I had never seen a real cockroach in my life until I moved to New York at the age of 22. Naive little me, I had only heard about them and never though I’d have a problem with them because I am a completely anal clean freak. Then within a week of moving to New York, for the first time I saw a tiny roach running across my bathroom floor. I freaked out and squashed it, but I knew there’d be more. Now, I very occasionally still encounter them, and I have to settle into the fact that no matter how clean I am, somehow they will still come.