# FEARS and PHOBIAS: What are yours?



## sjc

*I thought I'd start a Phobia thread:*

Mine: Closed spaces (that trapped, can't breathe feeling)
My Daughter's: Ladybugs -Strange, at 21 (real bad: screams, cries, shakes from head to toe)
My Husband's: ME...lol.
My Son's: The fridge being empty. 6'3" and eats me out of house and home!!

*YOUR TURN!!*


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## Thumper

I'm afraid of heights and going new places alone, but my biggest fear is dying.

That second one...that's a pain in the Spouse Thingy's behind


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## sjc

Thumper:  Fear of dying in general or fear of dying in some sort of horrid way?


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## Meredith Sinclair

Well I am a little like Monk. "Wipie please" and I HAVE to have my Lipbalm & Burt's Bees hand salve. I freak if I don't have these moisturizers!!! As far back as I can remember I have even had to leave a movie to go out to my car to get my lipbalm. WEIRD! My husband is afraid of toads, spiders, anything that moves in the grass! Strange because I will put bait on our hooks while fishing and I will take the fish off of the hooks... my husband is like "YUCK, UH, UH!" So MANLY!!!!  Calls me or my DD outside to check his shoes on the back patio for toads! DD... can't think of anything.


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## sjc

This is going to be a very interesting thread.

*Lip balm*, I can see that. I always have something on my lips...and earrings, can't leave the house without them or I feel naked. I've actually gone back home (on way to work) to put earrings on.

*TOADS:* Bufonophobia = Fear of toads.


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## pidgeon92

Swimming..... Showers, baths, shallow pools don't bother me, but I have to feel the surface under my feet or I panic.

Spiders.... The little buggers scare the bejeezzus out of me.


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## sjc

Pidge:  Fear of spiders = Arachnephobia or Arachnophobia.  (fear of spiders and swimming are very common)


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## pidgeon92

sjc said:


> Pidge: Fear of spiders = Arachnephobia or Arachnophobia. (fear of spiders and swimming are very common)


I do my best to be ordinary.


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## sjc

Lol.


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## mlewis78

1. Snakes
2. Rats


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## Susan in VA

I manage to mostly block my fears out of conscious awareness because I usually manage to avoid situations that involve them!

Small enclosed spaces, not so much for the physical space as for the fear of not being able to breathe.  

Various bugs, especially the 17-year locusts and other kinds that think it's ok to use me as a landing pad.

As a child I was terrified of fire, in all forms.  I was almost 20 before I could manage, with very shaky hands, to light a candle.  My parents were never concerned that I'd start smoking as a teen!   

A new adult phobia that took its place  --  I love to swim, but I can't stand being in the deep end of a pool (12 feet deep or more)  when there are people swimming underwater below me.  At my high school we had a Senior Swim evening close to graduation, and a classmate chose that evening to kill himself by quietly diving deep and lying on the ground under the (closed for the evening) diving boards.  A bunch of us were talking and treading water right above him for probably fifteen minutes before any of us noticed, by which time it was too late.  (Definitely not an accident; there was a note.)   I was the first to see him; I don't ever want to look down in a pool and see someone below me again.

Oh, and one funny one...  I used to be afraid of depictions of pterodactyls!  Those pointy noses/beaks, and those talons....  eek!   I'd slam the book shut and refuse to open that section again.   Lost that one about 15 years ago, finally.


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## mlewis78

I hate when people swim below me when I'm doing my laps.  It's downright rude.  It would be a calamity if they came up right where I am.  I have a lot of swimming pet peeves, but I wouldn't call them phobias.


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## Meredith Sinclair

Susan in VA said:


> A new adult phobia that took its place -- I love to swim, but I can't stand being in the deep end of a pool (12 feet deep or more) when there are people swimming underwater below me. At my high school we had a Senior Swim evening close to graduation, and a classmate chose that evening to kill himself by quietly diving deep and lying on the ground under the (closed for the evening) diving boards. A bunch of us were talking and treading water right above him for probably fifteen minutes before any of us noticed, by which time it was too late. (Definitely not an accident; there was a note.) I was the first to see him; I don't ever want to look down in a pool and see someone below me again.


How horrible! My best friend when I was younger actually had her best friend drown while they were swimming to a small island, she repeatedly went down after her... it was traumatic for her it was her sophomore year of high school. Sorry to hear about your situation.


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## sjc

Susan: Your fear is so understandable, given the circumstance...I'm so sorry you had to experience that...how very traumatic. I feel that suicide is selfish. I know some reach a point of desperation: but it is so unfair to those they leave behind.


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## Aravis60

mlewis78 said:


> I hate when people swim below me when I'm doing my laps. It's downright rude. It would be a calamity if they came up right where I am. I have a lot of swimming pet peeves, but I wouldn't call them phobias.


I was a synchronized swimmer when I was in college, so I don't have a problem with anyone swimming anywhere in proximity to me (although if I had your experience, Susan, I'm sure I would). I have a mask phobia. I don't like anything that covers someone's face so that you can't tell who they are. Even little kids at Halloween freak me out, even though I try to hide it.


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## Susan in VA

Meredith Sinclair said:


> How horrible! My best friend when I was younger actually had her best friend drown while they were swimming to a small island, she repeatedly went down after her... it was traumatic for her it was her sophomore year of high school. Sorry to hear about your situation.


How awful for her, especially since she probably felt that she couldn't do enough to save her friend, even though she did everything she could.

For me... well, I didn't know the guy, we had a graduating class of over 700, so it was certainly a shock at the time but not as traumatic as if I'd known the person. It was not until a few years later that someone swam underneath me in fun and I realized how much it upset me to have that view again.


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## Addie

Susan in VA said:


> How awful for her, especially since she probably felt that she couldn't do enough to save her friend, even though she did everything she could.
> 
> For me... well, I didn't know the guy, we had a graduating class of over 700, so it was certainly a shock at the time but not as traumatic as if I'd known the person. It was not until a few years later that someone swam underneath me in fun and I realized how much it upset me to have that view again.


Wow. I would definitely hate being in deep water and looking down if I had your experience, too!

For me, I hate rats. I'm paralyzed (aside from the screaming that is lol).
I also hate things touching my neck. I can stand a *soft* turtleneck for an hour before I start fidgeting and have to get it off me. Not having things touch my neck also leads to me having a fear about


Spoiler



getting my throat cut or being strangled


 ... that's really kind of unpleasant. I'm just going to hide that one. 

I also have this irrational fear about not being dead. Like, I'm afraid I'm going to be buried or cremated because people think I'm dead but I'm actually not.

Well this post took a turn for the worst and weird, didn't it?


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## Meredith Sinclair

Aravis60 said:


> I was a synchronized swimmer when I was in college, so I don't have a problem with anyone swimming anywhere in proximity to me (although if I had your experience, Susan, I'm sure I would). I have a mask phobia. I don't like anything that covers someone's face so that you can't tell who they are. Even little kids at Halloween freak me out, even though I try to hide it.


Just realized something I forgot... I can NOT stand the word


Spoiler



TORTURE


 in any shape or form, the word itself makes me physically ill. and any movies/tv programs (even some books) that have someone in


Spoiler



bondage


 or


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gagged


 I would say it is a HUGE FEAR!  How could I forget that? I think what triggered it is masks, I


Spoiler



HATE those rubber masks


, like the president ones etc.


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## Susan in VA

sjc said:


> Susan: Your fear is so understandable, given the circumstance...I'm so sorry you had to experience that...how very traumatic. I feel that suicide is selfish. I know some reach a point of desperation: but it is so unfair to those they leave behind.


Yes, it's selfish, but I imagine that for people considering it, it still seems like the best of a bunch of bad options. Other than the pool guy, whom I did not know personally, I've known three people who killed themselves, all for medical reasons -- a terminal and incurable illness that was going to get much worse very quickly; the physical near-incapacity of advanced age; and the forced feeding and breathing tubes for someone who wanted to die (at 80-something) without what he perceived as artificial prolonging and undignified interference. In some way I can understand each one of those. Yes, families were hurt, but we also knew and understood that because of the personalities involved, continued decline and dependence would have meant ongoing misery for them.


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## Susan in VA

AddieLove said:


> I also hate things touching my neck. I can stand a *soft* turtleneck for an hour before I start fidgeting and have to get it off me. Not having things touch my neck also leads to me having a fear about
> 
> 
> Spoiler
> 
> 
> 
> getting my throat cut or being strangled
> 
> 
> ... that's really kind of unpleasant. I'm just going to hide that one.


Eeeek! I totally understand about the fear of strangulation or suffocation. And not having your neck touched... hmm, that must be tough at times of, um,


Spoiler



tender moments


.



AddieLove said:


> Well this post took a turn for the worst and weird, didn't it?


LOL! I was just thinking that it was turning into a pretty creepy thread!


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## Meredith Sinclair

Susan in VA said:


> Eeeek! I totally understand about the fear of strangulation or suffocation. And not having your neck touched... hmm, that must be tough at times of, um,
> 
> 
> Spoiler
> 
> 
> 
> tender moments
> 
> 
> .
> LOL! I was just thinking that it was turning into a pretty creepy thread!


Weeelll, it's late, let's call it midnight therapy!


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## Aravis60

I hope we don't all have bad dreams tonight!


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## Susan in VA

Meredith Sinclair said:


> Just realized something I forgot... I can NOT stand the word
> 
> 
> Spoiler
> 
> 
> 
> TORTURE
> 
> 
> in any shape or form, the word itself makes me physically ill. and any movies/tv programs (even some books) that have someone in
> 
> 
> Spoiler
> 
> 
> 
> bondage
> 
> 
> or
> 
> 
> Spoiler
> 
> 
> 
> gagged
> 
> 
> I would say it is a HUGE FEAR!  How could I forget that? I think what triggered it is masks, I
> 
> 
> Spoiler
> 
> 
> 
> HATE those rubber masks
> 
> 
> , like the president ones etc.


Masks ARE creepy, especially those distorted caricature ones.

Somebody brought back three masks from Venice for me once, beautiful craftsmanship, but there was NO WAY I was going to display those in my house. Those staring empty eyes, ugh. I gave away one to a friend who apparently collected the darn things, and just recently came across the other two again and am really wishing I were still in touch with that friend so I could get rid of these too! So I've wrapped them up and put them away again so that I don't have to look at them.... eventually they'll find a home where they're appreciated.


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## Meredith Sinclair

Susan in VA said:


> Masks ARE creepy, especially those distorted caricature ones.
> 
> Somebody brought back three masks from Venice for me once, beautiful craftsmanship, but there was NO WAY I was going to display those in my house. Those staring empty eyes, ugh. I gave away one to a friend who apparently collected the darn things, and just recently came across the other two again and am really wishing I were still in touch with that friend so I could get rid of these too! So I've wrapped them up and put them away again so that I don't have to look at them.... eventually they'll find a home where they're appreciated.


Susan, if you ever get mad at me  .... please don't send 'em my way! I'd CRY!


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## sjc

> I was just thinking that it was turning into a pretty creepy thread!


*A fear is a fear: It is what it is. I think this is going to get very interesting: If creepy, so be it. So far the stories associated with fears are amazing; makes one understand why people have fears...many are based on life situations.*
I had a friend (went to grade, middle and highschool together) she committed suicide after her dad died of a heart attack. She went in the garage and started the car and let the fumes overtake her. Her younger sister found her and was never the same after that.


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## Susan in VA

Meredith Sinclair said:


> Susan, if you ever get mad at me  .... please don't send 'em my way! I'd CRY!


As long as you don't send me any stuffed pterodactyls.


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## Sailor

My biggest fears and phobias are:

1.  Telling people about my fears.

2.  Telling people about my phobias.

Sailor


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## Meredith Sinclair

Susan in VA said:


> As long as you don't send me any stuffed pterodactyls.


Agreed.

& just for the record, AddieLove sounds a LOT like Brendan's main male character in TRCG series (exact same fears!)... Addie, do you hate strawberries as well?


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## sjc

Update:

Fear of Death or Dying = Thanatophobia
Fear of Spaces, confined = Claustrophobia
Fear of Space, closed or locked in an enclosed space = Cleithrophobia, Cleisiophobia, Clithrophobia.
Fear of Water = Hydrophobia

*KEEP IT GOING...*


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## Susan in VA

sjc said:


> *KEEP IT GOING...*


Geez, you really don't want any of us to get any sleep tonight, do you.


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## Aravis60

Susan in VA said:


> Geez, you really don't want any of us to get any sleep tonight, do you.


LOL! I'm already feeling a little jumpy...


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## back2nature

*Fears*

1. Claustrophobic - So I will not ride in the back seat of a car unless it has two doors. - Went on a vacation with friends, I sat up front with the husband and wife and my husband sat in the back seat the whole way by himself. Now we always take our car. Most of the time now, we and our friends have crew cab trucks, so that's fine in the back. I think the fear of getting trapped. Same problem with going in caves, I can't be in the middle of a crowd. Once made the whole crowd of tourists go back up to get me out of there. And on and on. . .
2. Fear of flying commercial jets - That's not the same as fear of flying. My husband is a corporate pilot, and I go several times on the corporate jet and have been in small planes most of my life. My first date with hubby was in a small plane. Had planes in the family. That's fine. But commercial, maybe it's because I don't know the pilots or mechanics. Anyway, have had that fear since 3 yrs. old and took a flight to San Francisco. Did something happen then to scare me? Don't know. Turned down a lot of trips because it would mean getting on commercial. 
3. Clowns - we were talking about on another post. Not a fear. They just give me the creeps.
4. I don't do roller coasters.


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## Buttercup

Spiders, flying, june bugs (thank goodness we don't have them here).

That's all I can think of right now.


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## sjc

> Geez, you really don't want any of us to get any _sleep_ tonight, do you.


Fear of SLEEP = Somniphobia

*LOL.*


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## Addie

Susan in VA said:


> Eeeek! I totally understand about the fear of strangulation or suffocation. And not having your neck touched... hmm, that must be tough at times of, um,
> 
> 
> Spoiler
> 
> 
> 
> tender moments
> 
> 
> .
> LOL! I was just thinking that it was turning into a pretty creepy thread!


LOL I did say I could stand soft turtlenecks for a little while.


Spoiler



As long as he doesn't try to strangle me I think I'm okay.


 



Meredith Sinclair said:


> Agreed.
> 
> & just for the record, AddieLove sounds a LOT like Brendan's main male character in TRCG series (exact same fears!)... Addie, do you hate strawberries as well?


I love fresh strawberries.
But I hate strawberry ice cream (the creamy fake kind) ... does that count?
What does TRCG stand for? If this person is a lot like me perhaps I should start reading ...


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## meljackson

My 18 yr old DS has a fear of driving and hasn't went to get his license. This past November he and several of his friends were coming back from a concert in two different cars and the car my son was in stopped off to get gas while the other car went on. A few minutes later they passed a bad accident and went on home. The next morning we got the phone call that it was his best friend. He had hit a deer and flipped the truck several times and didn't make it. My son didn't have his license at the time  but had his permit. He hasn't driven a car since. 

Melissa


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## Tippy

My biggest fear is of not being able to breathe.  I will not get into a pool and put my head under the water.  Also I cannot wear masks that cover my face or having covers/pillow over my head.  Eeew.


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## koolmnbv

My main fears/phobia's are Snakes and having no control over things. 

The fear of snakes I've had as long as I can remember. I always have been ever since I was a little girl, I went fishing with  my dad one day when we lived in Florida and I was running back towards the house and I stepped on a big thick black snack it was all coiled into a circle. When I stepped on it (on accident of course) it struck out at me, it would have bitten me if I hadn't kept running. I can still to this day remember the full fear and terror of how I felt.  I realize that probably the only reason it lashed out was because an 8year old ran over top of it, but either way i've been terrified ever since.


The 2nd fear is just because I have serious control issues. I think I can control anything and everything and obviously that is not the case. whenever things get to a point and I realize I can't control that situation or I have to put full trust elsewhere I crash. Then
I always think of myself as a very strong person so I think I get terrified when I lose that strength even if its only in my own mind. As long as I "feel" like I have control Im ok.


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## mlewis78

Kool, that's a horrible snake experience.  I'm afraid of them but haven't been through that.  The closest I've been to them is when someone wears a big one to Central Park or to a street fair.  It has ruined the street fair experience for me.  Haven't seen one in a long time and I hope the snake pet craze has subsided here.  I don't even like pictures or movies that have them (except Harry Potter and I still turn away).


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## Dori

pidgeon92 said:


> I do my best to be ordinary.


Well you don't succeed pidgeon. I think you are extraordinary. Does that make you even more ordinary than most?


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## Dori

I didn't find this thread until the a.m.  I think this is a good thing.


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## mlewis78

Dori said:


> I didn't find this thread until the a.m. I think this is a good thing.


Scary things are less scary in the morning, right?


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## sjc

Did anyone have nightmares?

I'm not big into birds either...ok from a distance, but all that flapping and fluttering...eeew.  Can you say Hitchcock?


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## cat616

I do not like lizards. Just thinking about them makes my skin crawl. One will get in the house sometimes and I will not go in unless someone else gets it out. Totally irrational but I have always felt this way about these little guys.
















Also I am terrified to be on the top of a ferris wheel. I did not know this until I got there. DH, DS & DD thought this was hilarious and rocked and spun the chair as I pleaded for them to stop.
This is the ride I was on when I learned this.


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## Susan in VA

cat616 said:


> Also I am terrified to be on the top of a ferris wheel. I did not know this until I got there. DH, DS & DD thought this was hilarious and rocked and spun the chair as I pleaded for them to stop.


How mean of them!!


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## cat616

Susan in VA said:


> How mean of them!!


I was not pleased with any of them at the time, but I am over it now!


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## Aravis60

sjc said:


> Did anyone have nightmares?
> 
> I'm not big into birds either...ok from a distance, but all that flapping and fluttering...eeew. Can you say Hitchcock?


I didn't although I figured that I would. Must have been too tired after staying up late on KB.


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## Meredith Sinclair

cat616 said:


> Also I am terrified to be on the top of a ferris wheel. I did not know this until I got there. DH, DS & DD thought this was hilarious and rocked and spun the chair as I pleaded for them to stop.
> This is the ride I was on when I learned this.


Ok, guess that is one thing that gets me too. I never called it a fear, but I guess I should, no one knows this so Ssshhhhhh.... I ride them but secretly hold it in when we are at the top, I want to be brave for the person I am with and look down when they say "Oh look at"... this or that... my sister's favorite ride! I am not scared of rides (supposedly) so I get to ride all the scary ones with EVERYONe who has no one else that will ride with them...  Now last year at the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo, I had the same feeling on the Skyride that goes over the park... it started shaking, my DD was looking down and pointing and stuff she wanted to do next and the thing was rocking...


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## cat616

I do not want to be afraid of the ferris wheel because it is such a gentle ride but that irrational feeling of terror hit me and all I could think was "Please God, if you get me safely off of this thing I promise not to put myself in this position again."  I almost never pray for my own needs but that experience really got to me!


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## Ann in Arlington

I don't like ferris wheels. .. .I just don't feel safe.  No problem with roller coasters. .  I feel held in.  Not big on high places with nothing between me and. . . .well, nothing. . . . . I have to be prepared for bridges, but if I am I handle it fine.

Funny story:  we were driving out to some friends who have a house near the Shenandoah river.  To get to their place you have to cross another small river. . .tiny river really, no problem, right.  But the 'bridge' was just a cement slab. . . .no rails, well wider than one car, but not room for two, and only a foot or so above the level of the water.  I rounded the corner and just froze.  No way I was driving over it.  DH and I had to switch places and he drove across.  Now, when we go there, I can do it, because I'm prepared. . . . 

I also don't like it when people sit on railings. . . . I won't look at them because I'm afraid they'll fall.


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## pawlaw aka MXCIX

Just found this thread - I too, am terribly afraid of heights.  My dad was a pilot and taught me to fly when I was 16 (got my license when I was 1, but I never actually flew much because of my fear.  funny though, I am not afraid of flying commercially...as long as someone else is in control of the airplane, I'm fine.  I have skydived 10 times to try to get rid of my fear, but it only left me for a short time while I had no choice but to jump out of the plane, then it returned...weird, huh?

I also used to be deathly afraid of spiders, but that has subsided now that we've moved to the country and I'm faced with them daily.  it's numbed me a little to them.


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## rho

snakes -- eeuuwww
bridges and tall buildings --- but it is not a fear of heights - planes, helicopters, ski lifts don't bother me - but bridges and buildings no no no ----I thought the Washington Monument wouldn't bother me - boy was I wrong there and hubby had the bruises to remind him when we had to walk down a level to get to the elevator and I don't remember the Eiffel Tower at all - thank God I have pictures to prove I was there - - oh I don't like elevators at all either BUT I love the Tower of Terror at Disney World -

someone could do a heck of a paper on me couldn't the


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## Thumper

sjc said:


> Thumper: Fear of dying in general or fear of dying in some sort of horrid way?


Just of dying. And yet, I ride a motorcycle


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## sjc

The Ferris Wheel thing: 
You just triggered a memory. Not fun when you are the *only* girl and all your cousins and your brother,


Spoiler



torture


 you at the top of the Ferris Wheel and in the Scary House. My cousin hid behind one of the walls in the scary house and jumped out at me when my car rounded the track. It was probably 40 years ago and my heart is _still_ racing.


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## angelad

Heights and bats~!


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## intinst

Because I work on aircraft, many times I have to crawl or squirm into small areas under the floors or behind cabinetry. No problem unless I get caught and can't move forward or backward. Didn't realize this was a problem till the day my belt caught on an electrical plug for an autopilot. Cessena had to buy a new autopilot by the time I freed myself. (About 15 seconds) Still get into tight places, just careful not to get hung up.


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## Meredith Sinclair

AddieLove said:


> LOL I did say I could stand soft turtlenecks for a little while.
> 
> 
> Spoiler
> 
> 
> 
> As long as he doesn't try to strangle me I think I'm okay.
> 
> 
> 
> I love fresh strawberries.
> But I hate strawberry ice cream (the creamy fake kind) ... does that count?
> What does TRCG stand for? If this person is a lot like me perhaps I should start reading ...


The Red Cross of Gold (it's a series of books) by Brendan Carroll (he is on the Book Bazzar Thread. Anyway he is a Texan to it seems, or may be from Florida but lives in Texas    not sure. Anyway, the story takes place in Texas it is about an immortal knight that comes to Texas on a mission, loses his memory and falls in love with a woman who is "involved" (though she does not want to be) with the group of people that caused his memory loss... he ends up trying to steal her away from these people... there are 10 books out now, however Brendan promises there are a bit more waiting to be edited. The knight hates


Spoiler



rats and has a thing with his neck too (being





Spoiler



hanged/strangled throat slashed)...


 good series, but the romance does get a little steamy soooo may be a little racy for some.

Oh back OT... I have a thing, if someone touches me with wet hands or a dog with its wet nose.....EEEEEEEEEwwwwwwwwwwww! I shiver just thinking of it.


