......and then it happens....

Oh, that will go away soon. In about... 28 or so years. ;)

Speaking of ventriliquist dummies and the like, that reminded me that I had a friend who, back in the Big 80s when McDonald's was running their Mac The Night ads - the big moon-shaped character, was scared to death of that thing.

Now that I mention it, that Burger King dude with the big plastic head kind of had me looking over my shoulder for a bit.

I have a wierd thing about fire. I'm not scared by its presence, but the idea of it terrifies me beyond reason. It's like there's a part of me always on the alert. I have this notion, dug in somewhere deep in my mind, that I'm going to die in a fire.

Not to mention the emotional scarring to the other person :eek:

I used to get creeped out by what I couldn't see out of the windows at night, so I would always close the drapes. The idea of putting my face up to a window and cupping my hands around my temples so I could see better, freaked me out.

Isn't it worse to wonder what might be there if you pull the drapes back?

I dont think so....its more the things a darkened window are hiding....the things you cant see because the light is on. Im not so bad now, but it still bugs me a little. I once house-sat for a friend who didnt have any coverings on her windows. It was a bit hard to relax. I dealt with it by keeping the light off in the livingroom at night.

I have that fear too Pico. I also house-sat for a friend, and slept on the couch, but the backdoor had no cover over it. I was so freaked out someone would come up, look in see me alone, break the door, and then kill/rape me. I left the back porch light on so hopefully they wouldn't be able to see me so easy, but if I woke up I would see them. My windows in my bedroom have heavy coverings.

Labbers: I'm just scared of semis in general. Scared they won't make it under the bridge, scared they're gonna change lanes into me, scared they're gonna have a blowout, scared they're gonna jackknife, scared the driver is gonna look at me and wave...
get my point?

I had a guy driving a semi put a sign in the window for me to read. It said 'show me your boobs'. He freaked me out so much I ended up getting a speeding ticket because I had to keep up a steady speed of 85 to get away from him.

did the cop not buy that story?

I didnt tell the cop, I was pretty sure he wouldnt buy it or it wouldnt matter. Anyway, I have bad luck with cops and tickets, they never ever want to give me a break.

Afterward I kept thinking I should have, but oh well.

Hey BTW, this was when I was driving through Pennsylvania to get to Philadelphia to visit my brother. I ended up getting two tickets on this trip. On the way back home, I got caught taking an illegal left turn in Ohio. I was coming out of a gas station at three in the morning and didn't think anyone would see me. I really have lousy luck.

Maybe you could have shown the cop your boobs?

yep, me too. When I was a kid, my evening prayer always ended with "and please don't let the house catch fire, AMEN"

Yeah, but then he would have cited me for 'limited indecent exposure'. :rolleyes:

I've always had an odd fear of that. Not limited indecent exposure, but showing a cop my boobs.

I also walk around certain types of grates, but I see this as a rational fear. When I was at school, myself and Emily were rushing to our next class after PE. That was our first lesson on Friday morning - lousy scheduling - but for some reason we were the last getting changed afterwards and we didn't want to be late.

We ran up the corridor and out to the front of the school to cross the foyer. It was a damned cold morning, frosty, and the grates in front of the school doors were wet.

Emily just disappeared sideways and down as she was reaching for the door. She made this terrible squawking noise and as she tried to get up I could see her arm was horribly wrong somehow. There seemed to be too much of it, one too many bones to fit into the skin covering. I picked her up, and her bag and helped her to Matron's.

Matron immediately sat me down, put a bowl on my lap and asked Emily what was wrong with me. Apparently, of the two of us I looked by far the worst and she thought I was about to faint or be sick or perhaps both. She said I looked positively green, and I was gutted not to have seen myself - I've always assumed that only happened in books.

Once we had sorted out that in fact it wasn't me who was poorly, Emily went off to A&E to get a cast and I got the rest of the period on the bed in Matron's office, with a cup of hot chocolate, and lots of fuss. It was great - I missed Geography and I hadn't done my homework.

I thought of something else that I'm afraid of yesterday. Well, not afraid, but something that disgusts me out of all proportion. Undercooked chips. If I eat a chip and it's hard in the middle, I have to push away the whole plate. It makes my whole mouth contract in disgust. This is more common in oven chips, which I am now always suspicious of. They give me the shivers.

Wet bread also. On the ground. Most common where people have been feeding ducks or birds but sometimes kids throw sandwiches on the ground outside schools. I can't even look at it without retching. The idea of picking it up (to clean the pavement I mean, not to eat!) is filling my mouth with bad spit even as I type. I don't know why it should be so revolting to me, but it is.

but can you eat wet bread on purpose? Eggy bread or bread pudding?

Re: wet bread. lol...I can see that. It's a texture thing.

Wet yarn is like fingernails on a chalkboard to me.

I assume chips = fries. I have a pet peeve about fries. If I buy fries, they better be hot and crisp on the outside. I ask for them well done, but they give me cold soggy fries so many times. I'd rather have them overcooked than undercooked.


As far as the wet bread thing goes, I'm guessing you're not much for a french dip sandwich, or dunking a donut in your coffee.


