Last week I killed a cockroach...It was about 2 1/2 inches long and was under my kitchen sink. Ah well. That's another story...best left untold. The thing I liked best about this brutal killing is what came next. The next morning this cockroach was now turned upside down; not exactly where I had left it and was slightly twitching. On closer inspection, because I have no radio or TV (and up until now, no Net Setter data stick that connected me remotely to the internet) I found that the tiny ants in my room had taken an interest in this cockroach and seemed to be prodding it...but, alas, I had to go to school so left the drama unobserved for three hours. When I returned from class at 12:30, the cockroach was NOT THERE... Instead it was moving slowly across the kitchen floor, carried by about 5o-75 ants (no, I didn't count them). Amazing to watch this cockroach, flipped upside down now drifting effortlessly (for him) through Nirvana. All this is still not even the thing I want to write about. Eventually the cockroach and his cushion of ants came to the 1/4 inch ledge that leads to the small hallway. Up and down in front of the ledge they slowly moved this cockroach; coaxing it to please get over this ledge. At one point they had the two back legs over, but alas...he was staying in the kitchen... I ate my lunch (I have a three hour break for lunch; quite civilized, I might add) and at about 2 1/2 hours I decided I would give them a hand and boost it over the ledge. But just as I was collecting paper (I certainly was not using my hands) I saw that they had abandoned their task. Now THIS was the most interesting point to me, because now I just had to know how they made that decision! In the beginning, was there a certain amount of time alloted for the task? Was one ant put in charge of the timing? Was it a group decision and they just threw up their hands in disgust? Did they get tired? Hungry?
I threw it in the garbage; lifting it effortlessly...
Maybe it's better to have TV then to have these unanswerable questions swirling around in your mind.
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Oh My gosh, Phyllis! What a funny little story -- I was so disappointed that the ants weren't able to get the cockroach to their final destination (the supper table??) Now I too wonder how these decisions get made -- and here I am in America, with my TV and DVD at the ready!
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