Some time ago I was visiting my brother. It was getting late and we were watching a movie on the television, me and him and his wife Linda.
Suddenly, Steven issues a loud roar and runs out to the backyard.
Feeling somewhat alarmed but sensing no danger whatsoever…
Me to Linda: What’s he doing?
Linda to me: [Calmly] There’s a cricket.
Me to Linda: A cricket?
Linda to me: He doesn’t like crickets.
So my brother is racing around with a flashlight in one hand and a can of Raid in the other. We hear growling and spraying and finally Steven comes inside, winded but victorious.
Now, if a lone cricket can drive my brother to a midnight manhunt and summary execution, you can just imagine how an annoying person such as myself could make him completely crazy. A whole weekend he yelled at me, it didn’t stop.
Soon I am speaking with my sister Stephanie, and I tell her about this episode…
Stephanie to me: [Horrified] What?! He killed a living thing?! For no reason?!
Now, I am concerned about my brother. He seems terribly anxious and awfully irritable. Maybe he is at risk for a stroke, maybe he needs some kind of help. But my sister is concerned about the cricket. Maybe she is a Buddhist, maybe she wouldn’t hurt a fly.
This is the mishpocha. Meshugeh, I am telling you. Meshugeh!
© 2014 Jaclyn Schrier. All rights reserved.