In America there were some people on the radio discussing a fairly common problem with women who physically cringe or want to vomit when they hear the word "moist". I wonder if this is related to the moist bread thing.

maybe stop asking for them well done and see what turns up? I never get underdone fries, and I never ask for them to be well done. some chefs/cooks get a little peeved when you make the presumption that they can't cook stuff properly before you've even tried it.

He might be talking about fast food places like MacDonald's or Burger King. I only order fries if I am going to eat them right away and as long as they were made to order. Cold fries just suck.

that's why I included the word "cooks" as well as "chefs". I could have added "numbnuts" too, but I didn't want to seem to wordy ;)

I don't think the people who put the basket of fries into the fryer at a fast food restaurant could give a rats ass what anyone thinks about their cooking ability. Usually, though, the fries you get are the ones that have been sitting in the warmer for a while and aren't fresh or really warm anymore. If you ask for them well-done, they will just reheat those fries, which will make them hotter and crispier, but really greasy too.

obviously not happening for radar though. :rolleyes:

LOL...it must be in the way he asks. They probably just say 'who does this guy think he is?' and just give him regular fries like everyone else gets.

What the hell is french about fries, anyway? I am not afraid of french fries at all. Be careful with that ketchup.

Bugs. I do not consider this fear odd or irrational, however.

Escalators, but only going down. I have an expectation, every time I step onto one, that I'm going to misjudge the pace, and it's going to fling me in an undignified manner to the bottom, and then mash me in it's gearing system. Since childhood I have experienced a moment of vertigo at the top. I've never had a problem on an escalator, but still I feel them lurking in wait for me at nearly every mall or two-story retail space (thankfully fewer than they used to be, I think it was the Sears & Roebuck in Abington that did this to me) in the country.

Oh, and those things they have in cities, the hatches in the sidewalk with the diamond-plate doors that look like they're 100 years old, that either just cover stairs or one of those elevator thingies to put deliveries in the basements? I'm always sure that they'll collapse if I walk over them.

And falling, generally. Doesn't have to be from a high place. A tall curb is enough to give me the willies. Turns out I actually enjoy heights once I'm convinced I won't accidentally plummet off them.

Bread on my plate is fine, mostly. Although if my Dad cooks me burger, chips and beans I have to make sure the burger bun isn't in the bean juice.
Mostly... They're not really fries though - at least I don't think so. Fries are very thin. We have chips as fat as my thumb - far easier to find a raw one y'see?
I dunk bread in soup quite happily and I'm up for a freshly made gooey sandwich. But I do get funny about prepackaged ones sometimes. Where the salad has soaked the bread inside. Urgh. I have no problem with the word moist though!I'm the opposite!
I get twitchy going up, imagining the whole escalator collapsing underneath me and all of us falling into the abyss. This was especially the case on the old wooden London Underground escalators - which I think I pretty much all replaced now. They used to hitch sometimes, like a little shrug. Urgh. I'm still a little cringey on the very high ones - the Piccadilly Line is the worst, it's so deep. But even the Central Line has some doozies - Holborn for example.

We have fat ones too, but they're usually considered more "gourmet" and only found at nicer hamburger restaurants rather than fast food places like McDonald's. They might sometimes be called "home fries" instead.

On this side of the country, home fries are a breakfast item ... chunkier than hash browns, and may have peppers and onions fried along with the potatoes. The big fries are called Steak Fries.

Or here in the southeast they may be called "Tater Logs".

Mice. They just freak me out.

Years ago there was a bit of a mouse plague and I pulled back my sheets to find mouse poop in my bed....partner at the time set traps and I changed the sheets....but I couldnt sleep, I would doze and wake up screaming thinking a mouse was scurrying in the bed with me.

I found out recently that my dad is scared of cockroaches! I have to say, I pissed myself laughing watching him try to splat one but not get touched by it. lol

I would never have believed it if I hadn't seen it for myself.

I fear being misunderstood.

I fear unintentionally giving offense.

You shouldn't fear that. Apparently I do it all the time around here and I'm oblivious to it. I'd never post anything if I had to stop and think about who I'm offending all the time (and I'm sure there are a number who'd be quite pleased if I stopped posting), but ultimately you can't please everyone all the time...so as long as you've represented yourself honestly, that's all you can do.

But you've got, like, huge, poisonous ones that carry small children away if you aren't vigilant, though, right? It's reasonable to be scared of something like that.

Now, if you're talking the normal tiny miserable sonofabitch German cockroaches, they're merely loathsome, and your father is clearly a wuss. (I lived in an apartment that had roaches in the same way that last segment in Creepshow had roaches).

lol...we have several different varieties, some of them large-ish. We have the german ones too. This was a flying one he was trying to squish. It was pretty funny. I think he's a wuss regardless of what size the cocky was. lol

I am with you there.

Hmmm... lets not go there - mmmkay?

cockroach. lol

I for some reason am deathly afraid of horses. which is weird to me, I like them.. I think they look cool.. I like the Idea of horses...hell! I like horses! but ever since I was a kid I haev had nightmares about them (I think it may come from my mother reading me greek mythology and the flesh eating horses form herucles's trials..) then again... who knows?

Ever seen the play Equus?