We all know that moment when you’re hanging around in your room and you hear your suitemate let out a blood-curdling scream.

You would think that she was being robbed, attacked or something very serious had occurred. You make a mad dash down the hall and burst into her room to make sure she is okay.

She’s curled up in the fetal position on her bed.

“KILL IT!” she screams, pointing at the wall.

She is pointing to a spider. Just minding its own business.

I’ve never been the type of person to kill a spider. I’m not afraid of bugs, just annoyed by certain types of bugs when they’re in my presence.

With an elongated sigh, I walk to the kitchen and grab a cup to put it in and let it go outside.

I understand that people have things they are afraid of, and I understand that people can’t control what they are afraid of.

But bugs won’t bother you unless you bother them. Haven’t you seen the movie “A Bug’s Life?”

I don’t kill bugs when I see them because I consider them to be just as entitled to live on this earth as we are.

While some bugs are annoying and others are ugly, most bugs can coexist with humans without causing us any bodily harm.

Another reason I don’t kill bugs is because some bugs, specifically spiders, can help us out.

I have always been fond of keeping spiders around because they eat the most annoying bugs that I despise: flies and mosquitoes.

Over the summer, I found a spider living on my window sill in my room. Instead of freaking out and killing it, I left it there to help me get rid of all the annoying bugs that find their way into my bedroom and bother me during the night. I named it Charlie and it was my friend.

Eventually Charlie either died or left to find a new home, but it wasn’t a decision I made for him. (or her?)

What I am trying to say is: when you see a bug in your room, try not to freak out. It probably doesn’t want to be there as much as you don’t want it there. It probably came flying through an open door and is stuck there because you closed it, or it’s just lost.

Either guide it to the nearest exit or leave it be because it deserves to find its way home and not be smushed inside of a napkin in your trash can.