Daddy-Longlegs Spiders Don’t Scare Me -[ Joan Shepherd

A young Daddy-Longlegs spider, only about as big as a nickel from toe to toe, was walking slowly up the wall. But it wasn't walking normally.

One of its legs was different, shorter and bent awkwardly. Fascinated, I compared it to me with both of us having a shorter leg and ambulatory problems.  I have had  a great deal  of medical attention  and  doubt he has  had any . I can’t cross the street without  the robo-voice telling me time is up because I walk slowly but the poor little spider, his species named for long legs, can’t move fast enough to catch dinner. Friends help me put on my shoes and drive me to the store to buy groceries.  One never sees two spiders sharing a fly or building a web together.

I felt sympathetic  toward  this handicapped little Daddy-Longlegs and without any further  comparisons or thought, I squashed him.

                                        ***