What are you or have been afraid of, and how did you get over it?

I don't have a phobia of wasps but getting stung as a young child has made me dodge them wildly when they fly in my direction. I got stung again a number of years ago and it didn't hurt all that much but the lesson little me learned die hard. I look forward to when the outbuildings at work get infested with the fuckers.

And yet when they get trapped in my screened in back porch I try to shoo the little psychopaths out the door instead of whacking them with a flyswatter. If they set up a nest under my awnings they get the nerve agent, though.
 
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Bender said:
I'm a guy and turn into a caricature of typical feminine fear if I see a spider in the house.

Also, always kill them. The majority of spiders you'll see in your house won't be able to survive outdoors, so it's better to just splat them rather than letting them starve to death outside/come straight back in. I hate the creepy little fuckers, but I'm not a monster.
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My understanding is that the human brain is wired to respond in a very specific way to spiders, such that even if you're not born arachnophobic all it takes is one bad run in -- a bite, a scare, an electric shock while looking at a picture of a spider, etc -- and that causes an extreme fear response to spiders ever after. Only a few types of animals do that.

As for the topic:

Shit that scared me: The blueberry scene in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. I was one of many kids traumatized by that shit.
How I got over it: Watching again a decade later and being like "lol this is so dumb and comical." Also, once again, discovering that way too many people jerk off to that specific scene.
 
Used to be afraid of getting stung by a bee since I was really little. It's probably because of how much of a big deal it was to hear of "killer bees" before the population pretty much became commonplace, and of course you never know if you're allergic without testing. Never been stung, though I once watched a preschooler get stung at a pool party (kid didn't do anything to provoke it, the bee was just an asshole) and his cries of pain didn't help.

Some years back on a windy day, a bee got caught in my glasses on a walk and I swatted it out but then it chased me into crouching in the middle of a green field where it proceeded to headbutt me for a minute before leaving. Since then, I haven't been as jumpy, but I still try to keep a respectable distance to leave them alone. Weird, really.
 
Electricity

Have my husband do everything related except turning shit on by switch or buttons, and this with Godbear faith. (I don't change lightbulbs)

eta: I also try not to touch any metal things during dry weather. I live in a desert.


* I LOVE spiders.
 
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Murmur said:
These fuckers right here:
View attachment 1248416

Got into a nest of them at a very young age. Never got over it.
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not william stenchever said:
I don't have a phobia of wasps but getting stung as a young child has made me dodge them wildly when they fly in my direction. I got stung again a number of years ago and it didn't hurt all that much but the lesson little me learned die hard. I look forward to when the outbuildings at work get infested with the fuckers.

And yet when they get trapped in my screened in back porch I try to shoo the little psychopaths out the door instead of whacking them with a flyswatter. If they set up a nest under my awnings they get the nerve agent, though.
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I see this a lot. Okay.

What I was afraid of: Wasps. Fucking wasps and hornets building nests anywhere there's shelter and then defending it by swarming any perceived intruder and stinging the shit out of them.

How I got over it: Reading about them, watching documentaries about them, coming to understand why they're such assholes to the point of pitying them. I used to be all "oh god fuck go away" whenever I caught sight of one especially indoors; now I'm just "oh hey, it's a genderless sterile clone soldier with an extremely ill temper who's looking for food that it cannot eat because it has basically no digestive system and subsists solely on concentrated nutrient goo regurgitated by its larval siblings who do absolutely nothing except eat food and demand more." For serious, if you're afraid of vespids you should watch a particular BBC documentary called Buddha, Bees and the Giant Hornet Queen; those little bugs are fucking amazing. Still assholes though.
 
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Open water terrifies me. I could never become one of those cool fishermen. Deep water too.
Im not really over it but I can’t stop looking at pictures of the deep ocean and freaking myself out by imagining what it would be like to be in there.

I also have drowning dreams a lot, so basically: Fuck Water
 
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Murmur said:
These fuckers right here:
View attachment 1248416

Got into a nest of them at a very young age. Never got over it.
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I used to be afraid of pretty much everything that flies and stings. Now I'm pretty cool with honeybees and bumbles but FUCK WASPS. Those motherfuckers are demons from the deepest pits of hell and are pretty much "kill on sight" for me.

EDIT: I'm actually pretty cool with spiders as long as they respect my personal space.
 
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I'm acrophobic, to the point I don't like driving across bridges and will take a longer route if given the option. The only reason I'll get on a plane is to visit my dad, and I'll hate every second I'm on board.

The possibility of getting some form of dementia/senility in my old age scares the hell out of me. I'd rather opt for assisted suicide if that happens than live like that.
 
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Aberforth said:
Was scared of spiders for a bit. Realized they are basically free pest control. Now I consider spiders to be eight legged cats.
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The scientist in me knows that, but the scared little boy pretending to be a fearless man in me wants it dead dead DEAD. It's why I have to choose the arthropod's fate alongside wifey's input. Ideally I relocate them.

Bender said:
I'm a guy and turn into a caricature of typical feminine fear if I see a spider in the house.

Also, always kill them. The majority of spiders you'll see in your house won't be able to survive outdoors, so it's better to just splat them rather than letting them starve to death outside/come straight back in. I hate the creepy little fuckers, but I'm not a monster.
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I live in New England, so all spiders found in winter are dead bugs crawling. In summer I choose relocation more often than not - bugs in my part of New England get downright vile and wolf spiders are my most common "finds". Any small spider that looks like a black widow or brown recluse gets the boot - toxic or no. I grew up in a place where the black widows were not only common, but got to about the size of quarters. I treat recluses the same way, can't be too safe.
 
my fear: deja vu
Every time I get it, I grow more and more convinced that life is just a loop that we're all stuck in. In fact, I'm getting deja vu right now, because I SWEAR I've seen this thread before.
 
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