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## rho

Not a fear of phobia but I absolutely cannot stand for my face to be wet - I must dry it off immediately - so I have a towel hanging over the bar of the shower and when I was my face I have a towel right next to me and when I swim I make sure to come out right where my towel is.


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## Addie

Meredith Sinclair said:


> The Red Cross of Gold (it's a series of books) by Brendan Carroll (he is on the Book Bazzar Thread. Anyway he is a Texan to it seems, or may be from Florida but lives in Texas    not sure. Anyway, the story takes place in Texas it is about an immortal knight that comes to Texas on a mission, loses his memory and falls in love with a woman who is "involved" (though she does not want to be) with the group of people that caused his memory loss... he ends up trying to steal her away from these people... there are 10 books out now, however Brendan promises there are a bit more waiting to be edited. The knight hates
> 
> 
> Spoiler
> 
> 
> 
> rats and has a thing with his neck too (being
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Spoiler
> 
> 
> 
> hanged/strangled throat slashed)...
> 
> 
> good series, but the romance does get a little steamy soooo may be a little racy for some.


Hmm. I'll definitely check it out. Thanks for giving me another book to read!


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## Bren S.

Fears: 
Dying...well not dying itself but dying alone...as in no one there when I go.
Car accidents...long story but since it happened I find myself more scared than is probably normal.

Phobia's:
I can't stand clutter or closed in places.It really gets to me.

I know there are more but my brain has decided it is taking a break without my permission lol


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## Dori

How about some fingernails on an old chalk board.  Wish I had some sound effects here.


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## rla1996

For me its being in the dark by myself. I can't even go to sleep in the dark by myself.  I usually leave either the TV or the light on depending on if DH is home or not.


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## Aravis60

Dori said:


> How about some fingernails on an old chalk board. Wish I had some sound effects here.


Oooh, just reading that makes me shiver! When I first started teaching, my classroom was in the very oldest part of an old school building (think spiders that bite and leaky floors and ceilings and no air-conditioning) and I had an old-fashioned chalk board. I used to live in absolute dread of making that squeaking noise. Ugh! I'm so glad that our new building has white boards!


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## sjc

My sister in law screams unGodly during thunder and lightening storms.
Fear of thunder and lightning = Astraphobia, Astrapophobia, Brontophobia or Keraunophobia


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## meljackson

sjc said:


> My sister in law screams ungodly during thunder and lightening storms.
> Fear of thunder and lightning = Astraphobia, Astrapophobia, Brontophobia or Keraunophobia


I think I would be more afraid of the ungodly screaming than the thunderstorms.

Melissa


----------



## meljackson

Oh yeah. I'm not afraid of being sick myself but I seem to be afraid of seeing or hearing other people be sick, as in throwing up. I don't even like to see it on tv or movies when I know it's fake.

Melissa


----------



## sjc

I heave when I smell vomit.  

Fear of vomit = Emetophobia.


----------



## Brenda Carroll

sjc said:


> I heave when I smell vomit.
> 
> Fear of vomit = Emetophobia.


I'm not afraid to upchuck, throw up, worship of the porcelain god, regurgitate or hurl, but I am afraid of someone doing all those preceding things... on me.


----------



## sjc

lol.  Not a fear but a loathing for:  public spitting.  I think it is disgusting.  Did you ever step on the sidewalk and there is a lugger...eewww.


----------



## drenee

mice.


----------



## Meredith Sinclair

rla1996 said:


> For me its being in the dark by myself. I can't even go to sleep in the dark by myself. I usually leave either the TV or the light on depending on if DH is home or not.


Before my BIL got married he slept with EVERY light on in his house... even the spare rooms!


----------



## Cowgirl

BRIDGES...Can't go over them if they are over water.  Just when I think I might be getting better about my fear a bridge collapses.  That Minneapolis/St. Paul  tragedy sent me over the edge.


----------



## sjc

Cowgirl:


> BRIDGES...Can't go over them if they are over water. Just when I think I might be getting better about my fear a bridge collapses. That Minneapolis/St. Paul tragedy sent me over the edge.


I feel for you.

I have a deep fear for *driving on the HIGHWAY*. I very seldom do it; and my knees absolutely knock when I do. 
I was 18 years old and on my way to work on a snowy day, when a public transit *BUS* ran a stop sign and rammed into me (on my father's birthday). I was trapped in the car (jaws of life to get me out) and my poor father had to come for me. My husband met him at the scene. Ever since, I am a very skittish driver and worse on the highway. *Snow...forget it!!* I have everyone drive me everywhere. Even my boss knows from day one; if it snows really bad and I call him... he has to send a coworker to get me with the company truck. Luckily, so far, it seems to snow bad on the weekends or on my days off, so it hasn't come to that...yet. Everyone in my family has tried to get me to get over my fear but I just can't overcome it. I jerk at every intersection thinking someone is running the stop sign. I drive with a whiteknuckle grip on the wheel on the highway and pray the whole way.

I am glad that both my kids don't have a fear for the road and drive comfortably...it is the worst feeling.


----------



## Magpie

I am terrified of spiders. Just the other day on my way home from work, one of the creepy Little buggers tried to do a sneak attack on me. I had to pull over because I realized I was crying, screeching and swerving all at the same time.


----------



## rho

Cowgirl said:


> BRIDGES...Can't go over them if they are over water. Just when I think I might be getting better about my fear a bridge collapses. That Minneapolis/St. Paul tragedy sent me over the edge.


but what is worse than driving over them is sitting still stuck in traffic on them when they move -- ugh - gave myself shivvers just thinking of that one .... I really hate bridges -


----------



## rho

lindsaygator said:


> I am terrified of spiders. Just the other day on my way home from work, one of the creepy Little buggers tried to do a sneak attack on me. I had to pull over because I realized I was crying, screeching and swerving all at the same time.


oh you would hate my house right not - we have a spider infestation it seems - I think it is the weather or something - each year it seems to be something different - last year it was earwigs.... bleech .....


----------



## sjc

lindsaygator:  You are darn lucky you didn't get into an accident.


----------



## Cindy416

My fears (phobias) are snakes and choking. My brother is a herpetologist, and I grew up with lots of snakes around the house. (We even had a Gaboon Viper in a wire-reinforced cage in the basement for awhile.) I guess I have just had one too many run in with the snakes. I find them morbidly fascinating on tv, but I don't want one around me at all. I was chased by a blue racer once, too, which didn't help my phobia.  

As for choking, I choked years ago at a family dinner, and it was quite awhile before anyone noticed. (I was kind of embarrassed that I'd tried to chew up and swallow a too-large piece of cauliflower, so was trying to deal with it by myself. As it happened, I couldn't even get ANY air in my lungs so that I could cough.) Luckily, my dad knew about the Heimlich maneuver before I'd ever heard of it. My mother would have pounded me on the back, which would have only forced the cauliflower deeper. Choking was the scariest thing that's ever happened to me, as I know I'd have died had I been alone. Shortly after that, I found a chair in my home that I'd be able to use to try to perform the Heimlich on myself if I ever choked again and was alone.


----------



## Susan in VA

Cindy, how scary!!



Cindy416 said:


> Shortly after that, I found a chair in my home that I'd be able to use to try to perform the Heimlich on myself if I ever choked again and was alone.


As a public service announcement, how about telling us what kind of chair that would need to be, and how to do the Heimlich when alone, please?


----------



## sjc

Choking is very scary because it is so unexpected and it can go so wrong in an instant.  Not to mention, most people panic making it worse.  

I once stopped a baby from choking; and DH yelled at me for touching someone's baby.  He said I could have gotten in big trouble touching a perfect stranger's baby.

Fear of choking or being smothered=- Pnigophobia or Pnigerophobia.


----------



## Cindy416

Susan in VA said:


> Cindy, how scary!!
> 
> As a public service announcement, how about telling us what kind of chair that would need to be, and how to do the Heimlich when alone, please?


I'll preface this by saying that I've never had to use the chair method, but I can assure you that I'd die trying!

I found a dining room chair whose back is just about the right height to be at the height of my diaphragm. I determined that, were it necessary, I could quickly lean over the back of the chair and attempt to force it to force the blockage out.

(Here's an actual description of what you could do if you were alone and needed emergency help.)

http://www.essortment.com/family/heimlichchoking_szcp.htm

As the article points out, you aren't a candidate for the Heimlich if you can breathe, speak, or cough at all. The Heimlich is ONLY for those times when a person can get absolutely NO air intake. That's the position that I was in, and, as I said, it's horrifying. (I think it is much like drowning would be.)


----------



## Neekeebee

My goodness, Cindy, it _does_ sound horrifying! I still remember the film on choking and the Heimlich maneuver they showed us in grade school. There was a woman eating an apple by the fence and suddenly she was blue! That made quite an impression!

My phobia: Creepy horror movies and horror movie ads.    When I go to the movies and they show a horror movie trailer, I just close my eyes or look down the whole time. I would plug my ears too, but I don't want to look _too_ stupid. During the month of October, I make sure I always have the remote with me if the TV is on, so I can switch the channel real quick if necessary.

N


----------



## sjc

> (Here's an actual description of what you could do if you were alone and needed emergency help.)
> 
> http://www.essortment.com/family/heimlichchoking_szcp.htm


Cindy: Thanks for sharing. You never know your post could help save a life.


----------



## Cindy416

You're very welcome. It never hurts to be prepared in the case of an emergency, especially when trying to maintain focus and a clear head could mean life and death.


----------



## sjc

So true.  I wonder how many lives could have been spared had the person or persons remained calm.  Swimming, choking, etc.


----------



## Sweety18

Spiders and Swimming Pools.


----------



## Susan in VA

Cindy416 said:


> (Here's an actual description of what you could do if you were alone and needed emergency help.)
> 
> http://www.essortment.com/family/heimlichchoking_szcp.htm


Thank you for posting that! I'll share it with others, too.


----------



## Brenda Carroll

sjc said:


> lol. Not a fear but a loathing for: public spitting. I think it is disgusting. Did you ever step on the sidewalk and there is a lugger...eewww.


Well, yes, I have and where I work such things along with blood and other bodily fluids are quite prevalent in public areas so I guess I've grown kind of immune to it, but it is disgusting. OT however, I'm really, really, really afraid of spiders. I have done quite a few naked dances in the great outdoors whenever unexpected guests drop in on my head . I'm also happy in a morbid sort of way to hear of all the bridge phobias because I, too, am afraid of high bridges over water. In fact, I have a recurring dream about getting lost on the same same spaghetti bowl and getting stuck in traffic and going over the same horrible bridge. In real life, I got stuck in traffic going over the Huey P. Long Bridge that connects the banks of the Mississississiiissssppii River right after Hurricane Katrina. It's about nine feet wide and has four or five lanes jammed in there.  What do you think it is that so many of us have the same sort of fear? Some innate phobia from when bridges were made from sticks and vines an huge tigers and bears with nine inch claws were chasing us? ? LOL


----------



## sjc

Thanks for agreeing about the spitting thing. 
WE WON'T even mention the


Spoiler



nose picking at red lights people


----------



## Susan in VA

<wonders whatever happened to the "gross stories" thread...>


----------



## sjc

Bridges can be scary.  We had an old rickety one in Jamestown that you could see through to the water below.  It was deemed unsafe  (God knows how many times we drove over it...me with my eyes closed) and after the new one was built, it was blown up and sunk.


----------



## Brenda Carroll

sjc said:


> Thanks for agreeing about the spitting thing.
> WE WON'T even mention the
> 
> 
> Spoiler
> 
> 
> 
> nose picking at red lights people


No, we won't, nor will we mention the


Spoiler



crotch grabbers


 or the


Spoiler



droopy drawers/butt crackers


! LOL


----------



## Susan in VA

Brendan Carroll said:


> No, we won't, nor will we mention the
> 
> 
> Spoiler
> 
> 
> 
> crotch grabbers
> 
> 
> or the
> 
> 
> Spoiler
> 
> 
> 
> droopy drawers/butt crackers
> 
> 
> ! LOL


Not to forget the ones who


Spoiler



make those disgusting sounds with their nose prior to spitting.



I think the ones who


Spoiler



keep adjusting things in public


 are just


Spoiler



making sure they haven't lost 'em somewhere.


----------



## Brenda Carroll

Susan in VA said:


> Not to forget the ones who
> 
> 
> Spoiler
> 
> 
> 
> make those disgusting sounds with their nose prior to spitting.
> 
> 
> 
> I think the ones who
> 
> 
> Spoiler
> 
> 
> 
> keep adjusting things in public
> 
> 
> are just
> 
> 
> Spoiler
> 
> 
> 
> making sure they haven't lost 'em somewhere.


What about those guys who finish eating at your most favoritist restaurant while you're still eating and then begin


Spoiler



honking their schnoz


 on the linen napkin? I have actually been known to ask them to take it outside. That is truly disgusting and thoughtless and wait... I have to


Spoiler



adjust something


... OK, that's better. Ha! Ha!


----------



## Susan in VA

Brendan Carroll said:


> What about those guys who finish eating at your most favoritist restaurant while you're still eating and then begin
> 
> 
> Spoiler
> 
> 
> 
> honking their schnoz
> 
> 
> on the linen napkin? I have actually been known to ask them to take it outside. That is truly disgusting and thoughtless and wait... I have to
> 
> 
> Spoiler
> 
> 
> 
> adjust something
> 
> 
> ... OK, that's better. Ha! Ha!


<giggle> Restaurant non-manners are a whole chapter by themselves. Apart from the unfortunately fairly common eating-with-their-mouth-open types, the ones that really bug me are the ones that use their napkin during a meal, wipe some greasy mess off their mouths, and then put the napkin down _on the table without folding it up, used side facing up_, so that the greasy mess is right there for everyone to look at. Yuuuck.


----------



## Bren S.

Susan in VA said:


> Not to forget the ones who
> 
> 
> Spoiler
> 
> 
> 
> make those disgusting sounds with their nose prior to spitting.
> 
> 
> 
> I think the ones who
> 
> 
> Spoiler
> 
> 
> 
> keep adjusting things in public
> 
> 
> are just
> 
> 
> Spoiler
> 
> 
> 
> making sure they haven't lost 'em somewhere.


I always say the ones who are adjusting themselves all the time, are really checking to see if they've finally grown a pair lol


----------



## Brenda Carroll

Sugar said:


> I always say the ones who are adjusting themselves all the time, are really checking to see if they've finally grown a pair lol


Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeey! How did you know? I never will forget when... LOL


----------



## LSbookend

Spiders crept me out, but maybe I should say bugs in general they're just icky. If I have the sliding glass door open bugs can craw in and when my husband comes home he finds textbooks in random places all over the floor. I don't like to touch bugs so I just put a big heavy textbook on top of them until DH comes home and then he can clean them up.  

I also have a fear of falling I guess, not necessarily heights but if I don't feel sturdy then I freak out like on the stupid pirate ship at the carnival. :::shivers:::


----------



## Susan in VA

Sugar said:


> I always say the ones who are adjusting themselves all the time, are really checking to see if they've finally grown a pair lol


LOL!

(Seriously, can't they just buy underwear that FITS? )


----------



## Brenda Carroll

LSbookend said:


> I don't like to touch bugs so I just put a big heavy textbook on top of them until DH comes home and then he can clean them up.


Well, I have to admit that this is a common practice. I have picked up many heavy books, musing lightly "Hey, I wonder how this got.....aaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhggggggg!" Suddenly a huge cucuracha crawls out on my foot.


----------



## Susan in VA

LSbookend said:


> Spiders crept me out, but maybe I should say bugs in general they're just icky. If I have the sliding glass door open bugs can craw in and when my husband comes home he finds textbooks in random places all over the floor. I don't like to touch bugs so I just put a big heavy textbook on top of them until DH comes home and then he can clean them up.


We'll never pick up books at your house... 

(Inverted glasses work pretty well, too!)


----------



## Brenda Carroll

Susan in VA said:


> We'll never pick up books at your house...
> 
> (Inverted glasses work pretty well, too!)


Now for a little SS-P. My main character is an alchemist and he has this dark, dusty old lab where he turns base metals into gold. Anyhow, he likes to let the spiders make themselves at home. Now this was obviously me trying to get a grip on my spider-phobia (were is that poster with the fancy names for everything?)


----------



## Meredith Sinclair

Susan in VA said:


> We'll never pick up books at your house...
> 
> (Inverted glasses work pretty well, too!)


Weeeeelll I see that you have been super busy without me!  Did ya miss me??   

I remember when I was first introduced to the Huey P. Long bridge by my in-laws, I was three months pregnant and the world started spinning and the van got smaller and smaller and I was sooooo about to


Spoiler



PUKE


 on their new leather! MY FIL pulled over to have me get sick outside ( after the bridge) and my hubby politely told him


Spoiler



"She'll be alright she does this all the time, we're used to it! Go ahead and drive to the nearest Mickey D's!


 *WE*.... what the *HECK * *WE* I don't recall him *EVER* getting sick _with_ *ME*!!!!!    I have *NEVER* gone across it again, even when I exit to their house I start feeling queezy... yep you guessed it it is EXIT 226 off of I-10 THe Huey Long EXIT!!!! of course I turn and don't have to go over it but.... I just did it only three hours ago.... and funny SOMEONE would be right there in my head... writinig that


Spoiler



Friggin'


 post to remind me... see what I am saying about....

Well, at least we are back OT and wow! sounds like ya'll had a lot to talk about while I was a'drivin'!  YUCK


----------



## Brenda Carroll

Meredith Sinclair said:


> I just did it only three hours ago.... and funny SOMEONE would be right there in my head... writinig that
> 
> 
> Spoiler
> 
> 
> 
> Friggin'
> 
> 
> post to remind me... see what I am saying about....


Were you really going over the HPL bridge just now? That's really, really scary. I think maybe you might be one of my phobias... hmmmmmmmm?


----------



## Susan in VA

Brendan Carroll said:


> Now for a little SS-P. My main character is an alchemist and he has this dark, dusty old lab where he turns base metals into gold. Anyhow, he likes to let the spiders make themselves at home. Now this was obviously me trying to get a grip on my spider-phobia (were is that poster with the fancy names for everything?)


That wasn't me, but it's arachnophobia.

Every time I call DD's dad to come over and remove a particularly large spider specimen, he refers to it as an Arachnophobus Rex.


----------



## Meredith Sinclair

Brendan Carroll said:


> Were you really going over the HPL bridge just now? That's really, really scary. I think maybe you might be one of my phobias... hmmmmmmmm?


NOPE! I have never gone over it again! But my FIL teases me everytime we go somewhere on that Interstate. Oh, we just gotta go over the bridge and we will be there in.... he loses me everytime!!  I lay down in the seat and turn GREEN   Manages to wait a year or two in between, so I don't even think that he is joking.... and OMG he laughs everytime!  I am such a blonde!


----------



## Susan in VA

Welcome back, Miss Merry!


----------



## Brenda Carroll

Susan in VA said:


> That wasn't me, but it's arachnophobia.
> 
> Every time I call DD's dad to come over and remove a particularly large spider specimen, he refers to it as an Arachnophobus Rex.


How could I forget that? I mean they made a


Spoiler



freaking


 movie out of it... which I never watched BTW. Couldn't handle it..... shshshshshsuddddderrrrrrrrrrrr.


----------



## Brenda Carroll

Meredith Sinclair said:


> I am such a blonde!


Are you really? Do you have hair like...like that... like that hair avatar on here that reminds me of my sister's doll?


----------



## Susan in VA

Brendan Carroll said:


> How could I forget that? I mean they made a
> 
> 
> Spoiler
> 
> 
> 
> freaking
> 
> 
> movie out of it... which I never watched BTW. Couldn't handle it..... shshshshshsuddddderrrrrrrrrrrr.


I'll add that to my list of fears and phobias... horror movies! No way am I watching any of 'em.


----------



## Meredith Sinclair

Brendan Carroll said:


> Are you really? Do you have hair like...like that... like that hair avatar on here that reminds me of my sister's doll?


huh WHAT DOLL  

BTW... why are you on here sooo late? you said you gotta get your rest so your brain can function properly!


----------



## Brenda Carroll

Susan in VA said:


> I'll add that to my list of fears and phobias... horror movies! No way am I watching any of 'em.


I like being horrified. Aliens. the Thing (remake). Sci-fi stuff that could possibly be true... maybe... scares me really good. But I don't go for slashers like Saw and Texas Chainsaw Massacre even though that happened nearby and I almost met one of them in an official capacity... almost... whewww... didn't happen.


----------



## Brenda Carroll

Meredith Sinclair said:


> huh WHAT DOLL
> 
> BTW... why are you on here sooo late? you said you gotta get your rest so your brain can function properly!


huh WHAT BRAIN    Haven't you watched Night of the Living Dead?


----------



## Meredith Sinclair

Brendan Carroll said:


> huh WHAT BRAIN    Haven't you watched Night of the Living Dead?


SEEEEEEE you NEED to go to bed... you cannot even answer a simple question! WHAT DOLLLLLLL??


----------



## Meredith Sinclair

Susan in VA said:


> I'll add that to my list of fears and phobias... horror movies! No way am I watching any of 'em.


And you are scared of reading scary books about cellars too right


----------



## Bren S.

Brendan Carroll said:


> Are you really? Do you have hair like...like that... like that hair avatar on here that reminds me of my sister's doll?


*butting in*

Do you mean rho's avatar??


----------



## Brenda Carroll

Brendan Carroll said:


> huh WHAT BRAIN    Haven't you watched Night of the Living Dead?


Hey, I quoted myself. I didn't know I could do that!  My sister had a doll with very blonde platinum hair that looked like Jayne Mansfield's hair and I was fascinated by it, but I didn't dare touch it... she would have killed me. Anyhoo, my mom still has it hanging in her old bedroom and I still look at it but don't touch it. I guess it's like a sort of shrine to childhood lost. Of course, I never got a doll like that. LOL In fact, I never did get a doll... they didn't have all the stuff they have now or else I would have a Barney and an Elmo for sure.


----------



## Meredith Sinclair

Susan in VA said:


> Welcome back, Miss Merry!


THANK YOU   My MIL has shrimp gumbo and my FIL had me a ice cold MIller CHILL waiting when I arrived.

He even asked me if I got lost on that


Spoiler



BLASTED


 bridge! ....


----------



## Susan in VA

Meredith Sinclair said:


> And you are scared of reading scary books about cellars too right


Well just THAT one. 

Weird things HAPPEN in the cellar.


----------



## Brenda Carroll

Sugar said:


> *butting in*
> 
> Do you mean rho's avatar??


I think that's the one. I can't figure that one out.


----------



## Brenda Carroll

Susan in VA said:


> Well just THAT one.
> 
> Weird things HAPPEN in the cellar.


You bet they do, Miss Susan! Just ask Miss Meredith about the feculent worms under the bell jar.


----------



## Susan in VA

Brendan Carroll said:


> I think that's the one. I can't figure that one out.


I think she flipped it upside down the way someone might do to blow-dry it.

