Memories of Roaches

My Experience is Similar to Diddy’s. No Cap.

Diddy posted on Twitter from a tropical locale while eating a juicy mango. He told his million followers that his childhood was a rough one. Rough in the form of roaches, fifteen to be exact, crawling on his face while he slept. Their presence was the catalyst for Diddy wanting a better life. He told his followers that they could improve their lives as well. They just need to want it.

I’ll get to Diddy’s statement in a moment. But first, his mention of roaches stirred memories within me. Memories that I wanted to keep in the past. But the mere mention of those insects had my mind turning back to our first-floor apartment on Quincy Street. My family and I lived with roaches. Hundreds and hundreds of roaches.

From the time I was three years old to my early twenties, I had to deal with roaches. In every aspect of my life growing up, roaches were a constant presence. They were in our food, on our furniture, and in our clothing. They crawled across our tv screen, crept across the hardwood floors, and climbed the walls. The roaches were everywhere and despite our best efforts, we couldn’t get rid of them.

I remember a time I was asleep in my bedroom. When, in the middle of the night, I felt something on my arm. It startled me out of my sleep. I turned on the light and there was a roach crawling across my sheet near my arm. I flicked it away and it landed on the far side of my room. I shook my cover, checking for more insects, and reluctantly fell back asleep.

Another time I was in elementary school. I was in the fourth grade. It was the start of the school day. I sat down at my desk and pulled out my notebook from my bag. I opened the notebook and a tiny roach crawled across the page. I remember looking quickly around to see if any of my classmates had noticed. Fortunately, no one had. I wiped the roach off the page, checked the rest of the notebook and my bag for more insects, and then went on with the rest of my day.

Diddy’s claim that he had to contend with roaches as a child may or may not be an exaggeration. But I believe there is some truth to his story. Granted, I don’t think he counted the roaches. He probably just saw a lot of them and used fifteen as a reasonable amount. In any event, I doubt he would lie about the roach's existence. That’s not something to lie about on social media.

The roaches in my life were a factor in my choices. I was tired of living with insects. When we moved from Quincy Street, we left behind the insects (or so we thought). We moved into a three-story townhouse in the Academy Homes neighborhood of Boston. The roaches moved with us. But building management helped us with the insects and life became a lot more manageable. I vowed that once I owned my own home, my children would never see a roach. I worked hard in school, used my skills to climb up the income ladder, and bought my first home. There were no roaches.

Diddy wants his followers to follow their dreams and reach their goals. They just have to want it per Diddy. I’m sure his followers do want better for themselves. The question is how? Most people, if you ask them, know they want a better life. That could mean going to college, getting a higher-paying job, starting a business, or retiring early. But the how is the problem. People need direction.

This could be an opportunity for Diddy. He has the means to help so many people. He could create a foundation or an organization that provides people with the direction and resources to pursue their goals. While job placement offices and unemployment agencies exist, they don’t provide the one-on-one support and mentorship that many people need.

So I would implore Diddy and anyone with the means to create these opportunities in the communities that need them. Offer these services at a free or reduced cost. Provide people with the support they need to jumpstart their dreams. Partner with other nonprofits to provide wrap-around services. Encourage those who reach their goals to help those who still need to reach theirs. We must lift each other up as we climb.