Sunday 30 November 2008

When Living Alone Becomes Tricky Part 318

When you see a big spider (and by big, I mean, big enough that when I saw it out of the corner of my eye I wondered if it was a mouse) running across your living room floor you can't just leave it.

You can't just leave it because if you leave it, you won't know where it is and then how are you supposed to fall asleep that night and what if it just hangs out for days and days crawling over stuff?

And you can't grab something to squish it because you can't stand that sound and then you'd have to get rid of the dead spider ick anyway, plus it's bad luck, and, most importantly it's mean.

So because you live alone, you can't call on your roommate or boyfriend or parental unit to "deal with it" and have to make the decision on how to deal with it on your own.

And, since you HAVE to get the thing out of your apartment in some way (because locking yourself in your bedroom isn't going to solve the problem of getting up in the morning and wondering where it is) you have to decide what to do.

So you go and get your Swiffer broom and you start to chase the fellow (or lady, I didn't ask it) with the broom and eventually, after trying to escape (which causes a few jumpy jump jumps and cringes on your part) he decides to just hang on to the broom, which allows you to open your apartment door (yes, half-naked in your dressing gown, because you didn't think you'd have to open the door to anyone, or, um for any reason) and shake him off outside.

Except that maybe he doesn't want to let go. No matter how hard you shake and tap. And then you hear the neighbours opening their door and realize this is going to look really really weird, maybe even weirder than last time you did something like this, and just before you decide to chuck the whole Swiffer broom into the hall and shut the door, the spider decides to jump off. Finally.

And then you close the door and hope he decides to just really not come back (no offense Mister/Mrs Spider of Unusual Size) and you actually feel kind of proud of yourself for dealing with it all. by. yourself.

But still.

*mini shiver*

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

I generally find a pint glass upended over it is the best way to trap a spider. Then you can slide a bit of paper under it and carry it out and throw it away easily.

I suppose I could just pick it up, but I'm always afraid that I'll damage them. And besides, the little buggers are poisonous as hell even if they can't break through human skin..

Anonymous said...

P.S. That wasn't you on MySpace, was it? (If you have no idea what I'm talking about, then I'm right, it wasn't...)

Victoria said...

Dominic, using a glass to trap them would get me TOO CLOSE! But, yeah, if they're small, I'll often just slide them on to some paper.

And, no, wasn't me!

Unknown said...

There is something to be said about doing things for your own self, however, having someone to run to is nice too. I'm with ya on the tricky part!

Ms Behaviour said...

Are you people living my life?? This happened to me last week in my hermetically sealed condo 10 floors off the ground! I did what Dominic suggested and freed him into the concrete stairwell. Only I used a plastic IKEA cup instead of a pint glass and put it straight in the dishwasher.

Victoria said...

Tricky indeed Melissa! ;)

EB, didn't you get the memo that your life would be lived by others for a couple of weeks? heh. heh.

wait...that'd be creepy! ;)

auntie said...

wow - you all are much nicer than i am! i would have figured out a way to kill it because WHAT IF IT DECIDES TO WALK BACK INTO YOUR APARTMENT?? GAH!

i'm totally in favor of having a man around if for no other reason than to kill spiders and those big hairy nasty moths. ew.

Victoria said...

Auntie, I try to ignore the whole walking back into my apartment thing because EW EW EWEWEWEWWWWWWWW!

And I just can't kill them because of the whole sound/feeling combo of the "squish" and then having to clean up the mess. ICK!

Anonymous said...

You shouldn't kill spiders, they eat all the other insects. And smaller spiders, as well, in fact.

The most I ever do is move them, and mostly only even do that when they're in my way..

The MySpace mystery is solved, by the way - I got contacted by someone in Victoria, BC, who seemed to know me but I didn't recognise. I now know who she was, so that's that all sorted. Sorry for the confusion :)

Victoria said...

Glad you got your MySpace mystery solved Dominic! Those things can be kind of weird when they're confusing :)
Also, both my parents are Scottish, so we believe it's bad luck to kill spiders so I don't do it for that reason too! :D

Yvonne said...

oh man, there's nothing more unnerving than seeing a big-ass spider go running across your floor!
And then I wonder, it's so big - how the heck did it get in here? Or, what the hell is it eating that it got that big?!!

Victoria said...

That's what I always wonder Yvonne, HOW DID IT GET IN HERE???????? ( I mean, seriously...)