It's an original way of posting a picture of yourself without giving up privacy!


----------



## Brenda Carroll

Meredith Sinclair said:


> THANK YOU   My MIL has shrimp gumbo and my FIL had me a ice cold MIller CHILL waiting when I arrived.
> 
> He even asked me if I got lost on that
> 
> 
> Spoiler
> 
> 
> 
> BLASTED
> 
> 
> bridge! ....


Again with the bridge. I mean, GROW UP and cross that bridge when you come to it, just don't invite me to go along.


----------



## Meredith Sinclair

Brendan Carroll said:


> Hey, I quoted myself. I didn't know I could do that!  My sister had a doll with very blonde platinum hair that looked like Jayne Mansfield's hair and I was fascinated by it, but I didn't dare touch it... she would have killed me. Anyhoo, my mom still has it hanging in her old bedroom and I still look at it but don't touch it. I guess it's like a sort of shrine to childhood lost. Of course, I never got a doll like that. LOL In fact, I never did get a doll... they didn't have all the stuff they have now or else I would have a Barney and an Elmo for sure.


Welll, back then... not to say that you are


Spoiler



old...


 but even when I was a kid it was a phobia or fear of a child getting confused if a boy got a doll and a girl got a truck.... Lucky for you, you had a sister.... lucky for me I had brothers!  No one ever said anything about me playing with the boys.


----------



## Susan in VA

Brendan Carroll said:


> You bet they do, Miss Susan! Just ask Miss Meredith about the feculent worms under the bell jar.


No no no. Wrong cellar entirely.

And if revolting worms are plentiful in your books I might have to change my mind about reading them.


----------



## Brenda Carroll

Susan in VA said:


> I think she flipped it upside down the way someone might do to blow-dry it.
> 
> It's an original way of posting a picture of yourself without giving up privacy!


OK. I just tried to flip my hair like that and just ended up getting it in my mouth. So much for privacy.


----------



## Meredith Sinclair

Brendan Carroll said:


> You bet they do, Miss Susan! Just ask Miss Meredith about the feculent worms under the bell jar.


OH NOOOOOO!!!! THose f


Spoiler



riggin


 braids os HIS come to life and & &..... I am a'skeered of those f


Spoiler



riggin'


 braids!!!


----------



## Susan in VA

Brendan Carroll said:


> Again with the bridge. I mean, GROW UP and cross that bridge when you come to it, just don't invite me to go along.


What's with this bridge?? Why is it such a scary one?


----------



## Brenda Carroll

Susan in VA said:


> No no no. Wrong cellar entirely.
> 
> And if revolting worms are plentiful in your books I might have to change my mind about reading them.


No, no, these are mystical worms. They are made out of hair!!! Ha! Ha!


----------



## Susan in VA

Meredith Sinclair said:


> even when I was a kid it was a phobia or fear of a child getting confused if a boy got a doll and a girl got a truck....


----------



## Meredith Sinclair

Brendan Carroll said:


> Again with the bridge. I mean, GROW UP and cross that bridge when you come to it, just don't invite me to go along.


Do you *NOT* _*UNDERSTAND*_ I had the same fear as you... were you caring a tiny baby around inside of you when you crossed it I don't *THINK* SOOO.... again with the bridge.... again with the bridge.... Hmph!


----------



## Susan in VA

Meredith Sinclair said:


> OH NOOOOOO!!!! THose f
> 
> 
> Spoiler
> 
> 
> 
> riggin
> 
> 
> braids os HIS come to life and & &..... I am a'skeered of those f
> 
> 
> Spoiler
> 
> 
> 
> riggin'
> 
> 
> braids!!!


<cancels multi-book Amazon order>



Spoiler



just kidding!


----------



## Brenda Carroll

Susan in VA said:


> What's with this bridge?? Why is it such a scary one?


This bridge is old, kind of like my uncle and it's narrow and it's very, very long and very, very high and it crosses the mighty Missisisisisisip and the traffic is generally bumper-to-bumper and 70 MPH. Most of the traffic is trucks to boot.


----------



## Meredith Sinclair

Susan in VA said:


> What's with this bridge?? Why is it such a scary one?


Ok, it is VERY narrow, CEMENT walls and it... like.... whirls.... by..... you .... and you.... can......not....... bvreathe.... or.....


----------



## Bren S.

Brendan Carroll said:


> OK. I just tried to flip my hair like that and just ended up getting it in my mouth. So much for privacy.


bwahahaha


----------



## Brenda Carroll

Meredith Sinclair said:
 

> Do you *NOT* _*UNDERSTAND*_ I had the same fear as you... were you caring a tiny baby around inside of you when you crossed it I don't *THINK* SOOO.... again with the bridge.... again with the bridge.... Hmph!


No I was carrying a beer in one hand and a bag in the other and I couldn't figure out whether to throw up or drink up! Now I did or at least I think I was carrying only half the genetic code for tiny babies at the time... but I'm just saying... could have affected some future generation...


----------



## Meredith Sinclair

Brendan Carroll said:


> No I was carrying a beer in one hand and a bag in the other and I couldn't figure out whether to throw up or drink up! Now I did or at least I think I was carrying only half the genetic code for tiny babies at the time... but I'm just saying... could have affected some future generation...


Sooooooo you have long hair BRENDAN?


----------



## Meredith Sinclair

Sugar said:


> bwahahaha


Remember SUGAR HE IS BALD!!!!!    So there with your


Spoiler



D*mned ol' bridge


 Brendan!


----------



## Susan in VA

Brendan Carroll said:


> This bridge is old, kind of like my uncle


  And probably not as well-maintained....


----------



## Bren S.

Meredith Sinclair said:


> Remember SUGAR HE IS BALD!!!!!    So there with your
> 
> 
> Spoiler
> 
> 
> 
> D*mned ol' bridge
> 
> 
> Brendan!


  hahaha 

Good one Meredith


----------



## Brenda Carroll

Meredith Sinclair said:


> Sooooooo you have long hair BRENDAN?





Meredith Sinclair said:


> Remember SUGAR HE IS BALD!!!!!    So there with your
> 
> 
> Spoiler
> 
> 
> 
> D*mned ol' bridge
> 
> 
> Brendan!





Sugar said:


> bwahahaha


Yes, I do have long hair... here and there... Don't listen to her, Sugar... hey! I like saying that. One of my characters in one of the later books likes to say 'Sugar' with that southern drawl like from deep southern LA, you know, magnolia blossom country.


----------



## Susan in VA

Meredith Sinclair said:


> Ok, it is VERY narrow, CEMENT walls and it... like.... whirls.... by..... you .... and you.... can......not....... bvreathe.... or.....


I think on a very high bridge I'd WANT sturdy walls....


----------



## Bren S.

Brendan Carroll said:


> Yes, I do have long hair... here and there... Don't listen to her, Sugar... hey! I like saying that. One of my characters in one of the later books likes to say 'Sugar' with that southern drawl like from deep southern LA, you know, magnolia blossom country.


*perks* @ southern drawl


----------



## Meredith Sinclair

Susan in VA said:


> I think on a very high bridge I'd WANT sturdy walls....


BUt seriously Susan, I have not been on it in 10 years!!! Madison will be 10 in August and I had her when I was 6 months along soooo well almost 10 years to the day!    THAT SCARY you can probably Google it.


----------



## Brenda Carroll

Meredith Sinclair said:


> BUt seriously Susan, I have not been on it in 10 years!!! Madison will be 10 in August and I had her when I was 6 months along soooo well almost 10 years to the day!    THAT SCARY you can probably Google it.


Great Googly, Moogly! Now we don't want to be googling the birth of your child... really, Miss Meredith. Tacky. Tacky.  OT: I have a fear of being misinterpreted!!!


----------



## Susan in VA

Meredith Sinclair said:


> BUt seriously Susan, I have not been on it in 10 years!!! Madison will be 10 in August and I had her when I was 6 months along soooo well almost 10 years to the day!    THAT SCARY you can probably Google it.


Google premature childbirth??


----------



## Meredith Sinclair

Brendan Carroll said:


> Great Googly, Moogly! Now we don't want to be googling the birth of your child... really, Miss Meredith. Tacky. Tacky.  OT: I have a fear of being misinterpreted!!!


NOT the BIRTH you  ........ THE


Spoiler



FRIGGIN'


 BRIDGE!!


----------



## Meredith Sinclair

Susan in VA said:


> Google premature childbirth??


You have spent entirely toooooo much time with Brendan this evening Miss Susa in VA and I am a' FEARED of you..... maybe you are REALLY HIM or HE is REALLY YOU!!!!!


----------



## Susan in VA

Brendan Carroll said:


> OT: I have a fear of being misinterpreted!!!


<sigh> That can be pretty awful, in real life... and I was about to go to bed but that post's got me all glum so I'd better hang around a bit and wait for you guys to post something cheery again.


----------



## Susan in VA

Meredith Sinclair said:


> You have spent entirely toooooo much time with Brendan this evening Miss Susa in VA and I am a' FEARED of you..... maybe you are REALLY HIM or HE is REALLY YOU!!!!!


That sounds eerily familiar...


----------



## Meredith Sinclair

Susan in VA said:


> <sigh> That can be pretty awful, in real life... and I was about to go to bed but that post's got me all glum so I'd better hang around a bit and wait for you guys to post something cheery again.


What post got you all glum THe BRIDGE?


----------



## Brenda Carroll

Sugar said:


> *perks* @ southern drawl


So you know this drawl? I am enchanted by it, but my editor hates it and almost made me take it out of the book!


----------



## mlewis78

You won't find anything cheery in this thread, Susan.


----------



## Meredith Sinclair

Susan in VA said:


> That sounds eerily familiar...


NOw you know what we mean.... how did you manage to pick up on HIS personality so quickly... shootin' me down.... when.... I am.... a'talkin' about a SERIOUS PHOBIA......    

 He is contagious!


----------



## Susan in VA

Meredith Sinclair said:


> What post got you all glum THe BRIDGE?


No, the one about misunderstandings.


----------



## Brenda Carroll

mlewis78 said:


> You won't find anything cheery in this thread, Susan.


Don't listen to Mlewis. I have some very cheery fears... how about Santa Claus? I was always skeered of him. And I was skairt of the lining of my coat when I was four. Those are pretty cheery.


----------



## Susan in VA

mlewis78 said:


> You won't find anything cheery in this thread, Susan.


<slaps forehead> Yeah, I just checked the title. Silly me.


----------



## Susan in VA

Meredith Sinclair said:


> how did you manage to pick up on HIS personality so quickly...


Now wait just a minute... how did I _WHAT_?? What am I missing...?


----------



## Meredith Sinclair

Brendan Carroll said:


> Don't listen to Mlewis. I have some very cheery fears... how about Santa Claus? I was always skeered of him. And I was skairt of the lining of my coat when I was four. Those are pretty cheery.


YOur


Spoiler



COAT


----------



## mlewis78

Brendan Carroll said:


> Don't listen to Mlewis. I have some very cheery fears... how about Santa Claus? I was always skeered of him. And I was skairt of the lining of my coat when I was four. Those are pretty cheery.


OK, now you've gone over the top on phobias. I wasn't going to admit it, because when I've told people this in person, I've been criticized for this. I've always been afraid of EMPTY POOLS. When I was a kid, we belonged to a beach club that had a very, very large salt-water pool. It was usually emptied every night and filled up again by the next day. I'd be in the shallow end and then I'd see the water going down. Very creepy.

Now that I've been swimming laps in pools for many years, I have to dismiss that thought completely from my mind, but I have had some odd dreams about swimming and the pool is suddenly empty. It's been a while now since I've had those dreams, but considering all the nightmares I'm having lately about working . . . well, I never know what's next.


----------



## Meredith Sinclair

Susan in VA said:


> Now wait just a minute... how did I _WHAT_?? What am I missing...?


Well, you seem to agree with him about my post about my child's birth and the Google thingy... I w....w... was... ju..ju...  just sayin' for you to GOOGLE the bridge 'cause you don't know what it looks like and we both have a FEAR of it!!!!  SO, you seem like maybe you are on his TEAM! out to get Miss Merry...


----------



## Brenda Carroll

Meredith Sinclair said:


> YOur
> 
> 
> Spoiler
> 
> 
> 
> COAT


Yes, my coat. It was red on the outside... fine, but the lining was the same color as the cover of a scary record album that my uncle... different uncle... had at the time and I thought that the 'thing' in the goofy song was inside my coat!  This is one of my fondest four year old memories.


----------



## Meredith Sinclair

mlewis78 said:


> OK, now you've gone over the top on phobias. I wasn't going to admit it, because when I've told people this in person, I've been criticized for this. I've always been afraid of EMPTY POOLS. When I was a kid, we belonged to a beach club that had a very, very large salt-water pool. It was usually emptied every night and filled up again by the next day. I'd be in the shallow end and then I'd see the water going down. Very creepy.
> 
> Now that I've been swimming laps in pools for many years, I have to dismiss that thought completely from my mind, but I have had some odd dreams about swimming and the pool is suddenly empty. It's been a while now since I've had those dreams, but considering all the nightmares I'm having lately about working . . . well, I never know what's next.


OMG the other night we talked about pools....


----------



## Meredith Sinclair

Brendan Carroll said:


> Yes, my coat. It was red on the outside... fine, but the lining was the same color as the cover of a scary record album that my uncle... different uncle... had at the time and I thought that the 'thing' in the goofy song was inside my coat!  This is one of my fondest four year old memories.


NO wonder you are a writer.... the thing in the record was part of your coat, now....


----------



## Susan in VA

mlewis78 said:


> I've always been afraid of EMPTY POOLS.


How unusual!

Then again, a few people get killed in them every year because they dive in without looking. (Beats me how anyone could _not notice _the lack of water, but...)


----------



## Brenda Carroll

mlewis78 said:


> OK, now you've gone over the top on phobias.


I'd say that one is certainly original. I've a fear of swimming water that I don't know where the bottom is, like lakes, rivers, etc. You never know and since "Jaws" came out I understood the primal fear of limbic phobias. Ha! How do you like that word?  We'll call your phobia 'dryopoophobia'.


----------



## mlewis78

British television has made use of empty pools in some of the Mystery series, including Inspector Morse and the one that Helen Mirren starred in.  It was meant to be eerie and scary, so then I realized that my phobia about it wasn't so wacko after all.


----------



## Brenda Carroll

Meredith Sinclair said:


> NO wonder you are a writer.... the thing in the record was part of your coat, now....


What the.... fizzizzle does that mean, Miss Merry?


----------



## Susan in VA

Meredith Sinclair said:


> out to get Miss Merry...


Hmmm... have you been at FIL's booze cabinet??


----------



## Meredith Sinclair

Susan in VA said:


> Hmmm... have you been at FIL's booze cabinet??


YEP!!!! Did you not say, sumthin' bout me reading posting when I was....    

Man I am askeert of cabinets without locks!


----------



## Susan in VA

Brendan Carroll said:


> This is one of my fondest four year old memories.


Poor Brendan, if that's one of the_ fondest_, I'd hate to think how the rest of your childhood must have been...


----------



## Meredith Sinclair

mlewis78 said:


> British television has made use of empty pools in some of the Mystery series, including Inspector Morse and the one that Helen Mirren starred in. It was meant to be eerie and scary, so then I realized that my phobia about it wasn't so wacko after all.


Someone else talked about it either on here or the htread where there is a warning about boating...


----------



## Bren S.

Brendan Carroll said:


> So you know this drawl? I am enchanted by it, but my editor hates it and almost made me take it out of the book!


Indeed I do...and it makes all weak in the knees and such lol

Although I can't say that I've ever had a written southern drawl affect me hehe


----------



## Susan in VA

Meredith Sinclair said:


> YEP!!!! Did you not say, sumthin' bout me reading posting when I was....


Ah-HA! Be warned, everyone... Merry's being, well, a little merrier.


----------



## Meredith Sinclair

Susan in VA said:


> Hmmm... have you been at FIL's booze cabinet??


After the FIL gave me the CHILL he fixed me a HOT!!!! 

Now THAT is scary... had no idea what was in it... is there a fear of drinks with unknown ingredients


----------



## mlewis78

Someone in this thread posted that they had a phobia of swimming pools (not specifying empty or full, so I suppose full).  I was going to question that -- I mean who is afraid of a full pool?  Of course, if you can't swim, you don't want to be in one, but I assumed just seeing one was part of it.

Marti


----------



## Bren S.

Yikes I don't think I'd like being in a pool when they started emptying it


----------



## Bren S.

Susan in VA said:


> Ah-HA! Be warned, everyone... Merry's being, well, a little merrier.


hehehe well I am all for merrier


----------



## Brenda Carroll

Susan in VA said:


> Poor Brendan, if that's one of the_ fondest_, I'd hate to think how the rest of your childhood must have been...


Yes, my childhood at the monastery was quite dreary. After supper every day I had to htread on rgapes until the iwne came out! LOL


----------



## mlewis78

Sugar said:


> Yikes I don't think I'd like being in a pool when they started emptying it


Thanks.

See?


----------



## Susan in VA

mlewis78 said:


> Someone in this thread posted that they had a phobia of swimming pools (not specifying empty or full, so I suppose full). I was going to question that -- I mean who is afraid of a full pool? Of course, if you can't swim, you don't want to be in one, but I assumed just seeing one was part of it.
> 
> Marti


There are several phobias that I think are strange and make no sense, but I guess that's a defining characteristic of phobias, that they're not entirely rational...


----------



## Meredith Sinclair

mlewis78 said:


> Thanks.
> 
> See?


Ok, I'm with you two. I don't think even in my right mind, I would EVER want to be in that situatoin...


----------



## Brenda Carroll

Sugar said:


> Indeed I do...and it makes all weak in the knees and such lol
> 
> Although I can't say that I've ever had a written southern drawl affect me hehe


Like so: "Look here, Shuger..." she dragged out the shug until my head was swimming and then continued "I think those little braids are just dahlin in your hair. Why, if I didn't know betta, I'd think you were wearing them just for me." I immediately fell over dead.


----------



## Meredith Sinclair

Sugar said:


> hehehe well I am all for merrier


Thanks, Suga.... that was MY Magnolia drawl thingy HE was a'talkin' about... HeHe I am in New Orleans right now... and ENJOYING myself! 

No fears now!


----------



## Bren S.

Brendan Carroll said:


> Like so: "Look here, Shuger..." she dragged out the shug until my head was swimming and then continued "I think those little braids are just dahlin in your hair. Why, if I didn't know betta, I'd think you were wearing them just for me." I immediately fell over dead.


Hmmm maybe...if it was a he saying it


----------



## Meredith Sinclair

Sugar said:


> Hmmm maybe...if it was a he saying it


So, Sugar looks like ya not KILLIN' this thread huh??


----------



## Bren S.

Meredith Sinclair said:


> So, Sugar looks like ya not KILLIN' this thread huh??


lol well at least not yet


----------



## Brenda Carroll

Sugar said:


> Hmmm maybe...if it was a he saying it


I am a he... hmmmm. Oh, I see! OK, then. 
"OK, lambykins," he said and sauntered over to her with a white rose clenched between his perfect white teeth. "This here rose is for your lily white hand, Shuger. And..." he points to his chest and sighs "this heart beats only for you. If I didn't know betta, I'd think you wore that dress just for little old me."

OT: I'm afeered of lily white hands!


----------



## Meredith Sinclair

Sugar said:


> lol well at least not yet


Well, I do need to get up in like.... 5 hrs. and 12 minutes to visit Audobon Zoo and Monkey Hill.... so I may be calling it a night in a bit... I just drank too much uh, hmmmm, Coffee.... I am so happy! Oh, I am NOT afraid of you killing this thread!


----------



## Bren S.

hehehe @ lambykins


----------



## mlewis78

I think a lot of the fears and phobias posted in this thread were actually gross-outs rather than actual phobias.

Along with the guys who can't keep their hands off of their own crotch and the young-uns who wear their pants below their underwear tops, I can't stand when men


Spoiler



pee


 in public. I'm talking about right here in the city where everyone walks places.

I just saw a kid a few days ago with his pants pulled below the bottom of his rear. He was wearing boxer shorts. Aside from exaggerating a style that was popular way back . . . 10 yrs. ago? just what is the intention?

Then there are the women who wear a skirt that's up to their rear and


Spoiler



crotch


. They look like hookers.

OK, some people here will think I'm an old fogey. But what are people thinking when they dress this way and put it all on display?


----------



## Bren S.

Meredith Sinclair said:


> Well, I do need to get up in like.... 5 hrs. and 12 minutes to visit Audobon Zoo and Monkey Hill.... so I may be calling it a night in a bit... I just drank too much uh, hmmmm, Coffee.... I am so happy! Oh, I am NOT afraid of you killing this thread!


lol @ coffee


----------



## Susan in VA

Brendan Carroll said:


> I am a he... hmmmm. Oh, I see! OK, then.
> "OK, lambykins," he said and sauntered over to her with a white rose clenched between his perfect white teeth. "This here rose is for your lily white hand, Shuger. And..." he points to his chest and sighs "this heart beats only for you. If I didn't know betta, I'd think you wore that dress just for little old me."
> 
> OT: I'm afeered of lily white hands!


Have you ever _clenched_ a rose between your teeth?? Unless you just hold it there _very gently_, you're going to get rose-stem fibers stuck in your teeth and an icky taste in your mouth. (Not to spoil the mood or anything.  )


----------



## Brenda Carroll

Susan in VA said:


> Have you ever _clenched_ a rose between your teeth?? Unless you just hold it there _very gently_, you're going to get rose-stem fibers stuck in your teeth and an icky taste in your mouth. (Not to spoil the mood or anything.  )


Why, Miss Susan, clenching of the rose is an old southern gentlemanly almost lost art. First, you have to gently skin the rose stem and then soak it in brandy for a few hours. Clenching is much more involved than you ladies might think. I sweah, did you post this little ol' post just for me?


----------



## Susan in VA

Brendan Carroll said:


> soak it in brandy for a few hours.


----------



## Bren S.

mlewis78 said:


> I think a lot of the fears and phobias posted in this thread were actually gross-outs rather than actual phobias.
> 
> Along with the guys who can't keep their hands off of their own crotch and the young-uns who wear their pants below their underwear tops, I can't stand when men
> 
> 
> Spoiler
> 
> 
> 
> pee
> 
> 
> in public. I'm talking about right here in the city where everyone walks places.
> 
> I just saw a kid a few days ago with his pants pulled below the bottom of his rear. He was wearing boxer shorts. Aside from exaggerating a style that was popular way back . . . 10 yrs. ago? just what is the intention?
> 
> Then there are the women who wear a skirt that's up to their rear and
> 
> 
> Spoiler
> 
> 
> 
> crotch
> 
> 
> . They look like hookers.
> 
> OK, some people here will think I'm an old fogey. But what are people thinking when they dress this way and put it all on display?


No mlewis I agree with you.
The way some dress I wonder myself what they are thinking.


