Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?

[Young Val]

so everyone has legitimate fears, do you have any totally irrational fears or anxieties? you know, things that are almost funny, except you seriously get all worked up about it?


i am afraid to change overhead lightbulbs. like, serious serious anxiety about it. i have no problem with changing lightbulbs that are at a normal level. but trying to change a lightbulb in a ceiling fixture?

oh god, i had to do it last night in my apartment and the whole thing honestly took me about 45 minutes.

[Yebra]

Shower-heads.

One fell on my head once and now I always have to step back when I turn the shower off.

I suppose that's almost rational though...

[VelvetElvis]

alligators.

I used to like them (i even had an alligator head in my room), but one night I had a horrible nightmare involving alligators with human skin and the head of pig. They also had blue eyes.

[fawkes]

Spiders, terrified of spiders. And things that live in the deep parts of the ocean... and the deep parts of the ocean. I'm kinda freaked out by drains, especially the one in the upstairs bathroom that's basically just a gaping hole.

[Tcashon]

Quicksand.


Had a horrible nightmare also when I was in kindergarten, I woke up screaming. The nightmare involved the playground at the school and random puddles of quicksand would appear and the kids would get stuck and drown.

Of course now I know quicksand doesn't quite work that way!

[Eddie Pinz]

Tuna fish...

not really scared of it...I just think it's gross...the smell...the look...the texture...the taste...*blah*...completely gross...but I bet if you were to chase me with a tuna fish sandwich, I'd probably run...

[Miss Abbie]

I am terrified of caterpillars. I hate sitting at tables when people mention caterpillars because I'm afraid they're crawling under the table and are going to drop onto me. I ran into a caterpillar hanging from a tree once and then had to take a shower that was so long and hot I had to get cream from the school doctor for the burns.

Even just writing this I have to check my hair and my back and my bed and desk to make sure none of them are coming to get me.

[Ithilien]

this is probably the wierdest, but black lines or dots formed densely together. Not that they scare me, but for some reason I find it totally disgusting. Completely irrational, I know.

[Petra456]

Fish.

Little fish, big fish, just fish in general. I can eat it, I just can't stand to look at them and I CAN'T touch them. I even get freaked out when they're on tv or people just talk about them. I can't even stand little gold fish. When I was little I use to put things in my mom's fish tank trying to kill her fish.

They seriously freak me out.

[Dr. Mobius]

Roots and vines. I think this has something to do with the simple fact that I shouldn't have seen Little Shop of Horrors at such a young age, but I do tend to make a rather large detour around any uprooted trees when I'm in the woods.

[starlooker]

Ticks. I've been afraid of them for years.

Earthworms. I developed a severe phobia during the rainy season this past summer.

Making cold telephone calls.

[ValentineNicole]

I'm with you on cold telephone calls, Kirsten. Which is odd because I'm typically very outgoing.

Also, Kahlua. I can't do chocolatey drinks. With one thought of them, I taste them in my mouth and start to gag. I wouldn't run from the room screaming if I saw a bottle, but if someone's drinking it, I can't be near them.

[Mahatma]

I'm afraid of bees, which seems rational until you realize that I'm not afraid of bee stings. I've been stung before and it wasn't traumatic. I'm just afraid of the bees themselves. This usually takes a lot of explaining.

Umm, potentially stupid question... what are cold telephone calls? I've never heard that before.

[Jayelle]

Not sure what a "cold" telephone call is, but I hate the phone. HATE. I get stomach pains when I have to call someone.

But mostly, Birds. I hate birds.

Well, little sparrows and chicadees, not so much, but the bigger ones, especially Canada Geese and Pigeons scare me. They are going to fly at my face and peck my eyes out! They are going to flap their big wings at me!
Pigeons and Magpies are dirty and gross, like rats with wings. Canada Geese hiss and poop like people. They don't poop regular bird poop. They poop like they've been eating meat!

[Rei]

Spiders. Especially ones that don't just sit nicely in their webs where I can aviod them entirely. I was flopped in bed the other day and saw one (which was apparently small... it seems some people do not account for the legs). There was panic and fear involved. Fortunately I had a spider-killing knight nearby.

Also, shots. I start to twitch and get very uncomfortable when people talk about needles and IVs and getting them and giving them. And there's all out panic when I have to get one myself. (Although, oddly enough, in the mouth doesn't bother me, so long as there is topical freezing first.)

[anonshadow]

The dark.

I am terrified of the dark. I'm so scared of it that I actually sometimes cannot sleep at night because it is dark outside. I won't let myself sleep because I'm too scared, even if the overhead light is on (which it often is).

[Qing_Jao]

Not shots, per se, but of IVs, yeah. It took a long time for the nurses to get an IV in me when I had Anna. Like a really long time, and then the same thing happened a little later when I had surgery. I just hate them.

Cold telephone calls = calls to people you don't know, or with no previous plan, i.e. calling to complain about something.

[anonshadow]

I don't understand people who are afraid of shots or IVs, or needles in general. I love getting blood drawn, and getting an IV.

I'd be such a good junkie if I was into drugs.

[Guest]

Jews.

[zeroguy]

Not sure what a "cold" telephone call is, but I hate the phone. HATE. I get stomach pains when I have to call someone.

Agreed. The only calls which don't cause me a great amount of pain are those with a few male friends that usually last less than ten seconds. Something like: "Where are you?" "I'm at <place>." "Ah, come to <other place>, we're all here." *click*

But mostly, Birds. I hate birds.

But I suppose plastic ducks don't count?

[hive_king]

Funny enough, I'm listening to the song "i like birds"

[Jayelle]

But mostly, Birds. I hate birds.

But I suppose plastic ducks don't count?

Only real birds can flap their gross wings and poop LIKE PEOPLE!

[Fodi]

No.

All of my fears are completely rational. In fact, I tend to lack fears of many rational things too.

[starlooker]

Not sure what a "cold" telephone call is, but I hate the phone. HATE. I get stomach pains when I have to call someone.

Exactly. Ditto. Friends are an exception, but only if I have a specific purpose in calling.

I don't mind receiving calls, because then it's the other person's responsibility.

"Cold" calls are calling someone that you don't know and who doesn't know who you are.

[zeroguy]

I am really afraid of something like this happening to me.

[Yebra]

Not sure what a "cold" telephone call is, but I hate the phone. HATE. I get stomach pains when I have to call someone.

Oh thank god, It's not just me. I will do everything possible to avoid using that thing.

[Ithilien]

Me too! I rehearse all dialogue before making a phone call and get paranoid trying to think up responses to anything that might be thrown from the other end.

[fawkes]

I have a fear about my eyes. I'm always thinking I'm going to poke myself in the eye when I'm sewing something, but the weirdest one is I'm afraid I'll give myself a papercut on my eyeball.

[Claire]

Add me to the list of people scared of phones.
Also, I'm ridiculously scared of hair. Not on people's heads, but when I find like a hair on my desk or something I freak out. Hair is so gross.