> I've seen pictures of em, and I'm pretty sure if I saw one of those things irl I would absolutely shit myself.

I always thought this was interesting (how many people are super scared of cockroaches). I'm absolutely terrified of bugs, I see cockroaches very rarely, and while I wouldn't pet one... They're not too bad? There's tons of bugs that are way scarier. Spiders, house centipedes, camel crickets. And that's just the stuff that actually exists near me. If I encountered an average Australian insect, good God, I'd run screaming. But cockroaches? Eh

I assume it's because cockroaches are associated with filth, and they tend to occur in large numbers. But as individual bugs, on the surface level they're not too bad. (Not "disagreeing" or anything, just think the different perspectives are neat)

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rawgabbit 3 hours ago | parent | next [-]

Spiders are beneficial. Please don’t kill them. Cock roaches do spread disease. I buy Combat Source Kill Max Roach Insect Killer Gel with fipronil.

https://www.epa.gov/ipm/cockroaches-and-schools

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ipdashc 3 hours ago | parent [-]

I'm aware, I don't kill spiders if I can avoid it. And I know cockroaches are nastier. I just think it's surprising that people are so visually afraid of them, since they're not a very scary-looking bug.

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rawgabbit 2 hours ago | parent [-]

Growing up poor, cock roaches symbolize poverty and the run down sad places I used to live in. I can’t stand them as they bring back bad memories of my childhood.

	▲	ipdashc 14 minutes ago \| parent [-]
		That makes a lot of sense. I didn't think about it that way.

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FeteCommuniste 3 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

For me it's less fear than an instant "I must kill it / get it out of here" feeling. A big spider or centipede gives me a more intense "creepy crawly" shiver but a cockroach is way higher on the disgust scale for some reason.

	▲	ipdashc 15 minutes ago \| parent [-]
		That makes total sense actually!