----------



## Brenda Carroll

Susan in VA said:


>


Night, night!
And goodnight to you, Miss Sugar and Miss Merry and Miss MLewis!!


----------



## Meredith Sinclair

Sugar said:


> No mlewis I agree with you.
> The way some dress I wonder myself what they are thinking.


Yep, and my DD is 9 and I am so AFRAID of what the guys she will want to go out with in a few years will be wearing.... VERY SCARY!  She is a very sweet girlie.


----------



## Bren S.

good night Brendan,Susan,Meredith and MLewis


----------



## Susan in VA

g'night, folks!


----------



## Meredith Sinclair

Susan in VA said:


> g'night, folks!


Guess we will skip the Goodnight thread... people are gonna be goin' like.... what..... tomorrow.  Night!


----------



## koolmnbv

WOW It looks like I totally missed the party in this thread LOL


----------



## sjc

> I think a lot of the fears and phobias posted in this thread were actually gross-outs rather than actual phobias.


Some.
I get the snakes, rats, drowning, choking, bridges...fears.
I think my daughter's fear (and I'm talking kicking, screaming and crying; shaking from head to toe) is the strangest one. Who the


Spoiler



hell


 is afraid of LADYBUGS? They are cute and harmless. She knows it's weird too...yet she sees one and all


Spoiler



hell


 breaks lose. People think she is nuts when they see the freakshow is over a ladybug. Here is a straight A (made dean's list again yay!) college student with an absolute off the wall fear. I don't get it, she doesn't get it...none of us do.

Does anyone understand such an irrational fear?


----------



## Susan in VA

Is it pictures of ladybugs too, or just the real thing?


----------



## Meredith Sinclair

sjc said:


> Some.
> I get the snakes, rats, drowning, choking, bridges...fears.
> I think my daughter's fear (and I'm talking kicking, screaming and crying; shaking from head to toe) is the strangest one. Who the is afraid of LADYBUGS? They are cute and harmless. She knows it's weird too...yet she sees one and all breaks lose. People think she is nuts when they see the freakshow is over a ladybug. Here is a straight A (made dean's list again yay!) college student with an absolute off the wall fear. I don't get it, she doesn't get it...none of us do.
> Does anyone understand such an irrational fear?


Hmmmmmm.... maybe one got on her when she was young and it crawled on her before she knew that ladybugs are cute and good and &.... Do you think THAT could have happened?


----------



## Brenda Carroll

sjc said:


> Does anyone understand such an irrational fear?


I can certainly relate with your DD. I have an irrational fear of waking up at 7:30 AM after staying up to 2:30AM the night before!  I do the same thing.


----------



## patrisha w.

Sugar said:


> Fears:
> Dying...well not dying itself but dying alone...as in no one there when I go.


I used to have this until my sister died in hospice care a couple of years ago. Either her husband or I was there with her all the time and yet, at the end she did not know we were there. So, from that, I have decided that no matter who is there, we all die alone---and thus have stopped worrying...

Incidentally, that was my first experience with hospice care and they were wonderful.

patrisha


----------



## Cindy416

patrisha #150 said:


> I used to have this until my sister died in hospice care a couple of years ago. Either her husband or I was there with her all the time and yet, at the end she did not know we were there. So, from that, I have decided that no matter who is there, we all die alone---and thus have stopped worrying...
> 
> Incidentally, that was my first experience with hospice care and they were wonderful.
> 
> patrisha


Patrisha, I went through the same experience, although I thought my sister knew that someone who loved her was with her. I sat with her for hours on end, knowing that she couldn't last much longer. Finally, my nephew told me to get some rest for awhile, and that I could set a timer to know when to give her sublingual morphine. Of course, she passed away during the 30 minutes that I slept. I really think she somehow didn't want to pass away while I was sitting there. I realize this doesn't sound possible, but she and I had such a strong bond that I think anything is possible.

We had hospice care, too, and they were wonderful, caring people.


----------



## rho

Brendan Carroll said:


> I think that's the one. I can't figure that one out.


ahhh I made an author think - cool -- nothing to figure out - it's my best side 

and hey I bought the whole series of you book - be nice to me


----------



## rho

Susan in VA said:


> I think she flipped it upside down the way someone might do to blow-dry it.
> 
> It's an original way of posting a picture of yourself without giving up privacy!


hehehe -- no it is just the back of my head - not flipped upside down or anything - just air drying and all curly


----------



## Brenda Carroll

rho said:


> ahhh I made an author think - cool -- nothing to figure out - it's my best side
> 
> and hey I bought the whole series of you book - be nice to me


You can count on that, Miss Rho!  I certainly hope you enjoy them because I will tell you a secret that no one knows... not my girl and not my editor... not anyone. You know that doll I talked about with hair like yours? Well, in my mind, when I envision my lead female... do I have to say more? Read, enjoy and thanks again. Brendan

OT: I am afraid my girl will find out everything and leave me!  Oh, so sad.


----------



## Bren S.

Brendan Carroll said:


> I can certainly relate with your DD. I have an irrational fear of waking up at 7:30 AM after staying up to 2:30AM the night before!  I do the same thing.


*yawnnnnnnnnnnn* I hear ya lol


----------



## Brenda Carroll

Sugar said:


> *yawnnnnnnnnnnn* I hear ya lol


Hey, Sugar (God, I love saying that!! ) And good afternoon. Feeling better already. Ha! Ha! Cooking, cleaning, writing, grinning and generally making mischief again. 

OT: One of my greatest phobias has been the idea of being like van Gogh or Margaret Mitchell and having to wait until I die to become rich and famous.  RIP


----------



## Shizu

My daughter is scare of any bug, any size. She'll scream like the scream in the horror movie when she sees a bug near her. I told her I never thought that kind of scream exist in real life. She was also scare of loud sound, airplane, carousel, horror movie, etc. 

When she was little, she said the movie "Mask" was scary because a mask stick to the guy's face. Now she is 18, she can watch "Mask" and enjoy. She's scare of those sound in the horror movie.

When she was 4 or 5, I used to bring her to Carousel and it was fine, but at some point she didn't want to ride on Carousel anymore. She used to go on to the "Jumbo" ride in Disneyland but not anymore. She will ride on "Peter Pan" but not others.

She had been on the airplane since she was a few month old like once/twice a year until 9. I didn't really thought she'll be afraid of the airplane since she was okay on the airplane. When she was 13 I took her to a trip which include 3 hours airplane. Well she was nervous but...I never expected her reaction. She cried the whole 3 hours and hold on to my hand and arm all the way. She didn't cry on the way back but she did hold on to me. Now she goes on the airplane with some medicine to calm her nerve down and mentally preparing/simulating herself before hand. 

Once I took her to the live. She couldn't take the loud sound and that vibration that you feel on the body. I think she's okay with that now since she goes to live with her friends.


----------



## Buttercup

Ok, I have a new phobia to report.... TICKS!  OMG, they are the most disgustingly vile creatures.  I found one on my Basset Rosie's ear last night when we went to bed, ewwwww.  I had a hard time falling asleep knowing it was there and was itching like crazy.  I've never had to deal with a tick on any of my dogs before so this was new.  Of course, I couldn't take it off myself so this morning we went to the vet to have it done.  A very well spent $51.


----------



## Shizu

I have fear of losing my control. When I was in high school, I spend a night at my best friend house and she offer me a pot. Well... I was curious and since there was only two of us so nothing bad will happen. So I said okay. I didn't remember much what happen next... but she told me I went to sleep right a way. I didn't think much about it then. One day at my house, she offered me again. She was staying with my family at that time and it seems my sister was there too which my memory of that day was vague... So what happen next... which I have no memory of... She and my sister told me I was a big help.    I did the chore they asked me to.....    When I heard that, I hated my self for doing things without my knowledge and it was so scary to know that I didn't have control of myself. So I never touch pot again after that. When I went to a party with my friends, I just went to bathroom and wait for a while when they are passing the pot or I just say no when asked. Even when I drink, I won't drink too much so I won't lose my control. Even emotionally, I won't lose my control. I look everything, even with my emotion, objectively. I'll really hate myself when I lose my control so I try not to lose it.


----------



## rho

Brendan Carroll said:


> You can count on that, Miss Rho!  I certainly hope you enjoy them because I will tell you a secret that no one knows... not my girl and not my editor... not anyone. You know that doll I talked about with hair like yours? Well, in my mind, when I envision my lead female... do I have to say more? Read, enjoy and thanks again. Brendan
> 
> OT: I am afraid my girl will find out everything and leave me!  Oh, so sad.


lol -- so your lead character is older than dirt with white curly hair - or young with white curly hair - either way I like promotion of white curly hair  guess the books moved up in my to be read pile hehehe


----------



## sjc

I just got home and saw the new posts:

Ladybugs: She actually didn't mind them when she was little. I thought the same thing...one got on her and before she realized they were harmless she freaked: not the case. She is "bugged" (pun intended) by it too. At first, I thought major theatrics. But I have seen her by herself, say on the deck or on the hammock, and literally freak out with no audience. She has often said she wishes she wasn't freaked by them because it makes _her_ seem like a freak having such an irrational fear. One of life's mysteries I guess.


----------



## Brenda Carroll

rho said:


> lol -- so your lead character is older than dirt with white curly hair - or young with white curly hair - either way I like promotion of white curly hair  guess the books moved up in my to be read pile hehehe


Well, not quite clear on that... the leading lady has very blonde curly hair which is short at first, but later grows out long as the series progresses. The leading character has black hair. Oddly enough, his hair plays a minor role in one of the later books!LOL Yes, the lead character is older than dirt, kind of like the author, except that his biceps have not turned into bowceps.


----------



## sjc

Susan:  She can't even look at cutsie ladybug stationary.  Once a little kid had a ladybug umbrella and my daughter walked in the opposite direction to avoid it.


----------



## HollyChristine

While driving today, I realized my fear. 

Driving at 75mph and having my tire pop off. I don't even know if it can actually happen, but it happens in my head quite a bit. I mean, can the tire just fall off? It's the front tires that scare me. I figure if the back tires pop off, I'd still have some control. 

Now... do you think this is something that I need to seek help for or what    ? Reading what I wrote, I sound certifiable.


----------



## Brenda Carroll

HollyChristine said:


> While driving today, I realized my fear.
> 
> Driving at 75mph and having my tire pop off. I don't even know if it can actually happen, but it happens in my head quite a bit. I mean, can the tire just fall off? It's the front tires that scare me. I figure if the back tires pop off, I'd still have some control.
> 
> Now... do you think this is something that I need to seek help for or what  ? Reading what I wrote, I sound certifiable.


Just keep your car in good working condition. Check your tires' air pressure and don't drive on tires with the tread showing because blowouts can be just as bad as a tire popping, but I've never heard of a tire popping off. And make sure the lug nuts are tight and secure... you might get someone to check this occasionally just to help your feelings. It'll probably never happen to you. I have a similar fear of having some large animal suddenly leap out in front of me. Sometimes it even gives me a headache trying to watch the road and both shoulders at the same time for wildlife.


----------



## Susan in VA

Shizu said:


> I have fear of losing my control. When I was in high school, I spend a night at my best friend house and she offer me a pot. Well... I was curious and since there was only two of us so nothing bad will happen. So I said okay. I didn't remember much what happen next... but she told me I went to sleep right a way. I didn't think much about it then. One day at my house, she offered me again. She was staying with my family at that time and it seems my sister was there too which my memory of that day was vague... So what happen next... which I have no memory of... She and my sister told me I was a big help.  I did the chore they asked me to.....  When I heard that, I hated my self for doing things without my knowledge and it was so scary to know that I didn't have control of myself. So I never touch pot again after that. When I went to a party with my friends, I just went to bathroom and wait for a while when they are passing the pot or I just say no when asked. Even when I drink, I won't drink too much so I won't lose my control. Even emotionally, I won't lose my control. I look everything, even with my emotion, objectively. I'll really hate myself when I lose my control so I try not to lose it.


Shizu, I think that's very SENSIBLE, and not a phobia at all! Of course there are people who are TOO scared of losing control, even around people they trust, but it makes perfect sense not to like the idea of a drug or alcohol (or prescription meds, for that matter) "taking over" so that you're not in control of your own decisions. With prescriptions, sometimes people don't have a choice, but I think limiting alcohol and drugs because you want to stay _rational_ is a good idea!


----------



## Susan in VA

sjc said:


> Susan: She can't even look at cutsie ladybug stationary. Once a little kid had a ladybug umbrella and my daughter walked in the opposite direction to avoid it.


Oh that's tough -- so much stuff has them printed on!!


----------



## Susan in VA

HollyChristine said:


> While driving today, I realized my fear.
> 
> Driving at 75mph and having my tire pop off. I don't even know if it can actually happen, but it happens in my head quite a bit. I mean, can the tire just fall off? It's the front tires that scare me. I figure if the back tires pop off, I'd still have some control.
> 
> Now... do you think this is something that I need to seek help for or what  ? Reading what I wrote, I sound certifiable.


As Brendan said, make sure the lug nuts are on tightly! I drove about sixty miles once with them just set in place but not tightened... the car service place had rotated them and somebody must have been interrupted and not finished the job. Thank goodness a friend caught it the next day.

Flats are another matter.... scary but manageable if you don't panic when it happens.


----------



## sjc

Driving is scary business anyway...especially highway. Check those lug nuts for sure!!

Shizu:
I agree; I do not smoke pot and I drink in moderation. By the way:


> I did the chore they asked me to..... When I heard that, I hated my self for doing things without my knowledge and it was so scary to know that I didn't have control of myself.


 You just DESCRIBED the movie "The HANGOVER" perfectly...lol.


----------



## HollyChristine

What an awful word... Lugnuts. Sounds like a namecall, or a chore. _Where's Charlie? He's out there luggin nuts._ I can't even believe it can happen! Shivers.

Thanks for the info (ya lugnut )!


----------



## sjc

There are so many weird words. Some even look weird. One of the fears and phobias posts was about the feared word


Spoiler



torture


 it's a few pages back. This thread has been very interesting and informative. One post was how to save yourself with a chair if you are choking. Many share the same fears and phobias: THOUGH we can't figure out why my daughter (weirdest fear yet) is petrified of (of all things) LADYBUGS.

Any thoughts?


----------



## Susan in VA

A theory... maybe a little far-fetched, but here goes...

I find things creepy that turn out to be something other than what they look like. Lots of examples, but the first one that comes to mind is the cover of the Alan Parsons album _Eve_, if anyone's familiar with that. Once I've seen what's behind the superficial appearance, it's creepy to look at the object in question again. Of course this is usually when the superficial is harmless or pretty, and there is something gruesome or just icky hiding behind it.

If she's not this way with other bugs, maybe it's something similar? Ladybugs look cute, and not really insect-like (unless you see them magnified), so if she thought they were a cute little critter, or even a plaything, and then realized that they were actually BUGS... could that have done it??

Yeah, I know its far-fetched. Best I can come up with, though.


----------



## Shizu

Is it possible the fears relate to the experience from the life before your life? That is why we can't explain why we fear things we fear.

I read from somewhere that when there's heart transplant, the heart remembers it's original owner's memories and habits that the person who got that heart start to do things of those original owner's things.


----------



## sjc

Possibly:  keep in mind she's 21; maybe that doesn't make a difference though.  

Two summers ago, we were at an outdoor affair and a ladybug landed on her food.  She took a forkful put it in her mouth felt a crunch, spit it out into a napkin; saw it was a ladybug.  Threw her plate in the air and danced around screaming and heaving.  BUT she already had the phobia thing before that.


----------



## Debra Purdy Kong

Let's see, my phobia? I'm a little claustrophobic. Don't try to put me in a pup tent or the top bunk with a low ceiling because I'll never be able to sleep. In fact, even breathing becomes a little tough. One New Year's Eve in 1979 I was celebrating with crowds of people at Trafalgar Square in London, England. After we brought the new year in, scores of people crammed into the subway to return home. I remember being squished in the middle of the subway car when my breathing started to get out of control. I was really close to an all out panic. Very frightening.

As for fear, my only fear is not having given life my best shot before it's time to leave.

Debra


----------



## Shizu

sjc said:


> Two summers ago, we were at an outdoor affair and a ladybug landed on her food. She took a forkful put it in her mouth felt a crunch, spit it out into a napkin; saw it was a ladybug. Threw her plate in the air and danced around screaming and heaving. BUT she already had the phobia thing before that.


Umm, does she attract ladybugs? What are the chances that the bug that landed on your food is what you fear... ladybug. I think I saw less than 10 ladybugs so far.


----------



## Susan in VA

sjc said:


> Two summers ago, we were at an outdoor affair and a ladybug landed on her food. She took a forkful put it in her mouth felt a crunch, spit it out into a napkin; saw it was a ladybug. Threw her plate in the air and danced around screaming and heaving. BUT she already had the phobia thing before that.


If she hadn't had it before, that experience would have been enough to start it!! Eeeew!


----------



## HollyChristine

sjc said:


> Possibly: keep in mind she's 21; maybe that doesn't make a difference though.
> 
> Two summers ago, we were at an outdoor affair and a ladybug landed on her food. She took a forkful put it in her mouth felt a crunch, spit it out into a napkin; saw it was a ladybug. Threw her plate in the air and danced around screaming and heaving. BUT she already had the phobia thing before that.


What about the nursery rhyme? _Ladybug, Ladybug fly away home. Your house is on fire, your children all gone. _ That's really nice, eh? Who started the fire? And why didn't Ladybug leave the kids with a sitter or something? I'm beginning to question these "lady" bugs myself


----------



## Meredith Sinclair

HollyChristine said:


> What about the nursery rhyme? _Ladybug, Ladybug fly away home. Your house is on fire, your children all gone. _ That's really nice, eh? Who started the fire? And why didn't Ladybug leave the kids with a sitter or something? I'm beginning to question these "lady" bugs myself


Hahahahahahhaa      cute Holly, REALLy, REALLY cute...


----------



## sjc

> What about the nursery rhyme? Ladybug, Ladybug fly away home. Your house is on fire, your children all gone


We used to sing it the same but instead of children all gone we'd sing children are getting burnt.

My daughter used to sing it too. I don't know what made her petrified...I asked her if she had visions of children getting burned and associated it with ladybugs...she said no. We can't figure this one out. She admits it is the stupidest fear ever...but yet; have one land near her and it's an instant freakshow. Go figure.


----------



## koolmnbv

I am scared of bee's. I freak out and swat them away when they come around. I know that is because I don't want stung though. So mine is explainable and I am fairly certain most people react the same way around bee's. 

I always heard ladybugs were goodluck. If you see 3 in one day you make a wish. I guess your daughters wish would be to never see 3 in one day ever again!


----------



## BTackitt

When I was 19 I was hospitalized for a week with a severe kidney infection. for the first 12 hours they were taking blood every 15 minutes for testing. The male nurse who took my blood for the first 8 hour shift would *try* a little to find a vein in my arm, but invariably he ended up just stabing in and digging around until he hit a vein. I have been needle-phobic since then. 
I have been trying to overcome this for the past few years, and am proud to say that I Finally was able to donate blood this year. It was no where near the experience of my memory, and I didn't shake, cry or hyperventilate at all... ok, maybe a little heavy breathing before I got in the door...


----------



## mfstewart

sjc said:


> Thumper: Fear of dying in general or fear of dying in some sort of horrid way?


Fear of dying - definitely - saw your pink ribbon, and I think anyone who has been touched by Cancer has wrestled with death one way or another. Certainly has in my family.

On a lighter note:
In my thriller, The Caliphate, the protagonist has a germ phobia that going to Sumatra gives him some serious exposure therapy.

Home intrusion is another fear of mine - Freud says it's because I'm scared of the dark...thanks, Dr.


----------



## Susan in VA

mfstewart said:


> Home intrusion is another fear of mine - Freud says it's because I'm scared of the dark...thanks, Dr.


I don't buy the idea that there's necessarily a connection. I don't mind the dark in the least, but I doublecheck doors before bed and I never leave ground-floor windows open if I'm going out for even ten minutes, and nobody else has a key to my house because if I heard someone come in while I was napping I'd either have a heart attack or panic and spray them with Mace before realizing it was someone I knew.


----------



## Meredith Sinclair

Susan in VA said:


> I don't buy the idea that there's necessarily a connection. I don't mind the dark in the least, but I doublecheck doors before bed and I never leave ground-floor windows open if I'm going out for even ten minutes, and nobody else has a key to my house because if I heard someone come in while I was napping I'd either have a heart attack or panic and spray them with Mace before realizing it was someone I knew.


Well, at least you would not SHOOT them! I have to say my inlaws have keys to our house and a couple members of my family do as well, and I KNOW none of them would come a'callin in the middle of the night so, if someone is in my house....  Yep, just like people on TV say, if ya live in Texas you own a gun... or two... NOBODY would EVER do any late night drop-ins in TEXAS, well at least where we are from anyway!


----------



## Susan in VA

Meredith Sinclair said:


> Well, at least you would not SHOOT them! I have to say my inlaws have keys to our house and a couple members of my family do as well, and I KNOW none of them would come a'callin in the middle of the night so, if someone is in my house....  Yep, just like people on TV say, if ya live in Texas you own a gun... or two... NOBODY would EVER do any late night drop-ins in TEXAS, well at least where we are from anyway!


I'm not anti-gun or anything, but it would make me really nervous to live in an area where everyone had guns in the house. People don't always lock them up and kids can get at them, even accidentally... just scary.

And personally I think that just like for driving a car, people should have to demonstrate basic competence before being allowed to use a gun. Like maybe x number of hours at a shooting range, and some kind of safety class, and THEN get a license to have one. Fewer accidents that way, perhaps. And more intruders shot accurately, without the messiness of sloppy marksmanship.


----------



## mfstewart

Susan in VA said:


> I don't buy the idea that there's necessarily a connection.


Comes from growing up in a large house with lots of windows on the ground floor. I got out of the shower once and had a man staring in through the window at me. Creeps me out. Now later in life, I think it has to do with needing to protect my kids. I keep an African hunting spear next to my bed! Luckily I don't sleep walk or sleep throw!


----------



## Guest

I have one phobia...zombies.

My fiancee says its ridiculous to be phobic over something that doesn't exist.  My response is "It's a PHOBIA.  By default it is an illogical fear."

See, I KNOW it's illogical, but that doesn't do me any good.  I can't even play a video game with zombies in it (except World of Warcraft.  The undead in it don't move like zombies really, and they are cartoonish anyway).  But I remember playing Vampire: The Masquerade for the PC and it got to the part where you get trapped in the house full of zombies and I stopped playing the game right there.  Years ago when "Resident Evil" came out we went to see it in the theatre, me thinking my zombie-phobia was a thing of the past.

I didn't get any sleep for a week.  

I even have to leave the room if a commercial comes on for a zombie movie.  Sometimes, I suspect my fiancee puts a zombie movie on the TV just to get me to leave him alone.


----------



## Susan in VA

mfstewart said:


> I keep an African hunting spear next to my bed!


Now that's an original method of self-defense!


