Consider the Cockroach

By Shlomo Maital

      Few insects arouse as much loathing as the cockroach. Just this morning, my wife called for me to deal with one, lurking in the shower.  And…they are fast! If this morning’s cockroach could play wide receiver for the Pittsburgh Steelers, they would win the Super Bowl.   I salute him or her.

      Cockroaches are getting a bad rap.  They are amazing insects.  Consider this (from Wikipedia):

 * Only about 30 cockroach species out of 4,600 are associated with human habitats.  

* Cockroaches are ancient, dating back some 320 million years!  (Humans have been around for barely 50,000 years).  Evolution has made them perfectly adapted to any place they choose to live in.  They are hardy insects capable of tolerating a wide range of climates, from Arctic cold to tropical heat.

* Some species, such as the gregarious German cockroach, have an elaborate social structure involving common shelter, social dependence, information transfer and kin recognition.  Pretty human, right?

  * They are popularly depicted as dirty pests, although the majority of species are inoffensive and live in a wide range of habitats around the world.

    So, if we humans continue to ruin our planet, I am betting cockroaches will inherit the mess.  And they will do just fine. 

     Here is a lovely Spanish song about them (with translation). Interesting that I couldn’t find any English songs about them.  Good for our creative Spanish friends!

      What can we learn from the cucaracha?  Resilience.  The song recounts how she never stops dancing, even lacking two hind legs. 

La Cucaracha

Song by Pica-Pica

The cockroach the cockroach

   La cucaracha, la cucaracha

can’t walk anymore

   Ya no puede caminar

Because it doesn’t have, because it lacks

   Porque no tiene, porque le falta

One leg to walk

   Una pata para andar

a big cockroach

    Una cucaracha grande

He walks in the kitchen

   Se pasea en la cocina

And my mother’s flip flop

    Y la chancla de mi madre

He has removed a paw

    Le ha quitado una patita

The cockroach the cockroach

    La cucaracha, la cucaracha

can’t walk anymore

    Ya no puede caminar

Because it doesn’t have, because it lacks

     Porque no tiene, porque le falta

One leg to walk

    Una pata para andar

This lame cockroach

   Esta coja cucaracha

never gives up

    Nunca se da por vencida

And even if it lacks a leg

   Y aunque le falte una pata

Always dances in the kitchen

   Baila siempre en la cocina

He has such a bad leg

    Tiene tanta mala pata

this poor lady

   Esta pobre señorita

That my father with his flip flop

    Que mi padre con su chancla

He has taken another leg

    Le ha quitado otra patita

The cockroach the cockroach

  La cucaracha, la cucaracha

can’t walk anymore

   Ya no puede caminar

Because it doesn’t have, because it lacks

    Porque no tiene, porque le falta

The two back legs

  Las dos patitas de atrás

angry and very upset

     Enfadada y muy molesta

she called all her friends

    Llamó a todas sus amigas

“Oh, soon we will have a party

   “Ay, pronto haremos una fiesta

In the middle of the kitchen

   En medio de la cocina”

The cockroach the cockroach

   La cucaracha, la cucaracha

can’t walk anymore

   Ya no puede caminar

Because it doesn’t have, because it lacks

   Porque no tiene, porque le falta

The two back legs

   Las dos patitas de atrás

The cockroaches, the cockroaches

  Las cucarachas, las cucarachas

they never stop dancing

    Nunca paran de bailar

Even if they don’t have, even if they lack

    Aunque no tengan, aunque les falten

The two back legs

  Las dos patitas de atrás

It’s over

   Se acabó