Irrational Fears

**THL** · 18 Oct 05,, 03:00

So what are you all afraid of to the point that it affects your life on a near daily basis or to the point that you have had to make changes in your life to accomodate this fear?

I ask this because my ex-husband just left my apartment. There was a bug. It was HUGE! A HUGE Black Beetle Bug! It was more than an inch long. I trapped it under a cup and called him. When he refused to come over, I called my step father (who lives a half an hour away). My ex called back a few minutes later and said to call my step father back and that he would just come over himself since he only lives 10 minutes away. This is not the 1st time that I have had to call him for this-spiders, and once there was a centipede.

The bug is now in a big plastic ziplock bag taped to the door of the management office so they know it was here and maybe can keep others like it away. My ex thinks that they are going to question my sanity...whatever. They did not have to encounter this giant beetle with only 2 cats and a 3 year old as back up.

Snakes, lizards, any type of dog or furry creature - I got it covered. But bugs...I literally start to panic, my heart races, I am immediately on the verge of tears, I sweat. I even called TopHat one night (he was in FL-I am in Chicago, 1300 miles away) because there was a spider in my kitchen. In my own defense, it was a big spider.

My heart is still racing.

**Selective** · 18 Oct 05,, 04:43

lol that made me laugh. They say face your fear to overcome it. I hate spiders, never liked em, in PNG, Timor & Qld i saw lots of big juicy ones with real bad attitudes. ... now I hate and fear them. A spider in my house is a dead spider!!

**bonehead** · 18 Oct 05,, 07:10

I remember those beatles that had pinchers when I was a kid in Illinois. Not fond of them, but I could deal with them. The black and yellow garden spiders were another story. Spiders have a use, but not in my house. I do try to identify them so I know the level of tolerance go give them. Brown Recluse, black widow and hobo spiders are taken care of with extreme prejudice. The rest are delt with on a case by case basis.
THL In general in the U.S., the bigger the spider the less you have to worry, unless it came from a Harry Potter movie.

What scares me the most are people who listen to Rush on the radio and think he is the voice of God

**Repatriated Canuck** · 18 Oct 05,, 09:45

God I hate spiders so I kill them as soon as I see them. Hairspray and a lighter are my most favored method.

My girlfriend is from Australia and I'm not looking forward to Huntsman Spiders. They are not poisonous just really big. You know like the size of a large mouse or small rat. I don't even know if I'd want to mess up my shoe on a spider that big.

My real irratiuonal fear though is needles. They scare the sh*t out of me even though I know they don't hurt. It's really weird. I get all sweaty and nervous and when it's all over I feel like the biggest pu$$y on the planet. I even took a spanking over it as a kid. Refused to open my mouth for the dentist needle for the fifth appointment in a row. Dad was pissed.

**sparten** · 18 Oct 05,, 12:29

For the bugs ma'am, get yourself a pair of army surplus marching boots.

Ready, Aim, SQUISH!

**Maevi** · 18 Oct 05,, 13:18

[QUOTE=TopHatsLiberal]So what are you all afraid of to the point that it affects your life on a near daily basis or to the point that you have had to make changes in your life to accomodate this fear?

QUOTE]

The one thing which I fear is lightening, it terrifies me, I don't mind thunder, but if I am out in the street and there is lightening, I start to panic, and I think, "oh G-d I am going to be struck down!" There is not anything which will stop me having this lifelong fear, I cannot overcome it, and even resort to removing all jewellery which I am wearing, or anything metal. If there is a bad storm when I am in the home, I will find a room which has no windows and sit and wait for the storm to pass, if I am alone that is.

**Repatriated Canuck** · 18 Oct 05,, 13:55

Oh god that's awfull, I love bad weather like that. What a shame.

**THL** · 18 Oct 05,, 14:44

Originally Posted by Batman

Oh god that's awfull, I love bad weather like that. What a shame.

I love storms, too. My boss was saying that his wife, though, is so afraid of storms that if they are in the car she won't even get out to walk into the house. She will stay wherever they are at 'cause she is that afraid of being hit by lightning.

Originally Posted by sparten

For the bugs ma'am, get yourself a pair of army surplus marching boots.

If it is a normal sized spider and it is on the ground, I can step on it. But if it is on a wall or if it is too big, I cannot. And Beetles and other bugs - No Way! NC sucked because of this! They had flying cockroach bugs (Saw Palmettos)...I almost died the 1st time I saw one of those flying around outside. There were also these big bugs there that I never was able to ID. They looked liked those black bug things from the old Nintendo Mario Bros game...the ones that you could jump on to win all the free lives on the steps. Only they were irradescent colored and they flew. Seriously, these things stool about an inch high...Man they were creepy.

**Monk** · 18 Oct 05,, 15:19

I am scared when Little Richard gets up to sing. Mortified, petrified, stupefied and so on.

**THL** · 18 Oct 05,, 19:11

I am always very weary of clowns....not afraid per se', but I would not want one hanging around my building either. Those big shoes, the hair, there is something I don't trust about them.

**~~giggs88~~** · 18 Oct 05,, 20:29

I used to be terrified of clowns when I was little. Now..it's birds.

**Parihaka** · 18 Oct 05,, 23:35

When I first read this I was thinking "nah, I'm macho, nothing I'm freaked out by" but then driving home I got to thinking...

1: Crabs. I was clearing a set net and pulled a crab off the net, but its body shell came off leaving it's innards & flesh exposed, it ran away into the water trailing it's bits behind it :shudders:

2: Eels, both river and sea, especially Moray eels. A moray eel once surfaced beside me, and I swear to God HISSED at me. :shuddersagain:

3:Sharks. I was body boarding at Titahi bay, floating around on the surf line and a fin did a 360 around me. :shudderswithfeelingsofnausea:

4:Vertigo. Never used to get it until I fell 9 metres and shattered both my feet. I can still go to high places but it isn't fun any more.

Apart from that, not scared at all!

**THL** · 19 Oct 05,, 04:31

Originally Posted by parihaka

When I first read this I was thinking "nah, I'm macho, nothing I'm freaked out by"

Thank you for admitting that you thought that. I really thought that was going to be the common post by far. I expected all the men to grab themselves MJ style, stand up and flex while spitting.

**Parihaka** · 19 Oct 05,, 04:45

Originally Posted by TopHatsLiberal

Thank you for admitting that you thought that. I really thought that was going to be the common post by far. I expected all the men to grab themselves MJ style, stand up and flex while spitting.

Yeah well, with age comes wisdom. I'm trying to develop a broader platform on which to base my life

**THL** · 19 Oct 05,, 04:54

My only other fear is flying. Not the taking off and landing so much, but the actual being in the air and having no control over what happens. Sure someone could run me down in a car, but if I am driving, at least I had the feeling of having some control. In a plane - its not like I can go up to the pilot and ask to drive.

I am going down to FL to visit TopHat ( even if he won't agree to drive up to Tampa to the see the little victory boat *sigh* ) on Friday and I am already starting to get panicky over the flight. By the time I get there I will either be a wreck or drunk.