----------



## MAGreen

Monophobia...the fear of kissing, j/k. It's the fear of being alone. If I am alone for too long, especially at night, although, not always, I start thinking every noise I hear is something ominous and I will have panic attacks. It can get bad. I am grateful for my children, they keep me from flipping out! I have had many many shopping trips, or coffee runs just to see people and know everything is ok.


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## cat616

I used to be VERY frightened TERRIFIED of being alone at night. I would sleep with a hammer under my pillow - Lord knows what I would do with it if an intruder did turn up. When I would nightmare about an intruder my reaction was to freeze up, thus rendering myself unable to defend myself.

One day I came home and found an intruder already inside. I picked up a knife, started screaming obscenities at him and ordering him out of my home at the top of my lungs (in hopes the entire neighborhood would hear me and someone would come running), he started to run in the opposite direction so I took off after him and chased him out of the back door - Lord knows what I would have done if I had caught up to him. It all happened in well under 30 seconds but my mind thought out each action I took before I took it.

It turned out he was more afraid of me than I was of him.

The point is, after that I was no longer afraid to be alone at night. I make sure everything is locked up good and tight and then I am comfortable.

Maybe what I was really afraid of was freezing up in this type of situation and when I learned that my real reaction was so far from freezing up the fear dissolved.


----------



## Dori

OK  gang,  don't throw poison darts.  It sort of freaks me out to see a Kindle with a skin plastered on it.  It is so hard for me to imagine why anyone would do that.


----------



## sjc

Wow...I missed a lot.  I had a hectic day.  I see that we have some new fears and phobias...
Bees are a big one (feared by many)
Fear of Bees = Apiphobia or Melissophobiabees

I'm learning that phobias are real they are not figments of our imaginations.


----------



## MAGreen

cat616 said:


> I used to be VERY frightened TERRIFIED of being alone at night. I would sleep with a hammer under my pillow - Lord knows what I would do with it if an intruder did turn up. When I would nightmare about an intruder my reaction was to freeze up, thus rendering myself unable to defend myself.
> 
> One day I came home and found an intruder already inside. I picked up a knife, started screaming obscenities at him and ordering him out of my home at the top of my lungs (in hopes the entire neighborhood would hear me and someone would come running), he started to run in the opposite direction so I took off after him and chased him out of the back door - Lord knows what I would have done if I had caught up to him. It all happened in well under 30 seconds but my mind thought out each action I took before I took it.
> 
> It turned out he was more afraid of me than I was of him.
> 
> The point is, after that I was no longer afraid to be alone at night. I make sure everything is locked up good and tight and then I am comfortable.
> 
> Maybe what I was really afraid of was freezing up in this type of situation and when I learned that my real reaction was so far from freezing up the fear dissolved.


Got it, all I need to do is get someone to break into my house so I can chase them with a knife and scream obscenities at them! Any volunteers? Maybe someone with a fear of knives...we can kill two fears with one crazy stone.


----------



## sjc

Yikes.


----------



## Shizu

sjc said:


> I'm learning that phobias are real they are not figments of our imaginations.


I think so too. Some people are more sensitive than others. I couldn't understand why my daughter is so scare of many things but her reaction is very intense sometime. I have two daughters and one is so scare of a lot of things and other is so opposite. I always wonder why that is. The explanation I came up was the time of the pregnancy. I was very sad and upset all the time when I was pregnant with my first daughter. And she is the one who is so scare of many things. I used to wonder if it was my fault that my daughter is so scare of things. I know that mother's state is so important for the baby during pregnancy.


----------



## Meredith Sinclair

Susan in VA said:


> I'm not anti-gun or anything, but it would make me really nervous to live in an area where everyone had guns in the house. People don't always lock them up and kids can get at them, even accidentally... just scary.
> And personally I think that just like for driving a car, people should have to demonstrate basic competence before being allowed to use a gun. Like maybe x number of hours at a shooting range, and some kind of safety class, and THEN get a license to have one. Fewer accidents that way, perhaps. And more intruders shot accurately, without the messiness of sloppy marksmanship.


I can understand that, and I agree we hang out at the range about 10 hours a month and I REALLY am a good great shot. My husband even bragged once at a carnival we were at, where you have to shoot all of the red star out of the target, that I could do it and the guy offered to give me my $ back along with the prize if I did it... yep! DID IT! 
But Susan, we all have alarms, we live in a Master-Planned Community on the outskirts (but within the city limits) of Houston so it's not like I will need to shoot anyone in my home. AND my DD knows that


Spoiler



ALL weapons are LOADED


! She is not afraid of them, she respects them. ANd yet you are right sooo many people do not lock up their guns, ours have locks on them and are also in a locked case, so no little visitors will ever be able to get to them. They are also in our locked bedroom! I am very seriosus about my


Spoiler



GUN SAFETY


.


----------



## Susan in VA

Meredith Sinclair said:


> I can understand that, and I agree we hang out at the range about 10 hours a month and I REALLY am a good great shot. My husband even bragged once at a carnival we were at, where you have to shoot all of the red star out of the target, that I could do it and the guy offered to give me my $ back along with the prize if I did it... yep! DID IT!
> But Susan, we all have alarms, we live in a Master-Planned Community on the outskirts (but within the city limits) of Houston so it's not like I will need to shoot anyone in my home. AND my DD knows that
> 
> 
> Spoiler
> 
> 
> 
> ALL weapons are LOADED
> 
> 
> ! She is not afraid of them, she respects them. ANd yet you are right sooo many people do not lock up their guns, ours have locks on them and are also in a locked case, so no little visitors will ever be able to get to them. They are also in our locked bedroom! I am very seriosus about my
> 
> 
> Spoiler
> 
> 
> 
> GUN SAFETY
> 
> 
> .


Keeping them safely away from kids and knowing how to use them with skill... see, if everyone were like that, there might not be such a controversy about gun laws.


----------



## mlewis78

Susan in VA said:


> Keeping them safely away from kids and knowing how to use them with skill... see, if everyone were like that, there might not be such a controversy about gun laws.


I think the key to the controversy is that people shoot people with them.


----------



## Susan in VA

mlewis78 said:


> I think the key to the controversy is that people shoot people with them.


No kidding.... still, there are good options for dealing with the issue, if the Powers That Be were to take a page from other places that have found workable solutions, such as the aforementioned "competency and sanity" license (kind of like a driving test and a low-level security clearance rolled into one).

I don't see that happening though....


----------



## cat616

MAGreen said:


> Got it, all I need to do is get someone to break into my house so I can chase them with a knife and scream obscenities at them! Any volunteers? Maybe someone with a fear of knives...we can kill two fears with one crazy stone.


My point is, sometimes the fear is not about what you think it is.

I thought I was terrified of an intruder in the night but it turns out what I was really afraid of was freezing up and being helpless in that type of situation.

I do not recommend anyone reacting in the way I did. I am fairly sure that the Police advice is to leave your home quickly and quietly and call the police from a neighbor's home.

I judged the situation in slowed down time and when I saw the intruders reaction was to flee I chased him. If his reaction was to come at me I can assure you I would have been out of the open door which I knew was at my back and would have been pounding on my neighbor's door within 2 seconds.

I thought I was a mouse but it turned out I was a Lion!! This Lion is no longer afraid of intruders.


----------



## Susan in VA

cat616 said:


> I thought I was a mouse but it turned out I was a Lion!! This Lion is no longer afraid of intruders.


Good for you!! It could have turned out badly, but it worked for you AND helped get rid of the fear.


----------



## sjc

Wow...Kudos, many would love to get over their fears as you did.  Kudos


----------



## MAGreen

I think it's awesome that you stood up for your self and found out that you are stronger than you first thought. Congrats on conquering your fear!


----------



## cat616

Thanks for your kind words. Now to find a way to get over the lizard phobia (shivers).


----------



## Susan in VA

cat616 said:


> Thanks for your kind words. Now to find a way to get over the lizard phobia (shivers).


They're creepy to you because they're fast-moving and have beady eyes, or is there another reason? I'm asking because maybe what got me over the pterodactyl thing would work for you.


----------



## cat616

Susan in VA said:


> They're creepy to you because they're fast-moving and have beady eyes, or is there another reason? I'm asking because maybe what got me over the pterodactyl thing would work for you.


Maybe it is because they are reptiles. They have large mouths and what looks like sharp teeth.


----------



## sjc

NO, They're just darn creepy.  I'm not fond of anything that slithers.


----------



## WalterK

Somewhat claustrophobic. When I was much younger and working on automobiles, sometimes I would just have to get out from under the vehicle, no matter what.

Big Spiders. For some inexplicable reason I tried to watch *Eight Legged Freaks* once. Big, big mistake.

- Walter.


----------



## sjc

Walter; I'm with you on the claustrophobia.
I can't even eat in certain restaurants.  I can't wait in long lines; having someone in front and behind me, forget it.  Hate drive-thrus because I have no way out if someone is behind me.  HAVE TO HAVE a window somewhere, could NEVER work in a cubicle.  Yet, in an airplane I get the isle...more room.  I get nervous in the movies.  Stairs only...no elevators.  Car trips...can't be too long.  I could never, never ever go tanning in one of those bed things...NEVER.  You get the drift.


----------



## Susan in VA

cat616 said:


> Maybe it is because they are reptiles. They have large mouths and what looks like sharp teeth.


Hmm.. well maybe a variation of what worked for me...

As long as I can remember I'd had nightmares about pterodactyls swooping down on me, claws extended, cawing or screeching... probably saw a drawing of one in a book as a kid and it went downhill from there. These nightmares followed me (two or three times a year) until I was about 30, and met DD's dad.

I told him about the nightmares, and he asked me for a description of the beasties. Then he said, " but they're not all like that.... what if there was one that was just a bit tubbier than the others, and couldn't get off the ground? Sort of round... more like a duck just with bigger wings... he'd be flapping around, but he wouldn't get anywhere, maybe just hop up and down a bit in frustration, and trip over his own feet... and then he'd complain about that but instead of screeching you know what he'd say?" and he leaned in closer and in a stage whisper said "Quaaack!" I cracked up. End of phobia. To this day we call them...


Spoiler



pteroquacktyls.



Now, try that for lizards!


----------



## sjc

*DID ANYONE ELSE FEAR (as a kid):*

The monster under your bed?
You were safe as long as you were completely under the covers up to your neck with nothing exposed and your feet could never touch the floor. Bathroom; only if a must, but slippers had to be used (they were monster-proof) so your bare feet didn't touch the floor.


----------



## intinst

My wife is claustrophobic, not bad, deals with elevators and small rooms OK, but could not deal with something as small as a MRI machine. Several years ago we were in Atlanta  just after the Braves first appearance in the Series since moving to that city. The city fathers decided to put on a parade for the players in the downtown area. We, being Braves fans thought it would be fun to see, so we went downtown, arriving early and  finding a place near the street to wait. Long story short, over 500,000 people (estimated by the police) tried to get into the area of the parade, an area of only several blocks length. To say packed liked sardines is to understate the actual fact. So many people they crowded into the streets, forcing the cancellation of the parade. It was impossible to get out of the crowd for over three hours. I had my arms around my wife, using my elbows to fend off the people packing in close to her. I managed to keep enough space around her to prevent a panic attack, but it was a close thing. That was in 1991 and to this day, neither of us likes crowds.


----------



## Aravis60

sjc said:


> *DID ANYONE ELSE FEAR (as a kid):*
> 
> The monster under your bed?
> You were safe as long as you were completely under the covers up to your neck with nothing exposed and your feet could never touch the floor. Bathroom; only if a must, but slippers had to be used (they were monster-proof) so your bare feet didn't touch the floor.


I used to think that there were bears living in my closet when I was little. I'm not sure why, but I was sure that they were in there.


----------



## mlewis78

sjc said:


> NO, They're just darn creepy. I'm not fond of anything that slithers.


I second that.


----------



## sjc

> but could not deal with something as small as a MRI machine.


My last MRI: Two Valium and I clenched my fists so hard; when I opened them, I had dug my nails into my palms so bad; my palms were bleeding. I am dreading my next one in Dec.


----------



## Ann in Arlington

They have 'Open' MRI 'round here.  You stand in an arch like thing I think. . .specifically designed for those who can't tolerate the traditional machine for some reason.


----------



## cat616

Susan in VA said:


> Hmm.. well maybe a variation of what worked for me...
> 
> As long as I can remember I'd had nightmares about pterodactyls ..........
> 
> To this day we call them...
> 
> 
> Spoiler
> 
> 
> 
> pteroquacktyls.
> 
> 
> Now, try that for lizards!


I am trying to think real hard of something cute and non threatening I can morph my lizards into. So far no luck, but I will keep trying. Maybe my lizards can become wizards! I will work on this.

Thanks for the suggestion.


----------



## sjc

Cat:  I think you need Harry Potter and gang for that.
How about picturing them as cute turtles...no?...too much of a stretch?


----------



## cat616

sjc said:


> Cat: I think you need Harry Potter and gang for that.
> How about picturing them as cute turtles...no?...too much of a stretch?


Well, when the lizard's mouth is closed the head is something like a turtle's head - except for the freaky colors. (skin crawling)

Thanks SJC. I'll keep this in mind.


----------



## Susan in VA

Wizardlizards, hmm.

OK, what if you visualize one in your mind, and he gets up on hind legs (best imagine a really little one, like those five-inch ones that are all over Florida) and dons a tiny little pointy hat with stars on it...  grabs a teensy magic wand, and starts trying to remember the right spell for making a lunch of flies or crickets (or whatever the heck they eat) appear....  except he gets it wrong, and makes a miniature bathtub appear and then a petunia and then a lugnut...  but not a single fly...  he mutters and starts cursing...  and instead of an accent like the Geico gecko, he has an accent like Maurice Chevalier...  and he's sooo hungry but he really can't remember the spell, and he almost starts to cry because he wants some lunch but they don't let lizards into the IHOP...

... so is this a fun lizard yet?


----------



## cat616

Yes Susan, that is a funny lizard  I can see him in my mind. I hope I see him the next time a lizard comes along. I will let you know how this works out.

ps. It is easy to imagine a little one because those are the ones I am having problems with. 

I just found this


----------



## sjc

I know a few "people" that I'd like to picture as something else!!


----------



## Susan in VA

sjc said:


> I know a few "people" that I'd like to picture as something else!!


As settlers on Mars?


----------



## sjc

Isn't Pluto farther?  Let's make it Pluto.  Ugggh!!!


----------



## koolmnbv

This isnt exactly a phobia its just more of an odd habit I guess. 

Does anyone else look at humans sometimes and picture what kind of animal they would be. Or think "oh that person totally looks like a hamster,monkey,cat etc." 

For some reason I see people sometimes and I immediately picture their animal version of themself.


----------



## Cindy416

koolmnbv said:


> This isnt exactly a phobia its just more of an odd habit I guess.
> 
> Does anyone else look at humans sometimes and picture what kind of animal they would be. Or think "oh that person totally looks like a hamster,monkey,cat etc."
> 
> For some reason I see people sometimes and I immediately picture their animal version of themself.


I occasionally do that, but more often, I notice people who look like their pets (esp. dogs).


----------



## sjc

> For some reason I see people sometimes and I immediately picture their animal version of themself.


I do it too; but what I do most, is notice people's teeth. 
(The former dental assistant in me...old habits die hard) DH gets mad that I do it. Sometimes before I even say something, he says..."Yes, I know, the teeth." and he rolls his eyes.


----------



## Bren S.

koolmnbv said:


> This isnt exactly a phobia its just more of an odd habit I guess.
> 
> Does anyone else look at humans sometimes and picture what kind of animal they would be. Or think "oh that person totally looks like a hamster,monkey,cat etc."
> 
> For some reason I see people sometimes and I immediately picture their animal version of themself.


lol I have a friend who does that a lot.She'll comment that he/she looks like a "_______", and generally I don't see how they look like whatever animal it was that she named.


----------



## Susan in VA

sjc said:


> (The former dental assistant in me...


Weren't you also a professional baker at some point, or am I confusing posts? If that WAS you, what a checkered past great variety you have in your careers. Tell me you didn't sell people sweet sticky pastries until their teeth went bad, and then switched over to the other side...


----------



## Brenda Carroll

Susan in VA said:


> Hmm.. well maybe a variation of what worked for me...
> 
> To this day we call them...
> 
> 
> Spoiler
> 
> 
> 
> pteroquacktyls.
> 
> 
> Now, try that for lizards!


OK, so you're telling me that a quacking giant flying reptile with huge claws and deadly beak is not scary if it quacks?  I see. Well, OK, then, but I believe that I will retain my reservations about this phobia. I, too, am afraid of dinosaurs, but fortunately, I've heard that they are extinct. Can you verify this for me?  I was afraid of changing my avatar again, but I see you did and in so doing, you have given me new courage. I can do it. I know I can.


----------



## russr19

I hate SPIDERS


----------



## Susan in VA

Brendan Carroll said:


> I, too, am afraid of dinosaurs, but fortunately, I've heard that they are extinct. Can you verify this for me?


Weeeeelllll... as several people have said here, phobias don't have to actually make sense, or be remotely realistic....
As far as verifying it, I dunno. People have accused ME of being one, and I'm certainly not extinct!



Brendan Carroll said:


> I was afraid of changing my avatar again, but I see you did and in so doing, you have given me new courage. I can do it. I know I can.


Yikes, I forgot to change back.  (Sorry, Pixie!)


----------



## sjc

Susan:


> Weren't you also a professional baker at some point


Wow...you are good. You will never get Alzheimers.
Actually you are correct. My first "paid" cake job was when I was 14. Did that for years and years...all through college: Went to college for Dental Assisting.

When I had my kids; it was the *"cake thing"* which allowed me to be a stay at home mom. I did cakes from home off and on for 21 years; from when I was single...I finally retired from cakes when my husband grew tired of me tying up every single weekend. I wouldn't care if I never saw frosting again. My last real cake job was 11 years ago. I still have people call and beg; but I just can't do it anymore...talk about burn out.

Then, I went back to school to become a Teacher's Assistant so that I could work the same schedule as my kids and be home when they were and have summers off when they did. I also ended up (double duty) filling some secretarial shoes for the school department...which in turn, led me to my current job.

*SO, in keeping with the thread:* Can one develoup a *fear* of frosting?...lol.


----------



## Susan in VA

sjc said:


> *SO, in keeping with the thread:* Can one develoup a *fear* of frosting?...lol.


Only in terms of the calorie content! 

(So did you bake-and-frost, or did you frost-and-decorate? I've been wanting to take some of those classes for decorating, and am wondering whether careful precision or artistic skill are more important in getting good at it. If the latter, forget it. )

Working on a mid-life teaching degree here for all the same reasons.


----------



## Bren S.

sjc said:


> *SO, in keeping with the thread:* Can one develoup a *fear* of frosting?...lol.


Not sure but I am fairly sure my waist can and does fear frosting lol


----------



## sjc

Frosting:
I can't even look at the stuff.  I can remember having 2 and 3 cake jobs in a weekend; living in a second floor apartment with no AC and 90 degree weather...frosting melting faster than I could keep up with it.

The biggest nightmare:  Delivering the goods in one piece...knees would knock driving...one "stop-short" and it's all over.  

I do not miss those days.  The final straw was an 8 tier wedding cake that took a week to make...over 200 hand made roses...and I was in the wedding party...Stayed up all night with finishing touches.  Put the pastry bag down...delivered the cake with the groom in a crappy little hatchback...came home; jumped in the shower...and attending the wedding.  THAT WAS IT!!!  I did only one other cake after that when this bride and groom had a daughter a few years later; I did her christening cake...last pro job ever...that was 11 years ago.  YES:  A fear of frosting...


----------



## LCEvans

A have a fear of--well, it's actually a phobia: Roaches! 

They absolutely terrify me. One of my scariest childhood memories was when my toddler brother picked up a giant dead roach off the floor and popped it in his mouth. My mother screamed like we were being invaded by Martians (or maybe Plutonians. Is that what people from Pluto would be called?). Anyway, she pulled the pieces of roach out of my brother's mouth and then gave him something to make him throw up. Nasty. I have a million other roach stories since I grew up in Southwest Florida, land of huge palmetto bugs--AKA roaches. Like there was the time a gas station attendant had to rescue me from the largest, meanest roach on the planet. Shudders at the memory.


----------



## sjc

Eeewwww.  You have every right to fear roaches...OMG!!


----------



## enwood

I hate going over bridges which are over water.  When I was a kid, I'd have nightmares of being on a bridge and it would begin to crumble under the car. *shudders*  If I am in the car with my two kids, neither which can swim yet, and we are stuck on a bridge and I can feel it move, I start to panic.  I call someone just so that if we go in the water, someone will know where we are.  And then I begin to fantasize about what I would do if we did go in the water, how I would get them out, etc, etc.  Which just makes me panic more.  I've learned when rush hour is so that I don't go over the bridges at that time of day.

And I don't like closed in spaces.  It's not claustrophobia exactly, small places don't bother me, as long as the air is moving.  If there is no air flow, I begin to feel like I can't breathe and start to freak out.  I have to get where there is fresh air before I can breathe again.


----------



## Cindy416

Fear of frosting! That's one of the funniest things I've heard in a long time.


----------



## Shizu

I hate roaches too. When you fear something, you seem to find what you fear so easily. That is how I was when I was little. I didn't want to see them so try to avoid them by finding them. Does this make sense? lol.


----------



## mlewis78

I am not afraid of roaches, but I loathe them, because if you see one you know there are others.  Had them for years despite exterminator until about 2000 when they came up with a new gel formula.  Haven't seen any since then at home.


----------



## Kathy

Roaches are my all time phobia. Hate them. I lived in Montana until the age of 9. We moved to Texas and I had never seen one. My Dad was just getting work after a long stay in the hospital and we were living in a rental house that was filled with the awful things. I was asleep and one crawled into my ear. I was screaming and screaming and my parents were freaking out. A few drops of alcohol and it game out, but I have never been able to get over the trauma it caused. Believe me I never miss an extermination date. LOL


----------



## sjc

Kathy:  I think I'd have passed out.

I have a fear of touching the ocean floor with my feet; I ALWAYS wear boat shoes in the water...don't want anything gross (even seaweed) touching my feet.  I got bit by a crab once as a kid and that was the end of bare feet in the water.  Just wore them in the water today...in fact, I'm still in my bathing suit; though I'm not turning it into an avatar...lol.


----------



## Brenda Carroll

sjc said:


> Kathy: I think I'd have passed out.
> 
> I have a fear of touching the ocean floor with my feet; I ALWAYS wear boat shoes in the water...don't want anything gross (even seaweed) touching my feet. I got bit by a crab once as a kid and that was the end of bare feet in the water. Just wore them in the water today...in fact, I'm still in my bathing suit; though I'm not turning it into an avatar...lol.


Thank God we are off of the little bug thing! Talk about a phobia, I couldn't even write about them.... OK, so yes, this I understand, the ocean is OK for barefeet for me, but not lakes. I have a fear of touching the bottom of a lake with bare feet. I don't mind rocky streams and sandy creeks and beaches, but lakes? Yuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuk!!!!


