I was once living in Florida, at a yoga ashram, basically a communal living situation with a large group of people all sharing one kitchen. We had an old coffee maker that sat on a shelf and hadn't been used in months.
One of the new guests was a friendly male model type of bro, he decided to clean out the (mildly) moldy strainer of the coffee maker and start using it again. He even offered us to help ourselves to his bag of coffee. Awesome! As a coffee lover that had only been drinking tea for the past few months, I was overjoyed to get some of that good stuff again.
He had brewed several pots of a nice artisanal coffee blend that had all the coffee lovers lining up to get their fix each morning. We sipped on the brew and shared stories, we laughed, we joked, and asked ourselves why hadn't we started using this dusty thing sooner? It was a grand ole time getting hooked on that sweet, sweet nectar again.
One morning I decided to brew a pot. Mmmm I savor a few sips and think what a delight a simple cup of black coffee can be... but wait.. what's this prickly stick in my mouth? Pfffh pffffh... I instinctively spit it out into my hand. In my cupped palm there's a large cockroach leg and I proceed to freak all the way out, spitting in the sink over and over trying to force myself to heave up any remaining juices or pieces from my stomach. You know that feeling you get when you finally get something out of your eye, but it still feels like it's in there? That's what I felt in my throat, and the way their little legs are barbed it's quite possible I never got one of the legs out, try as I might. I rinse my mouth over and over and then brush my teeth.
In the cup of coffee there's another leg and a few other remnants of our disgusting little house guests. I check the coffee maker, the top basket seems clean enough, even below it looks fine. Where's the rest of this creature? I remove a lower piece of plastic covering the main spout and find the rest of the dry, nasty roach, a few more legs and a wing, a disturbing sight indeed. Maybe this was a sign, had I started to trust in those around me, a little too much? Why had the universe forsaken me with this little treat? It was my karma I guess. That's life. With the good comes the bad, just different sides of the same coin I suppose.
It took about two years before I stopped compulsively checking my cups of coffee in bright light for bugs or bug parts, and even now I'll take a quick glance before my first sip. I still think about that fateful morning from time to time. There's just something about feeling a barbed bug leg on your tongue that elicits a strong visceral reaction that stays with you for quite some time. Stay safe out there my fellow travelers.