My Secret Cockroach Superpower
Tap tap tap…I think you’re going to be ok.
I share my office with about a dozen Madagascar Hissing Cockroaches. They live in a small glass tank between my Bluetooth speaker and a box of K-cups. As far as officemates go, they’re not that bad. They don’t heat weird foods up in the microwave or rant about conspiracy theories.
Also, I could kill them if I wanted, and nobody would mind.
But I probably won’t kill them, because I like them. It’s not just because of their burnt caramel-colored shell or the hissing sound they make when they’re upset. It’s not because they’ll happily eat my wilted salad greens or grapes that have gone a little too soft.
I like them because I know no matter how weird or scary things get in my office, they’ve always got my back. No matter what.
I ordered the cockroaches from a breeder in Florida about a year and a half ago. The day they were scheduled to arrive was supposed to be balmy and warm. But a surprise arctic blast dropped into New Hampshire from the north and the temperature fell to well below freezing. I was certain the cockroaches, native to Madagascar, would die, stuffed between Amazon packages and Hello Fresh boxes in the back of a delivery truck.
In the afternoon, a cardboard box with ventilation holes in the sides showed up on…