----------



## sjc

I mind all of it, lakes, streams, ocean, (puddles...lol)...no bare feet for me.


----------



## Brenda Carroll

sjc said:


> I mind all of it, lakes, streams, ocean, (puddles...lol)...no bare feet for me.


Well, to be honest, I kind of like the feel of mud between my toes in mudholes. It's a leftover thing from childhood days. But I have to know the mudhole really, really well before I put my feet in it! LOL 

I have a phobia of coming down ladders. I'm fine going up, but coming down... not so much.


----------



## LCEvans

> I was asleep and one crawled into my ear.


Kathy,
I don't know how you survived! I've always been afraid one would get in my ear or in my mouth, because they fly. I learned to scream really loud with my mouth closed. That's what I did the time I encountered the giant mutant roach. I was driving, alone, on a trip to Jacksonville 6 hours away. I was about halfway there, tooling along about 70 miles an hour on the Interstate, when I felt something moving on the back of my neck. I brushed at it and felt it go onto my shoulder. My heart was in serious overdrive when I worked up the courage to look at myself in the rear view mirror. That's when I saw it. IT was a black roach about the size of a canary. Oh my God. I thought, this is it. I'm not kidding; I thought I was going to crash the car and die at that moment. Then I spotted an exit sign and I flew onto the ramp and pulled into a gas station where I screeched to a halt at the closest pump. This was in the days when attendants pumped your gas. The guy sauntered out and asked if he could help me, ma'am. All I could do was the mouth-closed scream and point to IT. He said, "Dang. Where'd you pick that up?" Then he took this nasty oily rag out of his pocket and used it to cover his hand so he could pluck IT off my shoulder. He threw the rag on the ground and stomped. There was this sickening pop. But I didn't need gas since I'd filled up about 25 miles back. So I thanked the attendant profusely for saving my life and then drove away. I did not care one bit about the big, oily blob on my best dress.


----------



## intinst

Brendan Carroll said:


> I have a phobia of coming down ladders. I'm fine going up, but coming down... not so much.


Makes it kind of hard to get back on the ground, doesn't it?


----------



## Kathy

LC, This story is a good reason to never roll your windows down.


----------



## mlewis78

Roaches in NYC don't fly.  Ewwwww at the thought of it.

I can understand the phobia about coming down the ladder.  You have to go backwards.  We had a ladder going up to the garage attic when I was a kid.  I recall that it was rather awkward getting started on the ladder to come back down.


----------



## Brenda Carroll

intinst said:


> Makes it kind of hard to get back on the ground, doesn't it?


That is why I now live 1900 feet above sea level. Long way down.  
I also have a phobia about running out of


Spoiler



_booze_.


 I call it Soberaphobia.


----------



## sjc

> I also have a phobia about running out of booze. I call it Soberaphobia.


EVERYONE on these boards knows my two best friends are: Marge & Rita


----------



## Brenda Carroll

sjc said:


> EVERYONE on these boards knows my two best friends are: Marge & Rita


My favorite old, old song is Magaritaville. You know? Looking for my outlaw shaker of salt? Well, yes, but today I'm doing Captain Morgan's and Coke, but I have a phobia of going out after drinking CM&C and


Spoiler



hoisting my leg


 on everything.  People might not understand.


----------



## sjc

I would understand completely.


----------



## Aravis60

Brendan Carroll said:


> My favorite old, old song is Magaritaville. You know? Looking for my outlaw shaker of salt? Well, yes, but today I'm doing Captain Morgan's and Coke, but I have a phobia of going out after drinking CM&C and
> 
> 
> Spoiler
> 
> 
> 
> hoisting my leg
> 
> 
> on everything.  People might not understand.


LOL! I've always wanted to see someone do that in real life.


----------



## Brenda Carroll

Aravis60 said:


> LOL! I've always wanted to see someone do that in real life.


Really? I sometimes have to drink some Capt. Morgan just to be able to get my leg high enough to get into my car.  But I'll tell you a secret, Miss Aravis. I have a title and it just happens to be Captain. Ever since I was an infant in the twentieth century, I've wanted to be a Captain. Of course, I wanted to be a Captain in the manner of James Kirk, but since Starfleet Academy is still a few years off, I had to go to a different academy. Oh, at least I do get to be called Captain on a regular basis, but the glamour is all imaginary.


----------



## sjc

*Brendan:* Here's a captain joke for you. Capt of ship has his men on board doing battle...during the attack he says to his first mate run like the wind and get me my CRIMSON blouse. The first mate does as he is told but holds back from asking his capt why? After the battle is won; he finally gets the courage to ask the captain why the crimson blouse? The captain said, "If the enemy were to pierce my flesh I would not want my men to see me bleed, I would want them to proceed in battle; the crimson blouse is the same color as my blood."

Shortly after: The ship is attacked again; but this time the battle is twice as fierce and the Captain and his men are out numbered. He shouts to his first mate: Run like the wind and get me my brown britches!!


----------



## Susan in VA

LCEvans said:


> That's what I did the time I encountered the giant mutant roach. I was driving, alone, on a trip to Jacksonville 6 hours away. I was about halfway there, tooling along about 70 miles an hour on the Interstate, when I felt something moving on the back of my neck.


That does it. I am NEVER moving to Florida.


----------



## Kind

Any type of an insect will just about do it for me.


----------



## Brenda Carroll

sjc said:


> *Brendan:* Here's a captain joke for you. Capt of ship has his men on board doing battle...during the attack he says to his first mate run like the wind and get me my CRIMSON blouse. The first mate does as he is told but holds back from asking his capt why? After the battle is won; he finally gets the courage to ask the captain why the crimson blouse? The captain said, "If the enemy were to pierce my flesh I would not want my men to see me bleed, I would want them to proceed in battle; the crimson blouse is the same color as my blood."
> 
> Shortly after: The ship is attacked again; but this time the battle is twice as fierce and the Captain and his men are out numbered. He shouts to his first mate: Run like the wind and get me my brown britches!!


LOLROTF! Been there and done that, figuratively. I do work under some very harrowing conditions. Good one!


----------



## mlewis78

Susan in VA said:


> That does it. I am NEVER moving to Florida.


They have snakes in Florida too.


----------



## Susan in VA

That's ok, they wouldn't be jumping into my car and causing a crash.


----------



## LCEvans

Oh, yeah, these Florida roaches fly and sometimes they get together for air shows. Like one time we were living in an old mobile home on our property while our house was being built. My husband worked nights and I was home alone with our three children. I woke up in the wee hours to the sound of buzzing and thwacking as the hideous creatures sped through the air and then landed on the walls. I turned on the light and almost had a heart attack. There must have been twenty or more of them doing aerial acrobatics all over the house. I woke my frightened children and we left. I drove to my parents' place where we spent the rest of the night. Left a note on the front door for my husband. "Flying roaches everywhere. Have gone to Mom's."

By the way, loved that captain joke. I should have sent one of the kids to fetch my brown britches that night.


----------



## Shizu

LC, your roach stories are very scary. It's like reading a horror story. One would be enough but twenty or more flying... big roach on your shoulder... that is too much.


----------



## Cowgirl

Those flying roaches...I think they're called Palametto (sp) bugs... are one of the reasons I could never live in Florida.  They freak me out.


----------



## sjc

*Roaches are NASTY:* I try *not* to think of how many restaurants must have them and we don't know it. Eeeewwwww!!!


----------



## Susan in VA

LCEvans said:


> these Florida roaches fly and sometimes they get together for air shows.


LOL!

I _really, really_ dislike the thought that they could be organized enough to do anything in a concerted manner.


----------



## sjc

We went to a demolition derby with 4th fireworks tonight:  went to the ladies room, heard a crunch under my shoe, thought I stepped on a piece of popcorn or candy:  EEEeeeewwww.  A giant beetle bug...crunched so loud...I thought of this thread, couldn't wait to get home to post. Yuck Yuck Yuck.


----------



## harfner

Sharks.  Won't even wade in the ocean.  Nope.


----------



## Jessi

I have this crazy fear of the waving inflatable arm men that you see on the side of the highway in front of a store that is having a sale, or a car lot. For some strange reason they freak me out. Bad. Family Guy had an episode where they made fun of them and I almost had a heart attack. My fiancee had never seen me hide my face so quick.    But other than that, I catch bugs and go in creeks looking for crayfish. I play paintball and rough house with the best of them... but I don't like the waving inflatable arm men.


----------



## Meredith Sinclair

sjc said:


> We went to a demolition derby with 4th fireworks tonight: went to the ladies room, heard a crunch under my shoe, thought I stepped on a piece of popcorn or candy: EEEeeeewwww. A giant beetle bug...crunched so loud...I thought of this thread, couldn't wait to get home to post. Yuck Yuck Yuck.


Guess you would not have been eating


Spoiler



crickets & worms


 with me at the Insectarium in New Orleans last week then huh?  
So, I see I am not the ONLY one who thinks of KB when I am elsewhere....  I LOVE it!


Kind said:


> Any type of an insect will just about do it for me.


Or YOU huh?


----------



## Meredith Sinclair

Brendan Carroll said:


> That is why I now live 1900 feet above sea level. Long way down.
> I also have a phobia about running out of
> 
> 
> Spoiler
> 
> 
> 
> _booze_.
> 
> 
> I call it Soberaphobia.


I recently had a friend visit, whom I had not been around in over... say 10 years... since then I have converted to a different religion, had a baby, and moved... so she looks around my kitchen while I am getting things done in there, and she is really quiet for a moment and I say "Whaaat? what's wrong?" She grins and says "I'm just sitting here figuring how long it would take for me to drink all of this." I am a good sport right? So I say "What's your estimate?" She says " 'bout three to four months!"    Did I mention my husband is from New Orleans? 
So I guess you would be safe in my home Brendan! (Between you & me.... I believe that is my FIL's fear as well!)


----------



## sjc

> So, I see I am not the ONLY one who thinks of KB when I am elsewhere.... I LOVE it!


Aren't we awful?...My son said to me the other day, "For someone who was NEVER on the computer, you sure are making up for lost time!"

That beetle was nasty!!


----------



## LCEvans

Giant beetle bug? Very nasty. Don't you hate that sound when you crunch one underfoot? How about when a giant roach gets in your shoe and you're in a hurry and forgot to check before you put them on. Yep, it happened to me--in Florida. I about ripped my foot off tearing my way out of the shoe without taking time to unlace it.


----------



## Guest

Spiders, Snakes, Lions, Tigers, Bears... And anything else that can EAT ME !!


----------



## Bren S.

LCEvans said:


> Giant beetle bug? Very nasty. Don't you hate that sound when you crunch one underfoot?


egads that sound is awful *doing the bug cringe thing*


----------



## Brenda Carroll

Meredith Sinclair said:


> "Whaaat? what's wrong?" She grins and says "I'm just sitting here figuring how long it would take for me to drink all of this." I am a good sport right? So I say "What's your estimate?" She says " 'bout three to four months!"    Did I mention my husband is from New Orleans?
> So I guess you would be safe in my home Brendan! (Between you & me.... I believe that is my FIL's fear as well!)


So this is a lady friend and the amount of liquor in your kitchen is going to take her 3-4 months to consume... hhmm... 2 + 3... ahhhh.... divide by 4.... carry the 6.... add 5 for good measure... OK, take the square root of that number and ummmmm, let's see. Should take me about 3.733 days to disproportionately consume the same amount of liquor providing that the constant C (which stands for Consume) remains constant over the entire 3.733 days and the variables M, M and G (for good) do not exceed the angle of dispersal (bent straws vs. straight).  Now what did you say your address was, Miss Merry? 

I have an unnatural fear of death by fire (having most certainly been burned at the stake a number of times in past incarnations).


----------



## mlewis78

I have a fear that I may not find a job like the one I had before the layoffs and that pays as much as my base salary there -- 2nd shift nights at a law firm, word processing and secretarial wherever I was needed.  There is nothing to interview along that line now, but perhaps in the fall.  May have to take something that pays a lot less and daytime -- like the job I had until 2003.

Just enjoying the summer in the meantime.


----------



## sjc

> Giant beetle bug? Very nasty. Don't you hate that sound when you crunch one underfoot? How about when a giant roach gets in your shoe and you're in a hurry and forgot to check before you put them on. Yep, it happened to me--in Florida. I about ripped my foot off tearing my way out of the shoe without taking time to unlace it.


Yikes!! At least I had shoes on and it was under the shoe...Yours was far worse, having been *IN* the shoe...eeeewww.


----------



## sjc

*mlewis78:*


> I have a fear that I may not find a job like the one I had before the layoffs


Yours is perhaps the most genuine fear of this thread, given these awful economic times. You are not alone; one of my siblings has been looking for work and to no avail since last August...he'd take anything; including a cut in pay.

Many in these shoes...a valid fear and a horrible reality.

Good luck.


----------



## mlewis78

Thanks, SJC.  I will need the luck.  I'm 57 and this is my first spell of unemployment since I started working 34 years ago.  I have good skills, but law firms are downgrading these jobs.

This is an underlying fear for me that causes headaches, but sometimes I'm able to think more positively that this kind of job will return.


----------



## LCEvans

> I have a fear that I may not find a job like the one I had before the layoffs


Best of luck to you in finding another job. My daughter also does word processing in a law firm and she lives in fear that she'll be cut in the next round of layoffs. A good many lawyers have already been laid off from her firm since the bank meltdowns--we live in Charlotte, NC, land o' banks.


----------



## Brenda Carroll

I have a real fear that this thread might die and I have a lot more phobias to post.  For instance, I'm afraid of anything with spines or stickers growing on it.


----------



## Susan in VA

Brendan Carroll said:


> I have a real fear that this thread might die and I have a lot more phobias to post. For instance, I'm afraid of anything with spines or stickers growing on it.


At least they have tetanus shots now; rose thorns don't kill people anymore...


----------



## Brenda Carroll

Susan in VA said:


> At least they have tetanus shots now; rose thorns don't kill people anymore...


Yes, but I have a phobia of blood... my own... outside my veins, arteries and skin.


----------



## Meredith Sinclair

Brendan Carroll said:


> Yes, but I have a phobia of blood... my own... outside my veins, arteries and skin.


Buuuuuut have you ever TASTED your own blood? Like you know, from biting your lip or something? I am just wondering if you are askeeered of it if you can't see it.


----------



## mlewis78

LCEvans said:


> Best of luck to you in finding another job. My daughter also does word processing in a law firm and she lives in fear that she'll be cut in the next round of layoffs. A good many lawyers have already been laid off from her firm since the bank meltdowns--we live in Charlotte, NC, land o' banks.


Thanks. Then you probably understand what has been happening in law firms. When I got into this and for many years, it was recession proof. I moved from CBS News to a law firm in '87 because I saw no future in the media business -- salary was low, raises were ridiculously low and I needed to earn a better living.


----------



## sjc

Funny fear/phobia:  The other day we went to the stock car races and the girl sitting to my right was peeling from sunburn.  Her dad was sitting on the bleacher behind her; peeling her back.  I was nearly freaking inside because I didn't want some girl's dead skin flakes touching me.  He was peeling and flicking and I found it gross and annoying.  If one of those flicks landed on me I would have died and probably started a fight.

Keep bathroom habits in the bathroom where they belong.


----------



## Aravis60

sjc said:


> Funny fear/phobia: The other day we went to the stock car races and the girl sitting to my right was peeling from sunburn. Her dad was sitting on the bleacher behind her; peeling her back. I was nearly freaking inside because I didn't want some girl's dead skin flakes touching me. He was peeling and flicking and I found it gross and annoying. If one of those flicks landed on me I would have died and probably started a fight.
> 
> Keep bathroom habits in the bathroom where they belong.


EEEEEWWWW! That is disgusting! I would have been freaking out too.


----------



## LCEvans

> The other day we went to the stock car races and the girl sitting to my right was peeling from sunburn. Her dad was sitting on the bleacher behind her; peeling her back.


DIS-gusting. Some people have no couth at all. Oh, yeah, I'll have to add that one to my list of fears and phobias.


----------



## enwood

Toe and belly button lint.  Same category.  My own is ok, but I cringe even when it's my children.  Something about it is just inherently gross!


----------



## Brenda Carroll

Meredith Sinclair said:


> Buuuuuut have you ever TASTED your own blood? Like you know, from biting your lip or something? I am just wondering if you are askeeered of it if you can't see it.


Of course I have and I didn't say I didn't like it vampire-style, I mean I don't like seeing quarts of my own blood outside my skin.


----------



## Meredith Sinclair

Brendan Carroll said:


> Of course I have and I didn't say I didn't like it vampire-style, I mean I don't like seeing quarts of my own blood outside my skin.


I fear Brendan becoming addicted to blood and stalking his fans that he loves so much!


----------



## sjc

GLAD you all agree with me about the peeling and flicking of the skin thing.  People can be disgusting.


----------



## Susan in VA

sjc said:


> People can be disgusting.


Yep! DD and I went to an amusement park today, and more than once I had to avert my eyes from persons standing ahead of us in line because of something offensive (wide-open-mouth gum chewing, teeth-picking with long nails, three-inch cheek cleavage, sprayed-on clothing on people who... just... shouldn't, filthy toenails, etc.)

To think that when I was in my early teens my nebulous career goals involved "something working with lots of people".  Now I'm happy to deal with people a few at a time, but teeming masses just make me want to become a hermit.


----------



## mlewis78

Susan in VA said:


> Yep! DD and I went to an amusement park today, and more than once I had to avert my eyes from persons standing ahead of us in line because of something offensive (wide-open-mouth gum chewing, teeth-picking with long nails, three-inch cheek cleavage, sprayed-on clothing on people who... just... shouldn't, filthy toenails, etc.)
> 
> To think that when I was in my early teens my nebulous career goals involved "something working with lots of people".  Now I'm happy to deal with people a few at a time, but teeming masses just make me want to become a hermit.


I agree. I didn't have that career goal, but the more I see this disgusting behavior, the more I just think I'd be better off as a recluse.


----------



## frojazz

Okay, I wasn't gonna post this, but after I read the one about peeling and flicking skin, maybe mine isn't so crazy.

I was on an airplane, kindling away, when the older gentleman next to me dug real deep for something in his nose.  I was thinking, "Gross!" and "Doesn't he realize that I have peripheral vision?" when chills ran down my back, and I couldn't move because the third thing through my head was a sudden feeling that he was gonna grab me and smear that finger on me!  Yuck!  OMG.  Sooooo disgusting.


----------



## sjc

*One more NOTE:* Not a Fear or Phobia but a real gross pet peeve:

*I hate it when* a women or man for that matter, wears open toe shoes/sandals and her feet are cracked, crusty, yellow-nailed and unmanicured. Last summer, my husband and I had gone to dinner and I happened to glance across from me: The woman's feet were a living infomercial for UDDER CREAM *as the before usage person!!* That is being kind. If I were to give a detailed description you would vomit; and that topic has already been covered. (Fish scales come to mind)

I had taken one bite of my meal before glancing at her table; the rest of the meal was boxed and brought home. My husband took a look and his meal was boxed immediately as well. The waiter asked us if anything was wrong...we assured him all was ok and left.

FOR THE LOVE OF GOD; *don't people own mirrors??* One other thing...If my mother ever looked like that; I would go over there; soak, scrub, rub, buff, paint, polish and do all that I could. The woman in the restaurant looked perfectly capable and lithe; so, there was no excuse other than *laziness and filth.* My mother is 74 and and practically incapable of bending to tie her own shoes (50 percent lung capacity) and battling cancer to boot: and her feet are smoother than a baby's butt. She uses a long handled brush and a long handled cream applicator.


----------



## mlewis78

sjc said:


> *One more NOTE:* Not a Fear or Phobia but a real gross pet peeve:
> 
> *I hate it when* a women or man for that matter, wears open toe shoes/sandals and her feet are cracked, crusty, yellow-nailed and unmanicured. Last summer, my husband and I had gone to dinner and I happened to glance across from me: The woman's feet were a living infomercial for UDDER CREAM *as the before usage person!!* That is being kind. If I were to give a detailed description you would vomit; and that topic has already been covered. (Fish scales come to mind)
> 
> I had taken one bite of my meal before glancing at her table; the rest of the meal was boxed and brought home. My husband took a look and his meal was boxed immediately as well. The waiter asked us if anything was wrong...we assured him all was ok and left.
> 
> FOR THE LOVE OF GOD; *don't people own mirrors??* One other thing...If my mother ever looked like that; I would go over there; soak, scrub, rub, buff, paint, polish and do all that I could. The woman in the restaurant looked perfectly capable and lithe; so, there was no excuse other than *laziness and filth.* My mother is 74 and and practically incapable of bending to tie her own shoes (50 percent lung capacity) and battling cancer to boot: and her feet are smoother than a baby's butt. She uses a long handled brush and a long handled cream applicator.


They should wear sneakers or other closed shoes if they don't want to groom themselves properly, but it sounds as if they are oblivious to the problem.


----------



## sjc

mlewis:  I couldn't agree more.  Closed shoe/sneaker for those crusty folks.  That being said, I believe being oblivious is part of the problem...don't be oblivious to your own body.  

PS...any luck in the job search department?...You are in my thoughts.


----------



## mlewis78

sjc said:


> mlewis: I couldn't agree more. Closed shoe/sneaker for those crusty folks. That being said, I believe being oblivious is part of the problem...don't be oblivious to your own body.
> 
> PS...any luck in the job search department?...You are in my thoughts.


Thanks. That was just a few days ago that I posted here about my loss of job, so no, nothing yet, but I will be patient during the summer. Thanks for starting the other thread about job postings. I appreciate it. I'm registered with one agency and will do more end of Aug. or beginning of September and will probably temp then. The last time I did temp work was in 1977!


----------



## sjc

> The last time I did temp work was in 1977!


Was John Travolta standing in the temp line wearing a white three piece suit?


----------



## mlewis78

sjc said:


> Was John Travolta standing in the temp line wearing a white three piece suit?


I think that '77 was the year that *Saturday Night Fever* was in theaters.  That was back in the day of typewriters (IBM Selectrics usually).


----------



## sjc

> I think that '77 was the year that Saturday Night Fever was in theaters


Exactly what I was hinting at.


> IBM Selectrics usually


Mine is in the basement and boy is it heavy!!


----------



## Susan in VA

mlewis78 said:


> I think that '77 was the year that *Saturday Night Fever* was in theaters. That was back in the day of typewriters (IBM Selectrics usually).


That sounds like ancient history... and yet I graduated from high school in '77.


----------



## mlewis78

sjc said:


> Exactly what I was hinting at.Mine is in the basement and boy is it heavy!!


OK, sorry I didn't get that before. LOL. I never owned a typewriter. I had my eye on some small ones for a while. On my very first job in '75, I worked in an apartment where I had the servant's quarters for an office and a red Selectric.


----------



## mlewis78

Susan in VA said:


> That sounds like ancient history... and yet I graduated from high school in '77.


