Love bugs really aren’t that loving

Here in Florida, we have what people call “Love Bugs”. I know exactly why they are called “Love Bugs”, but I don’t like these little critters. Why don’t they get a motel room?

Being cooped up at home for quite some time is not that exciting. You can only be closed for so long.

On Tuesday, he needed to go across town to do some quick business and office supplies. It wouldn’t take long and I’d be home in no time.

“Anything you want me to pick up while I’m gone?” I asked the Gracious Lady of the Parochial House. I always like to try to help whenever I can.

She’s a big shopper, particularly a big thrift store shopper. She knows every thrift store within a 100-mile radius, but more than that, they know her by her first name. I, across the room, am not a very good buyer.

Many times my wife sent me to the store with a list and I was never able to get everything on that list. I don’t know why, but she would miss two or three items on her list. I’m not saying that because the list was too long, that’s probably why, but I’m not saying that.

Knowing this, my wife replied, “No, I can’t think of anything I’d like you to pick up. Drive carefully.” I heaved a deep sigh of relief, knowing I wasn’t going to get into any kind of trouble now.

Not many places open this time due to lockdown so didn’t have much of a choice. Therefore, I did what I was supposed to do as quickly as possible and headed home. Please don’t let this find out, you know, but I stopped by a drive-thru and bought some delicious ice cream. I enjoyed it all the way home. To me, ice cream is so much more delicious when no one knows you’re eating it.

I almost made it home when a big dark cloud came out of nowhere and hit my truck in the front like I’ve never been hit before. At first, I thought it was the apocalypse.

When I went through it, I realized that I had hit, or rather been hit by, a bunch of “Love Bugs” and they were smeared all over my window and the front of my truck. I used to have a silver van, now it was almost all black, at least on the front.

I know they are “Love Bugs”, but at the time I didn’t feel any kind of love towards them. I was feeling the exact opposite, but I won’t mention it.

When I walked through the front door of my house, my wife saw that I was more agitated than ever. I even closed the door behind me, indicating how upset I was.

“What happened?”

I just looked at my wife and then said, “Those disgusting Love Bugs attacked me while I was driving, and they’re all over my truck. I’m never taking them out.”

With that, I went and got a bucket of water and tried to clean them out of my truck.

I noticed my wife was smiling when I left and she said, “You should drive more carefully.” Then she laughed. I hate when she laughs.

No matter how hard I worked to get those critters out of my truck, I couldn’t get them all out. It was a dark reminder of the love for insects.

When I walked in, my wife said, “Well, did you get them all out of your truck?” She then gave me one of her infamous giggles.

Throughout the day, when he looked at me, he would chuckle.

The next morning, my wife had to go to the store to buy some groceries. As she closed the door behind her, she said to me, “I guess I’ll just have to drive carefully.” She then laughed again.

A little over an hour later, he came back and when he walked through the door, I noticed something was wrong. I asked her if something was wrong and all she said was, “No, nothing’s wrong. I’ll take care of it.”

I knew from her behavior that something was wrong and that she really didn’t want me to know. That piqued my curiosity.

In a few minutes, I looked out the window and there she was with a bucket of water washing down the front of her truck. I had my suspicions, which turned out to be correct.

When she walked in the front door, I was waiting for her and I said, “Is there a problem with Love Bug?” With that, I not only snickered, but laughed out loud hilariously.

“Maybe,” I laughed, “you should drive a little more carefully.”

His look informed me that he didn’t think it was funny, which made it even more fun for me.

Thinking about that, I remembered what the prophet Amos once said. “Can two walk together, except they be agreed?” (Amos 3:3).

Walking the same path together, we experience the same thing. Sometimes we forget, I know I do. I am learning not to criticize other people for what they are going through right now because I may go through the same experience tomorrow.