled into someone’s ear...again.  Evidently cockroaches can’t walk backwards out of the ear, so once they’re in they need to be manually removed by a doctor.

The mother of the family talked about it like it was no big thing, just a bit of a hassle that they had to deal with.  “It just goes with the territory...we just deal with it...nothing we can do...no money to move...no money to pay for an exterminator...landlord won’t do anything...etc.”

Obviously there are multiple things wrong with this scenario, and I don’t think I need to go into them. 

I sat and listened to this interview in complete shock and confusion.  “Don’t they know that this is no way to live?  Don’t they know that they have options?  At the very least, put on some earmuffs, right?!?!” 

I just could not fathom anyone thinking that they had to settle for a life of cockroaches crawling into their ears at night.

Then it hit me.

That is exactly how I used to view my struggle with depression.  “Nothing I can really do about this...just gotta suck it up and muscle through it...nobody can help me...it’s just the way it is.”

I might as well have had cockroaches crawling into my ears.

Hearing this story made me even more thankful for the angels in my life who have helped me see that there is another way to live, and that I can DO SOMETHING about it.  Pastors, friends, counselors, doctors....and most importantly, Brian - THANK YOU.  Without these people showing me the hope that wasn’t obvious to me at the time, I would still be fighting a losing battle, just like that poor mother.   

And just for the record, if I ever see a cockroach in my apartment, I know what to do :)