Aww, I graduated in 1969. Then 1973 for Bachelor's and 1975 for Masters (both in music).

'77 was an interesting year -- we had a blackout on July 13th, I moved into this apartment, it was the summer of Son of Sam, and Saturday Night Fever was in theaters (don't remember the month of release).


----------



## Susan in VA

What made the blackout so significant that you remember the date more than 30 years later?  Unless it's too personal to share, of course.


----------



## sjc

73: We were so cool; we had a station wagon with wood paneled strips running along the sides across the doors. We packed that thing solid for trips to the drive in movies.

In keeping with the thread: *Fear*, my brother driving (no license) it when my parents weren't home. Boy did he get in trouble when he got caught.


----------



## Brenda Carroll

sjc said:


> 73: We were so cool; we had a station wagon with wood paneled strips running along the sides across the doors. We packed that thing solid for trips to the drive in movies.
> 
> In keeping with the thread: *Fear*, my brother driving (no license) it when my parents weren't home. Boy did he get in trouble when he got caught.


Ahhh, 1973. 1967 Chevy Impala, 390, gas guzzling, but who cared then? That thing would go... really... really... fast. A year later I was driving a 1965 Mustang classic until it's engine blew.

I have a fear of dark, starless, moonless nights in the middle of nowhere in South Carolina with a blown engine and not being able to see my hand in front of my face. Now that was scary! Finally got a ride with a freak driving a beat-up Triumph... remember those? Never thought I'd see home again.


----------



## sjc

Aaah the 70's...getting in a car with a stranger, leaving the house unlocked, walking home from school unattended, sharing a drink in a club...NOT TODAY.

Fear:  My kids doing any of the above. (even at 19 and 21)


----------



## drenee

mice.

deb


----------



## kevindorsey

drenee said:


> mice.
> 
> deb


I never understood this one. Rats may be, but mice?


----------



## frojazz

They are enough to make an elephant cringe...

I think it is the whole darting and scurrying thing.  They are not very predictable in their flight pattern!  LoL


----------



## Brenda Carroll

frojazz said:


> They are enough to make an elephant cringe...
> 
> I think it is the whole darting and scurrying thing. They are not very predictable in their flight pattern! LoL


This is probably the answer. I, myself, am afraid of furry creatures that are unpredictable in their flight patterns... namely bears. I'm afraid of bears.


----------



## mlewis78

I understand about mice, even though they won't harm a person.  I grew up living in an old house.  In the winter, once in a great while, I'd see one.  It just didn't belong there, quickly appearing out of nowhere, darting around, scratching in the wall.  Creepy.  We should have had cats then.


----------



## drenee

kevindorsey said:


> I never understood this one. Rats may be, but mice?


Well, rats also, but I rarely, if ever, encounter rats. In fact, maybe only once in my lifetime. And to be honest, I don't think I actually saw them. I think my aunt saw them and hurried us along and then told us later. 
But the mice thing, it comes from my mom. Her brother put a live mouse down her overalls when she was younger. I know she didn't mean to pass the fear along to me, but she did. I did not want to pass it along to my kids, so whenever I would see one I would chant they are one of God's creatures, they are one of God's creatures, while I was climbing onto the nearest countertop. 
deb


----------



## drenee

Brendan Carroll said:


> This is probably the answer. I, myself, am afraid of furry creatures that are unpredictable in their flight patterns... namely bears. I'm afraid of bears.


For the most part, bears can't crawl up your leg. 
deb


----------



## Brenda Carroll

drenee said:


> For the most part, bears can't crawl up your leg.
> deb


Perhaps not, but mice can't tear off your leg and make a snack out of it either. Do you realize how hard it would be to run with only one leg?  Mice, I can handle... bears... not so much.


----------



## drenee

Brendan, you got me there.  
deb


----------



## Brenda Carroll

Seriously, Drenee, I've always been afraid of two things that I remember quite well from around the age of five or so and those were bears and clowns. I tried watching _Gentle Ben _ for therapy, didn't work. Tried _Jeremiah Johnson_, still no go. Now I did love Red Skelton's _Freddie the Freeloader_ and I do love very much_ Cirque du Soleil (msp?)_, but regular Bozos? No way! I'm thinking that my fear of bears comes from an early childhood story I heard again and again about Boog-a-bears under my bed if I was bad.  The clown thing? I don't know, but just when I was about to get over it, Stephen King's_ It _ came out and then I got my current job!! Working with Bozos on a regular basis makes you afraid... really, really afraid!


----------



## drenee

I'm also afraid of dogs.  I was chased and bit as a small child.  My boyfriend has an Australian Shephard he recused.  One of his sisters has a lab that she recused.  His other sister has some large dog whose name escapes me right now.  These dogs have been very good at helping me with that fear.  But when other dogs show up at the lake that I'm not familiar with I tend to hide inside.  

The mice fear; I've tried to do the same "therapy," telling myself it's okay, they've very teeny, they kind of look like chipmunks, which I love, cartoon and otherwise.  But to no avail.  I have been known to pack up and move to my mom's until a suspected mouse has been eradicated.
deb


----------



## Brenda Carroll

drenee said:


> I'm also afraid of dogs, Miss Deb. I was chased and bit as a small child. My boyfriend has an Australian Shephard he recused. One of his sisters has a lab that she recused. His other sister has some large dog whose name escapes me right now. These dogs have been very good at helping me with that fear. But when other dogs show up at the lake that I'm not familiar with I tend to hide inside.


I know about strange dog fear. I went to a friend's house one night and walked into his garage and knocked on the door. No one answered and he was supposed to be waiting for me. So I turn around and there are two doberman's standing behind me, growling. So I had to make friends with them in order to get back to the gate and outside to my car. When I got back in the car and recovered from the stroke somewhat, I discovered I was at the house next door!!!


----------



## drenee

Holy cow, I would have fainted dead away.  
deb


----------



## Brenda Carroll

drenee said:


> Holy cow, I would have fainted dead away.
> deb


It was classic: "Nice doggies, nice doggies," and then black spots in front of the eyes and heart racing, pounding in my ears. Dogs licking hands, waiting for the bone to crunch...


----------



## drenee

On July 4th there was a picnic at the cabin at the lake at my boyfriend's house.  He asked everyone to keep their dog on a leash.  Needless to say, not everyone listened and there was a Great Dane and some other large puppy, untrained, running around.  The puppy spent the day snatching food out of the little kids' hands.  I was so po'd about it.  I said on more than one occasion that those are the kind of things that make kids afraid of dogs.  I mean, a 3-year-old is not tall enough to keep food away from an untrained dog.  I'm sure people left thinking I was anal and a royal pain, but oh well.  
deb


----------



## Aravis60

I volunteer at a local museum and yesterday we had a large rottweiler wander into our museum when a group opened the door. I was standing behind the counter in the gift shop and the dog just wandered in and come over to me. Now, I had heard that this dog had been hanging around and that he belonged to a local family and that he was harmless. BUT he was really big. So I had to try to herd the reluctant dog out of the museum. I didn't want to touch it or make it mad because it was a huge dog and you never know what might happen, but eventually I got it to go outside. Then I hastily shut the door and watched it on the security camera until it went away so that I wouldn't end up surprised again.


----------



## Meredith Sinclair

drenee said:


> On July 4th there was a picnic at the cabin at the lake at my boyfriend's house. He asked everyone to keep their dog on a leash. Needless to say, not everyone listened and there was a Great Dane and some other large puppy, untrained, running around. The puppy spent the day snatching food out of the little kids' hands. I was so po'd about it. I said on more than one occasion that those are the kind of things that make kids afraid of dogs. I mean, a 3-year-old is not tall enough to keep food away from an untrained dog. I'm sure people left thinking I was anal and a royal pain, but oh well.
> deb


That is ridiculous! I am


Spoiler



an*l


 as well, when it comes to kids... people just don't THINK about what things "mold" a child. Whether you are trying to are not, your actions as an adult make a profound difference in a child's life.... FOREVER!


----------



## drenee

The owner of the puppy had the nerve to say "he's just a puppy; the kids need to stay inside; I can't train him in one day."  I was so freakin mad.  Finally, after I made a bit of a scene, they tied the dog to a tree so it couldn't run free.  
If the dog had been on their property then I might have been more tolerant.  But they were guests who just decided to bring their dog.  I don't believe the dog had a formal invitation.  
deb


----------



## Brenda Carroll

Meredith Sinclair said:


> That is ridiculous! I am
> 
> 
> Spoiler
> 
> 
> 
> an*l
> 
> 
> as well, when it comes to kids... people just don't THINK about what things "mold" a child. Whether you are trying to are not, your actions as an adult make a profound difference in a child's life.... FOREVER!


I have a fear of being moldy myself. I didn't know that you thought kids should be moldy, Miss Merry, especially profound mold... Forever! Maybe that's why I'm afraid of slime mold that seem to have some kind of collective consciousness that allows them to shapeshape and move out like a little army when the food is gone and the water dries up.. YUCK!!!


----------



## sjc

re:  the mice thing.
This goes for hamsters too...
I can only tolerate brown or black eyed ones.  Red eyes...no way, I totally get the creeps.  Anything with red eyes sort of freaks me out.

I HHHHHHHHAAAAAAAATE pigeons.


----------



## Brenda Carroll

sjc said:


> re: the mice thing.
> This goes for hamsters too...
> I can only tolerate brown or black eyed ones. Red eyes...no way, I totally get the creeps. Anything with red eyes sort of freaks me out.
> 
> I HHHHHHHHAAAAAAAATE pigeons.


I can speak to this. I love hamsters, but I do not like anything with red eyes. I guess it's too much associated with evil, like demons and mean, horrible creatures. I like to use yellow eyes for my evilness. 
But pigeons? I'm fascinated how there can be some many different colors in a single group.


----------



## mlewis78

I didn't know that any mammals had red eyes, and mice in particular.  Are you referring to the red eyes from photo flash?

I've never been close enough to a mouse to notice eye color.


----------



## Cindy416

mlewis78 said:


> I didn't know that any mammals had red eyes, and mice in particular. Are you referring to the red eyes from photo flash?
> 
> I've never been close enough to a mouse to notice eye color.


Albinos often have red (or more specifically, pink) eyes, and there can, of course, be mammals that are albinos, so I guess that would clarify it for you. (Until I did some reading up on the subject for this reply, I was under the impression that all abinos have red/pink eyes, but that's not the case. Many do not, in fact.)


----------



## NogDog

The laboratory rat is an albino rat bred from the Norwegian brown rat, so the stereotypical white lab rat has red/pink eyes.


----------



## Meredith Sinclair

NogDog said:


> The laboratory rat is an albino rat bred from the Norwegian brown rat, so the stereotypical white lab rat has red/pink eyes.


I raised one of those little guys from the time it was born... all pink and then with a fine white fuzz all over "him" and when school let out for summer, I got to take "Randy" home it was not long until I had to change the name on "his" cage to "Randi"... yep, she had a BUNCH of babies! She used to sit on my shoulder and look at the book I was reading... Ya think she wanted to chew it up for bedding?


----------



## sjc

My kids had a pet hamster once; and it got under the radiator and went up inside our walls.  We could hear it running about in the wall.  We had to coax it out with food.  Next day gave pet, cage, food, whole kit and kaboodle to a friend.


----------



## Meredith Sinclair

sjc said:


> My kids had a pet hamster once; and it got under the radiator and went up inside our walls. We could hear it running about in the wall. We had to coax it out with food. Next day gave pet, cage, food, whole kit and kaboodle to a friend.


Understandable! I liked Randi in her cage or on my shoulder... never wanted her out on our floors! I woulda freaked had Randi got out and crawled inside our walls... or worse... in my bed!


----------



## NogDog

Meredith Sinclair said:


> I raised one of those little guys from the time it was born... all pink and then with a fine white fuzz all over "him" and when school let out for summer, I got to take "Randy" home it was not long until I had to change the name on "his" cage to "Randi"... yep, she had a BUNCH of babies! She used to sit on my shoulder and look at the book I was reading... Ya think she wanted to chew it up for bedding?


Sounds like the frog I dissected in HS Biology: my lab partner and I named him Ferdinand, but had to scratch it out on his ankle tag and change it to Isabella after we opened "him" up and found "him" to be full of eggs.


----------



## Meredith Sinclair

NogDog said:


> Sounds like the frog I dissected in HS Biology: my lab partner and named him Ferdinand, but had to scratch it out on his ankle tag and change it to Isabella after we opened "him" up and found "him" to be full of eggs.


----------



## sjc

7th Grade science lab:  I couldn't do the frog thing; made my lab partner Tammy do all the slicing and dicing. Seems like yesterday...but it was 31 years ago!!!


----------



## LCEvans

High school biology--the dead animals were horrible enough. But the smell!


----------



## mlewis78

LCEvans said:


> High school biology--the dead animals were horrible enough. But the smell!


I vividly remember the odor of formaldihyde when we disected the frog.


----------



## Meredith Sinclair

sjc said:


> 7th Grade science lab: I couldn't do the frog thing; made my lab partner Tammy do all the slicing and dicing. Seems like yesterday...but it was 31 years ago!!!


Seventh grade we (Judy and I... she was my BFF)dissected "Croaker" and 9th grade we dissected a piglet ours was NOT pink like everyone else's ours had black spots and my lab partner Angela named him after the pig in a scary book like "Jody" I want to say it was Amityville Horror... not sure that was over twenty years ago... Then in 10th grade we went to Baylor School of Medicine and saw the real deal just like on "Fast Times at Ridgemont High" (was that the name?) the smell caused one girl to have a severe asthma attack and on the way back to school on the bus I will never forget trying to eat a Watermelon "Blow-Pop" and I could not get the formaldehyde out of my mouth and nose and had to throw that sucker out the bus window before I got sick!


----------



## Susan in VA

We did a worm in sixth grade, and I had to leave the room because I was about to


Spoiler



throw up.


 I had asked to be excused and the idiotic teacher accused me of faking it and threatened to fail me for that section if I left. So I waited as long as I could, and then bolted. I must've looked pretty green, so he gave me a D for that section but didn't actually fail me.

Then the next year, when it was time for frogs, my father wrote a letter to the school asking them to excuse me from the assignment, and I went to the school library instead of biology class every day for a week. Problem was, biology class was right before lunch, and my dear classmates would smuggle frog parts out of the lab and then gleefully wave them around during lunch.... 

Nowadays they have detailed videos for that, so there's no more reason to make every single kid go through the procedure all over again.


----------



## mlewis78

When I was in 8th grade preparing for high school courses, I was so fearful about taking biology because of my fear of reptiles.  For this reason, my narrow little mind at the time didn't want to be in college prep.  My parents overruled me, so I took biology and aced it. I can't say the same for some of my other courses, but I did go on to higher education.


----------



## koolmnbv

Just saw this

http://omg.yahoo.com/news/celebrity-phobias-and-obsessions/25369?nc


----------



## sjc

> Just saw this
> 
> http://omg.yahoo.com/news/celebrity-phobias-and-obsessions/25369?nc


Tell those celebs...we've already covered most of that.
Fear of clowns...been there done that.
Flying..."Whoopie" literally...lol.


----------



## koolmnbv

sjc said:


> Tell those celebs...we've already covered most of that.
> Fear of clowns...been there done that.
> Flying..."Whoopie" literally...lol.


Haha we have much stranger fears here.


----------



## koolmnbv

OR  maybe I should have been politically correct and said "more unique fears" over here!


----------



## sjc

> Re: FEARS and PHOBIAS: What are yours?


Getting caught at work posting on this thread...lol.


----------



## luvmy4brats

We homeschool and this year my daughter is taking courses online and via correspondence. She's taking biology and I have all the dissection specimens out in my garage. Yuck! I won't let her bring them in the house and her dad is going to have to be the one to teach her that part.


----------



## Brenda Carroll

luvmy4brats said:


> We homeschool and this year my daughter is taking courses online and via correspondence. She's taking biology and I have all the dissection specimens out in my garage. Yuck! I won't let her bring them in the house and her dad is going to have to be the one to teach her that part.


That is just too funny, Ms. Luvmyetc. You've taken on quite an admirable chore. Do you think DH will be able to pull it off?


----------



## luvmy4brats

Brendan Carroll said:


> That is just too funny, Ms. Luvmyetc. You've taken on quite an admirable chore. Do you think DH will be able to pull it off?


Oh yes. He's the type who likes to watch his own knee surgery.


----------



## sjc

eeewww...Luv? lol.


----------



## koolmnbv

luvmy4brats said:


> Oh yes. He's the type who likes to watch his own knee surgery.


Oh no! Ouch, somethings are better left unseen.


----------



## sjc

OK:  Here's a good weird fear/phobia...
We were at a family function Sunday and we were all barefoot; hanging out in my father's yard.  My cousin's wife had her shoes on.  I told her to take her shoes off and kick back, relax.  She told me she hasn't walked barefoot in grass since she was a little girl.  She hates the feel under her feet.  She walks barefoot other places, but not the grass.  Hmmmmm.


----------



## Lynn McNamee

My two biggest fears (borderline phobias) are:

Rollercoasters
Chainsaws


----------



## sjc

I love roller coasters.
My son loves them
My daughter *refuses* to go on one.

Chainsaws are just plain creepy. So many things can go wrong.


----------



## vikingwarrior22

Mine  snakes  anytype  even the rubber type  they all gotta die! I tell you die!...vw


----------



## LCEvans

I am even more afraid of snakes since I watched the National Geographic Explorer episode about giant pythons and how they can attack and kill people.


----------



## mlewis78

LCEvans said:


> I am even more afraid of snakes since I watched the National Geographic Explorer episode about giant pythons and how they can attack and kill people.


I couldn't have watched that.


----------



## The Atomic Bookworm

I'm an Agoraphobic. Enough said.


----------



## Brenda Carroll

sjc said:


> I love roller coasters.
> My son loves them
> My daughter *refuses* to go on one.
> 
> Chainsaws are just plain creepy. So many things can go wrong.


Chainsaws, bandsaws, tablesaws, jigsaws, lumberjacks and slingblades.


----------



## mlewis78

Handguns and people who use them.


----------



## Susan in VA

Brendan Carroll said:


> Chainsaws, bandsaws, tablesaws, jigsaws, lumberjacks and slingblades.


What, no Swiss Army knives?


----------



## The Atomic Bookworm

mlewis78 said:


> Handguns and people who use them.


Some of us are competitive shooters.

And some of us refuse to shoot anything that remotely resembles something that's alive.

Just sayin'.


----------



## Susan in VA

Lest mlewis's post cause an outcry among the oft-maligned handgun owners/enthusiasts, I thought I'd add another opinion here....

I do realize that people can own and use handguns responsibly.  But all it takes is ONE encounter with somebody who is crazy or seriously unstable who happens to be brandishing a handgun, and a new fear or phobia is born.  
It is possible to fully respect someone's right to own a handgun while at the same time being extremely uncomfortable being in the same room with said firearm.


----------



## mlewis78

I didn't intend this as a political opinion or question anyone's rights.  I'm just afraid of handguns.  I think it's creepy to see a big one on TV when it's pointed at the viewer -- obviously intended to scare.

I was going to add "and people who shoot people", but then I thought of other living things but didn't want to go after any hunters here!


----------



## koolmnbv

LCEvans said:


> I am even more afraid of snakes since I watched the National Geographic Explorer episode about giant pythons and how they can attack and kill people.


Youtube also has some pretty crazy snake videos. It makes me so scared to see how easy they can eat things in one twist snap bite.


----------



## Susan in VA

mlewis78 said:


> I'm just afraid of handguns.


Me too, after an episode as mentioned above.


Spoiler



(Where's that "Dates From Hell" thread when you need it...)


----------



## The Atomic Bookworm

Susan in VA said:


> Lest mlewis's post cause an outcry among the oft-maligned handgun owners/enthusiasts, I thought I'd add another opinion here....
> 
> I do realize that people can own and use handguns responsibly. But all it takes is ONE encounter with somebody who is crazy or seriously unstable who happens to be brandishing a handgun, and a new fear or phobia is born.
> 
> It is possible to fully respect someone's right to own a handgun while at the same time being extremely uncomfortable being in the same room with said firearm.


I wholeheartedly agree with you: there are some people out there who are unstable enough and have guns... they're also the ones who think that hoarding 20K+ bullets is a good idea... which means that ammo is more expensive and us target shooters have a harder time getting some 



mlewis78 said:


> I didn't intend this as a political opinion or question anyone's rights. I'm just afraid of handguns. I think it's creepy to see a big one on TV when it's pointed at the viewer -- obviously intended to scare.


Oh I didn't take it like that at all.. I was just saying that we're not all the same. Still, I agree with you: pointing a gun/rifle/shotgun at a camera is stupid... and I don't care if it's unloaded!


----------



## Brenda Carroll

The Atomic Bookworm said:


> I wholeheartedly agree with you: there are some people out there who are unstable enough and have guns... they're also the ones who think that hoarding 20K+ bullets is a good idea... which means that ammo is more expensive and us target shooters have a harder time getting some


True, it is the mentality behind the trigger finger that makes the difference. I have been a qualified shooter for over twenty years and I've yet to kill anyone... or anything... other than a paper target or a bottle or two. I have to admit that I'm more careful now than I was in my younger days. I like to shoot, there's no other way to put it and my line of work requires the occasional wearing and potential use of a firearm against a human being which gives one a very odd feeling in the pit of the stomach, but these things are necessary unfortunately. I'm not doing an outcry, but instead, I completely agree with Mlewis, I am afraid of people with firearms when I don't know who they are or what they are about. A serious fear that is shared by most everyone, I'm sure.


----------



## mlewis78

OK, I'm going to use this thread to post about something that happened this morning.  Watch out all you with mouse phobias.  I realize after this that I'm not as phobic about them as I was before I had cats, but I wish this hadn't happened . . .

My bio clock is all out of whack and I went to bed about 9:30AM.  I was just on the edge of sleep when I realized that my cat Pumpkin was spending a long time playing right by my side (on top of the sheet) and this is unusual.  I looked at what was going on and there was a dead mouse in a fold of the sheet.  If it were not for all the realistic-looking mouse toys that she has, I probably would have jumped out of my skin.  All I knew was that this was not one of her mouse toys and I wasn't going to study this thing.  Picked it up with a tissue and flushed it down the toilet.  I started to feel shaky after that.

Went back to bed, but the kitty was sniffing all over the top of the sheet where she'd been playing with her mouse.  There was no visible mess, so I didn't change the sheets.  I couldn't go to sleep.  She was also meowing about this.  She was off the bed for a bit, so I thought I'd see where she was, so that I might figure out the source or entryway of that mouse. Never figured it out.  

There has been some pounding of renovation in the building next door at the level of my apartment.  It started up again, so I moved to the living room to sleep.

Haven't seen any more tiny critters yet and hope I won't think about this tonight when I go to sleep.


----------



## Brenda Carroll

I'd much rather have a mouse in the bed with me than a roach!  Here's a story for you:  I was sound asleep at a friend's house one time (in youth) and my arm was under my head so that my hand was touching the wall beside the headboard.  So I wake up because my hand is hurting.  I look up real, slow like a seasoned professional gunslinger... no panic, right?  See what the deal is... and lo and behold!   A three inch roach (nicely called palmetto bug by some) is chewing on my thumb!!!   Needless to say, I rearranged the bedroom on short notice and never slept there again without all lights turned on.


----------



## mlewis78

Brendan Carroll said:


> I'd much rather have a mouse in the bed with me than a roach! Here's a story for you: I was sound asleep at a friend's house one time (in youth) and my arm was under my head so that my hand was touching the wall beside the headboard. So I wake up because my hand is hurting. I look up real, slow like a seasoned professional gunslinger... no panic, right? See what the deal is... and lo and behold!  A three inch roach (nicely called palmetto bug by some) is chewing on my thumb!!!  Needless to say, I rearranged the bedroom on short notice and never slept there again without all lights turned on.


LOL! Haven't seen those in a while, but the smaller ones used to be in the kitchen -- pre-2000.


----------



## Shizu

Roaches will chew your thumb? Wow. I didn't know they'll do that... that is scary.


----------



## Brenda Carroll

Shizu said:


> Roaches will chew your thumb? Wow. I didn't know they'll do that... that is scary.


Unfortunately, the big ones will certainly bite you and what's even worse, they will attack small children in their beds. These are some of the horrors of our less fortunate brothers and sisters who cannot afford proper living quarters. Not to sound like a crusader, but yes. Horrible, horrible.


----------



## Susan in VA

Oh, ugh!! "Normal" roaches are bad enough, but euphemistically-named palmetto bugs are a reason for me not to want to live in the South. (I suppose technically I do, but Northern Virginia is kind of middle-of-the-road in that it seems to be really more of a DC suburb than a part of the rest of Virginia.)

For the first year after coming back to the States I lived in an apartment, and like probably all apartments in this area, it had roaches. Since I got up very early to be at work by six, I'd have to turn on the kitchen and bathroom lights in the morning, and there were invariably a bunch of them scurrying off as soon as the light came on. After about a week I started to sleep with all the lights on. For a year. It was the only way to at least not _see_ them, even though of course I knew they were there.

When I bought my house, I told people that the two best things about home ownership were having my own washing machine (so that I could start a load of laundry and go out or go to bed without having to plan around the timing of the laundry) and not having roaches anymore. (So now I have spiders, a few silverfish, occasionally ants, and occasionally crickets instead. Still waaaay better than roaches.)

Now, when the next 17-year locust cycle comes around, I plan to be out of the country for six weeks. Anyplace where they don't have hundreds of three-inch locusts swarming.


----------



## LCEvans

I live in North Carolina since moving from Florida and we do not have the palmetto bugs here--at least not in my house. I will never again live in South Florida, land o' giant roaches and alligators and now I hear they are being overrun with pythons and giant monitor lizards as well as iguanas. My uncle says the iguanas like to eat the roaches. All I can say is they are not eating fast enough.


----------



## sjc

After reading these posts:  Add roaches and mice to my list.


----------



## sjc

To:  All the fear of flying members...

This morning I drove a relative to the airport and felt so bad for a teen in total fear of getting on the plane.  He was so scared, his knees were knocking.  He looked like he wanted to burst into tears but his teenage ego wouldn't let him.  Poor thing was so worked up. My cousin said he didn't think he ever felt sorrier for a complete stranger.  The dad looked like he was getting angrier by the second.  I wanted to say to the dad, "Do you think the poor kid can help it? He doesn't WANT to feel this way..just ask my fellow posters on the boards"...lol.


----------



## vikingwarrior22

This am as we were getting out of bed we heard a heavy rain on our metal roof then a boom along with a bright flash of light ...being all manly, I promptly unchained and spun the deadbolt on the front door opened it and flung it open to scare the $%e(#^ out of myself with my reflection from the glass in the storm door...oh brave vikingwarrior I am...


----------



## OliviaD

vikingwarrior22 said:


> This am as we were getting out of bed we heard a heavy rain on our metal roof then a boom along with a bright flash of light ...being all manly, I promptly unchained and spun the deadbolt on the front door opened it and flung it open to scare the $%e(#^ out of myself with my reflection from the glass in the storm door...oh brave vikingwarrior I am...


Hello again, Mr. Warrior. How funny you would be here, too. That's very funny. I was going to say that I am terribly afraid of fire. I love to watch fire in a fireplace or fire in a chiminea or fire pit, but out in the open, I'm terrified of fire and being burned. When I see those big forest fires and people still in their homes while hundred foot walls of fire are raging all around them, I'm horrified. I'd be long gone.


----------



## mlewis78

Oh, me too.  I have a fear of fire but don't think about it as much as I used to.  I live in an old walk up building that is combustible -- not fireproof between apartments.  In the early 1990s there often were smoke fires in the basement (I'm on top floor) because there was something wrong with the ancient oil burner.  The problem was solved after it was replaced with a new gas one and having a separate ones for heat and hot water.  We used to lose hot water quite often.


----------



## sjc

I'm not afraid of fire...I don't think...but every single time I light a match, I wet it before throwing the used matchstick away. 

I'll call it a semi fear in lieu of... just being cautious.


----------



## mlewis78

I'm cautious when handling matches and the gas jets on the stove.  When I see someone else handling fire, I'm concerned.  At the candlelight service on Christmas Eve when everyone holds a lit candle, I am concerned.


----------



## koolmnbv

Shizu said:


> Roaches will chew your thumb? Wow. I didn't know they'll do that... that is scary.


That is beyond scary! I can't imagine looking down and see a roach gnawing on my thumb


----------



## Brenda Carroll

mlewis78 said:


> I'm cautious when handling matches and the gas jets on the stove. When I see someone else handling fire, I'm concerned. At the candlelight service on Christmas Eve when everyone holds a lit candle, I am concerned.


There is another religion (whose name I won't mention) that has an even scarier ritual for one of its holidays. They wear a ring around their head with a number of white candles burning on it. When I participated in this particular ceremony, once upon a time, I opted out of wearing a flaming headdress and placed mine on the table in front of me instead. It was amazing how much heat was generated by those candles!!  I am, however, fascinated by those entertainers who twirl and juggle flaming batons, especially in the dark and fireworks. I love a good fireworks show.


----------



## koolmnbv

Brendan Carroll said:


> I am, however, fascinated by those entertainers who twirl and juggle flaming batons, especially in the dark and fireworks. I love a good fireworks show.


My clothing would end up being the fireworks show. Thats why I don't quit my dayjob


----------



## sjc

> and fireworks. I love a good fireworks show.


My cousin and family went to a professional fireworks outing and a low grounder landed on her son. Dad grabbed him and jumped into a nearby body of water. He suffered severe burns to his face and has had several surgeries. He looks very good now; one can just about see the burn scars. I don't think they have been to a fireworks show since and that was about 18-20 years ago.


----------



## Brenda Carroll

I had a couple of bad burns myself and none of them were fun, but the more I read this thread, the more things I realize are fears and phobias that I didn't realize I had.  Like I'm afraid of politicians who claim they know 'WHAT IS BEST FOR ME'.


----------



## koolmnbv

Sjc that sounds traumatizing. I couldnt imagine that happening at a show. Truly terrifying.


----------



## sjc

It just proves that you never know.  Most people go to an event to have a good time and something like that is the furthest thing from their minds.


----------



## OliviaD

Strangely enough, I have a fear of four wheelers.  It feels like they are going to flip over any moment especially if I'm riding behind someone else.  But motorcycles do not frighten me so much even though I've taken a couple of spills that put some serious burns on my feet and legs against the muffler.


----------



## Brenda Carroll

I don't like four wheeler's.  I think they're as dangerous as three wheelers.  My great nephew was killed on one.  But motorcycles, I'm only afraid when I'm the passenger... never again!!


----------



## Aravis60

Beryl said:


> Strangely enough, I have a fear of four wheelers. It feels like they are going to flip over any moment especially if I'm riding behind someone else. But motorcycles do not frighten me so much even though I've taken a couple of spills that put some serious burns on my feet and legs against the muffler. Beryl


I'm the opposite. Four wheelers don't bother me but motorcycles scare me to death. Maybe it's because I did a lot of four wheeler riding when I was younger but didn't ride a motorcycle until I was in my 20s.


----------



## sjc

HUGE ONE OF LATE given these economic times and the unemployment rates everywhere:

IDENTITY THEFT
CREDIT CARD FRAUD
SCAMS


----------



## OliviaD

sjc said:


> To: All the fear of flying members...
> 
> This morning I drove a relative to the airport and felt so bad for a teen in total fear of getting on the plane. He was so scared, his knees were knocking. He looked like he wanted to burst into tears but his teenage ego wouldn't let him. Poor thing was so worked up. My cousin said he didn't think he ever felt sorrier for a complete stranger. The dad looked like he was getting angrier by the second. I wanted to say to the dad, "Do you think the poor kid can help it? He doesn't WANT to feel this way..just ask my fellow posters on the boards"...lol.


I'm not so much afraid of flying, I'm afraid of crashing onto a desert Island and having a horrible black cloud creature come out of the woods and eat me! Ha! Ha! I don't mind flying on 747's and larger, but it's the little planes that get to me... and helicopters!


----------



## Meredith Sinclair

This thread was a LOT of fun during the summertime. I decided to start bringing these fun old threads back to the surface every Saturday... I get to do more KBing on Saturdays... Soooo... What's your fears... and phobias?


----------



## Dana

I'm not fond of heights or snakes or dark alleys.........  :::shudder:::


----------



## sjc

Wow...I haven't seen this thread in a while.  I really enjoyed this thread.  I felt it taught us a lot about how people are similar.  We all have fears...many in common, others not so.  

My nephew has an odd one:  He is petrified of pine cones!!  If you pick one up and put it near him he gets all wigged out.  Perhaps he'll outgrow it.  He goes camping often, maybe the older kids had a hand in what he is afraid of.


----------



## Alle Meine Entchen

My fears are very plain:  heights (Dh laughed @ me when we were dating for freaking out on the ferris wheel, but hasn't given me grief since)

Cave crickets (or any type of cricket really) we get them in the winter time and DH does laugh when I tell him about my "battles" w/ them (as in, "one totally jumped closer to me, but I was able to kill it").  I call them mutant spider crickets (oddly enough, spiders don't bug me provided they stay in their space)

mice, but I think that's just b/c of the stigma of poorly upkept house and bugs/mice problem.  My mouse problem is I live in an old house that is warm in the winter and has holes that are easy to slip into when their cold.  DH does laugh when I see one b/c I do the sterotypical housewifely thing of standing on a chair and screaming, but my mom does the same thing, so it's genetic.


----------



## Sariy

Ok I finally thought of one.  I play this online game and in this game there is an invisible bridge that we used to have to cross to get to a monster to kill.  To this day I can't cross it.  I make my DH turn around and do it for me.  In real life I'm not afraid of heights but in this stupid game I am.  It makes me sick to my stomach.


----------



## Margaret

I am afraid of any amusement park ride where my feet are dangling.  I can take spinning, turning upside down, almost anything as long as my feet are enclosed, but I panic on an ordinary ferris wheel.


----------



## Winter9

Milk and wet bread.....

Yeah, I know...It's true. I find milk, on my hands, the smell... disgusting... and wet bread..................


----------



## loca

BATS...


----------



## Brenda Carroll

Winter9 said:


> Milk and wet bread.....
> 
> Yeah, I know...It's true. I find milk, on my hands, the smell... disgusting... and wet bread..................


How about bread wet with milk? I went to a Halloween party when I was about 14 and they had a haunted house thing. We had to take off our shoes and walk through some stuff wearing blindfolds while our guides told us what we were walking through. Well, there was this horrible ***** junk squishing up between my toes and they said we were walking through dead bodies in the cemetary. Well, afterwards, I went back and found out that the 'cadavers' were loaves of bread soaked in milk inside wooden boxes!!! Ahhhgggghhh! I share your pain and fear.


----------



## mlewis78

Brendan Carroll said:


> How about bread wet with milk? I went to a Halloween party when I was about 14 and they had a haunted house thing. We had to take off our shoes and walk through some stuff wearing blindfolds while our guides told us what we were walking through. Well, there was this horrible ***** junk squishing up between my toes and they said we were walking through dead bodies in the cemetary. Well, afterwards, I went back and found out that the 'cadavers' were loaves of bread soaked in milk inside wooden boxes!!! Ahhhgggghhh! I share your pain and fear.


Can't stop laughing at this.


----------



## Winter9

Brendan Carroll said:


> How about bread wet with milk? I went to a Halloween party when I was about 14 and they had a haunted house thing. We had to take off our shoes and walk through some stuff wearing blindfolds while our guides told us what we were walking through. Well, there was this horrible ***** junk squishing up between my toes and they said we were walking through dead bodies in the cemetary. Well, afterwards, I went back and found out that the 'cadavers' were loaves of bread soaked in milk inside wooden boxes!!! Ahhhgggghhh! I share your pain and fear.


ugh.....


----------



## cheerio

small spaces


----------



## The Hooded Claw

I don't think I'd seen this thread!

When I was less than two years old, I had an accident in the bathtub that scared the wits out of me--I don't even remember it, but I do remember that in my childhood years, I couldn't swim, and would start to freak out (rapid breathing, clenched fists) if I got into water over my belly button (purely psychological thing).  In high school I forced myself to learn to swim, and now I even snorkel for fun when I vacation someplace with good snorkeling!  So that phobia is over with.

Only thing I have left is that I dislike sharp knives.  Not really phobic, but I do not like them.  Mostly if someone else has them and is moving them around in anything in other than a very controlled manner.  I don't mind having one in my own hands.


----------



## sjc

This week:  It's fear of planning a 25th Wedding Anniversary Trip; and not having it turn out well.  I've been on trips in the past, where we make the Griswalds look like world travelers.  Once we went to Disney with two small kids...it poured buckets 8 out of the 10 days we were there (and I mean poured!!) and the 2nd day in; youngest got an ear infection.  Talk about opening the window and throwing the money away!!  I fear booking trips now.


----------



## Alle Meine Entchen

my in laws just got a puppy who is afraid of the dark.


----------



## Brenda Carroll

The Hooded Claw said:


> ...
> Only thing I have left is that I dislike sharp knives. Not really phobic, but I do not like them. Mostly if someone else has them and is moving them around in anything in other than a very controlled manner. I don't mind having one in my own hands.


I don't like knives in other people's hands much either. I've seen the damage that I can inflict on myself with them, so I can imagine what someone else might do and when I hear of people getting stabbed, it's almost like I can feel it momentarily. Eerrrk!


----------



## farrellclaire

I have a panic attack inducing fear of blood tests.  Even writing that has made me sweat...


----------



## R. M. Reed

I thought I didn't have anything to add to this thread, but then I thought of something. I spent 6th, 7th, and 8th grades being bullied every day at school. When one of them sat behind me he (they were all guys) poked me with pencils and fingers. That was many years ago, but I hate it when someone is close behind me and I can't see what he or she is doing. I have never had a massage or back rub because, no matter how much I tell myself it's harmless, on the level of my nerve endings I think the person behind me is going to hurt me.


----------



## Meredith Sinclair

R. Reed said:


> I thought I didn't have anything to add to this thread, but then I thought of something. I spent 6th, 7th, and 8th grades being bullied every day at school. When one of them sat behind me he (they were all guys) poked me with pencils and fingers. That was many years ago, but I hate it when someone is close behind me and I can't see what he or she is doing. I have never had a massage or back rub because, no matter how much I tell myself it's harmless, on the level of my nerve endings I think the person behind me is going to hurt me.


Wow, that is bad, because a good massage can relax you... now that I read this I remember something that is not really a fear but more something that causes me panic attacks for some reason. I can not be rubbed at all! Not even on the top of my head... I freak out. I also have the same heart racing sweaty feeling when I hear water/liquid being poured slowly... like a fast dripping or like slowly pouring water into a glass. Fast pouring is OK, like waterfalls. I have to fill my bath tub with it running full blast. I totally get creeped out and I can not remember when the two feelings of uneasiness started... 
Edited to add when I re-read my post, I started getting that feeling and had to stop reading because I could almost hear the sound in my head!


----------



## Susan in VA

R. Reed said:


> I thought I didn't have anything to add to this thread, but then I thought of something. I spent 6th, 7th, and 8th grades being bullied every day at school. When one of them sat behind me he (they were all guys) poked me with pencils and fingers. That was many years ago, but I hate it when someone is close behind me and I can't see what he or she is doing. I have never had a massage or back rub because, no matter how much I tell myself it's harmless, on the level of my nerve endings I think the person behind me is going to hurt me.


You might try asking for a limited massage, just a half-hour session -- tell them you want to stay on your back, so you can see the therapist (tell them why), and let him/her work on your feet and hands only. That might help reduce the anxiety.


----------



## sjc

R. Reed said:


> I thought I didn't have anything to add to this thread, but then I thought of something. I spent 6th, 7th, and 8th grades being bullied every day at school. When one of them sat behind me he (they were all guys) poked me with pencils and fingers. That was many years ago, but I hate it when someone is close behind me and I can't see what he or she is doing. I have never had a massage or back rub because, no matter how much I tell myself it's harmless, on the level of my nerve endings I think the person behind me is going to hurt me.


Bullies...I hated junior high for similar reasons. Kids can be so cruel.


----------



## Hoosiermama

SPIDERS. I was bit by a brown recluse years ago, and six weeks of agony (and to this day a big HOLE  and numbness where it bit me). I missed weeks of work (I couldn't sit down--guess where it bit me) 

*Shudder*


----------



## sjc

Pamela Anderson competing on Dancing with the Stars.  
She's going to give herself two black eyes dancing with those things; or worse, injure her partner.


----------



## JennaAnderson

R. Reed said:


> I thought I didn't have anything to add to this thread, but then I thought of something. I spent 6th, 7th, and 8th grades being bullied every day at school. When one of them sat behind me he (they were all guys) poked me with pencils and fingers. That was many years ago, but I hate it when someone is close behind me and I can't see what he or she is doing. I have never had a massage or back rub because, no matter how much I tell myself it's harmless, on the level of my nerve endings I think the person behind me is going to hurt me.


Oh - R. Reed - sorry to hear that. My workplace has a great bullying prevention website. I hope it helps some kids. People say bullying is harmless but so many of us know it's not. http://www.pacerteensagainstbullying.org/

I told the people they should put this song up on the site: (warning, sad) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_g5ZaV7ueAs

My phobias are germs and glitter. I hate glitter.


----------



## Meredith Sinclair

OK, I had to bring up this old thread because it seems it needs to be BUMPED!


----------



## Neo

Cockroaches. I want to say that the big, flying ones are worse, but they are ALL worse  . I can deal with mice, rats, tarantulas, snakes, etc., but can't deal with a harmless cockroach, no matter how much I rationalize it


----------



## sjc

New Fears for me:

Son graduated college:  Will he find a good job?
The loans will now be due:  Can we handle it all (and the mortgage)?
He has been belligerent...Will I survive ?
I am going away for our 25th wedding anniversary (first time without the kids, 22 and 20) will I have a house to come home to?


----------



## sillyolebear

I fear 

close spaces,

spiders,

mice, 

driving next to a truck when there is also a wall on your other side, 

the thought of my 15 year old dating soon ( sooo gald he is a late bloomer, I am hoping for like 30 when he starts blooming   )

what is going to happen when my husband retires from the military in less then 3 years


----------



## mlewis78

Interviews and Tests for Jobs, but I'm doing them anyway.


----------



## jesscscott

The thought of any type of surgery (especially to do with the eyes). I don't know, I've just never been comfortable with invasive surgery (though I must say that the oral maxillofacial surgeon who removed my four impacted wisdom teeth was THE best).

Spiders > surgery, anytime!


----------



## caracara

pidgeon92 said:


> Swimming..... Showers, baths, shallow pools don't bother me, but I have to feel the surface under my feet or I panic.
> 
> Spiders.... The little buggers scare the bejeezzus out of me.


Spiders I agree 100% with, I keep seeing tarantulas outside, luckily I've been in the car so I have yet to run away

Swimming I do not get, I love the water, especially when it is deep and has fish!


----------



## LCEvans

> Cockroaches. I want to say that the big, flying ones are worse, but they are ALL worse . I can deal with mice, rats, tarantulas, snakes, etc., but can't deal with a harmless cockroach, no matter how much I rationalize it


I soooo agree with you and I posted some roach horror tales on this thread months ago. I grew up in Southwest Florida and that area is overrun with huge flying cockroaches--yet another reason to be thankful I now live in North Carolina where I rarely see cockroaches. By the way, I don't consider them harmless. They will eat your food and contaminate it with filth and they will bite, too.


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## ◄ Jess ►

Slugs. 

I don't know why I find them so terrifying, but they really really creep me out. Snails are fine and I love all other creepy crawlies (well, mostly), but ugggh, I hate slugs. I remember being like 4 or 5 years old and getting my friends to remove a slug from the patio because it was too scary to play out there with it oozing around. *shivers*


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## bookoffers

List of Fears and Phobias:

Algophobia- Fear of pain
Alliumphobia- Fear of garlic
Allodoxaphobia- Fear of opinions
Altophobia- Fear of heights
Amathophobia- Fear of dust
Amaxophobia- Fear of riding in a car
Belonephobia- Fear of pins and needles
Bibliophobia- Fear of books
Blennophobia- Fear of slime
Chorophobia- Fear of dancing
Chrometophobia or Chrematophobia- Fear of money
Chromophobia or Chromatophobia- Fear of colors
Chronophobia- Fear of time
Chronomentrophobia- Fear of clocks


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## Susan in VA

You left out ailurophobia.  Not that I would know anything about that.


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## sjc

I found someone who has a new fear/phobia:  (Gosh, I haven't posted on this thread in ages)

Sidewalks.  A woman had fallen years ago because of a raised portion of a sidewalk and has always walked in the street itself or on the grass and doesn't give a hoot whose lawn it is.

I guess she got banged up pretty bad; including teeth.


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## sheiler1963

My one real phobia is amaxaphobia- fear of riding in cars and this includes any moving vehicle that I'm not in control of. I will not ride merry-go-rounds, ferris wheels etc. I've been known to have actual panic attacks when compelled to do so. In fact I once had a surgery in which I refused to be put under because I would not be able to drive myself home. I was awake and alert during the whole thing and chatting with the DR and staff. Oddly enough I LOVE flying and the take off and the landing are my favorite parts.

I'm not a fan of heights and get a tad disoriented at first, but once I get my legs under me I'm OK. 
Spiders creep me out, but I can suck it up.


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## tomato88

There is only one thing I fear about: insects. As I see them, even dead ones, I think my brain just panics and transmits the signal of those little creatures crawling up my skin. I have no fear of blood, injection needles -- I even stare at the needle out of curiosity as I'm given a flu shot, speed, or height, but I just can't deal with insects!


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