AAAAARRRRRGGGGGHHHH!!!!!!!

[noflyingfan]

We're all scared of flying. What else are we scared of?

My answer:
bugs
animals
children
fat
being put on the spot

[spiffyone]

I am a little scared of elevators. Three floors, okay. Ekeven floors, not okay. I'm better if someone is with me.

I just changed jobs to a place with lots of elevators and so far I have passed myself off as a fitness buff (which I also am) who enjoys running up eleven flights (not).

I admit to the FOF, but I deny the elevator fear - I just say I "prefer the stairs."

:hamster <<hopping up the stairs

[WillFlyToDisney2]

Spiders and snakes!

Kelley

[mindymoo 2]

Heights - maybe thats because i am only 5ft tall....:cry

[spleisher]

My Ex Wife:nag

[beaugest]

Joanne, we'll have to eat on the first floor.
I grew up in an apt. building with elevators so I'm generally ok. But last summer when I was in London, I could not deal with the elevators in the tube. They were crowded and looked old to me. So, I would go up many, many stairs. And no way can I pass my self off as a fitness buff. I just told my family that they were crazy and I was sane.:run

[LesliePHX]

Mountain drives where there's a cliff just off to the side. Also driving up steep hills and then having to stop at a stoplight. I always feel like I will fall backwards when I take my foot off the brake. I have this nice set of recurring nightmares where I have to drive up or down a 90-degree-angle road. (erm, maybe I should've have told that ...)

I was never afraid of spiders until I learned that most of them have like eight eyes and at least one version has eyes that wrap all the way around its head! Gross!

I won't even go into my fear of drain cleaner.

Les

[LesliePHX]

I just reread the original post. Erica, you're afraid of ANIMALS?

[beaugest]

Erica, my house would flip you out. We are a zoo.
But my animals are such dufus they'd be hard to be afraid of.
Les, When we went To Mesa Verde and were on those switchback roads I stopped breathing everytime we saw one of those big butt Rv's on the road. And there were tons of them.
Passing the spots where the guardrails were missing because a car had obviously crashed didn't help much...
Beautiful place once I opened my eyes!!!:eek

[LesliePHX]

Monica, yes, I know just what you mean. AAAACK! SUV ahead! Probably some drunk kids who were partying on the top of the mountain and are gonna veer into my cliffside lane and knock me off the ... oh, there they go, good. AAAACK! There's another one!

I've gotta know about Erika and animals though ... does that include the phylum "cute ones"? (You know, kittties and duckies and squirrels.) I could understand lizards and eels and stuff, but not cute ones.

Children, that one I can understand.

[noflyingfan]

Boy, I hadn't checked this thread in awhile. I didn't realize my fear of animals would be such a hot topic.

Some animals are obviously scary. Birds, for example. If they're not flying overhead, aiming for your head to bomb you, they're staring at you, thinking about what it would be like to peck out your eyes. And some fish are just too scary. Frogs and toads...scary. Rodents...scary. (No offense to the hamster, though -- cartoon rodents aren't that scary). Horses...scary, and I know a lot of horse lovers who look like horses, which is super scary.

And a lot of it has to do more with pet owners than animals. Animal lovers and pet owners, please don't be offended. I've never been one of those people who get all gushy about animals, and because I'm not, it kind of creeps me out when I visit the homes of overzealous pet owners.

I'm not afraid to get dirty or anything like that, but I am prissy when it comes to animals. I've been in too many homes that have pets that like to climb, or lick, or crawl up and nuzzle with wet, snotty noses, and it just grosses me out. And too many times, pet owners don't realize that not everybody likes their pets climbing all over them. I don't mind giving a dog or cat the initial "yes, I'm someone new" sniff, but beyond that, no thanks. But too often, I've got a cat on my lap, a dog asking to be petted and another cat on my head, and all the owner is doing is going, "oh, they like you!"

That said, I do have a fish who I really, really like, and I do want a pot-bellied pig. His name will be Doug, and I will train him to only snuggle up to those who want to be snuggled.

[LesliePHX]

Thanks, Erika. I think I can explain this part:

"I don't mind giving a dog or cat the initial 'yes, I'm someone new' sniff, but beyond that, no thanks. But too often, I've got a cat on my lap, a dog asking to be petted and another cat on my head, and all the owner is doing is going, 'oh, they like you!'"

I read this in a book. It said the reason cats are often attracted to the lone cat-hater in a room full of cat-lovers is that cats get freaked out by cat-lovers. Everybody else in the room is staring at them, leaning toward them, cooing at them, going, "Come here, kitty kitty!" Cats don't like that. But the cat-hater is sitting very still, looking away, being totally non-threatening, in cat terms. Cats like that. So they cozy up to the cat-hater.

I dunno if it's true, but it seems as good a theory as any.

[noflyingfan]

That makes sense.

I was at my sister's this weekend, and her cat couldn't wait to mew at me and walk on me till I went to pet her and pick her up.

Cats are kind of like men, aren't they? They'll hang around and make nuisances of themselves, but as soon as you want to be around them, they can't stand you anymore.

[xiknal]

well, as a dedicated, lifelong cat owner and cat rescuer, I have to say that it's likely another of those urban myths that cats are attracted to cat haters...Les, might want to put that to the Snopes test. :) ...however, they don't like to be stared at by creatures they don't know.

Further, it's another myth that cats don't want to be around people who want to be around them. Cats are notoriously affectionate--in abundance but rarely overbearingly so--among people who understand and enjoy cats, but among the rest of the human population, they are the subject of much disinformation and benighted confusion.

As for the idea that cats are like men...:shocked

no way!! cats are like smart, savvy, goodhearted and snuggly:nod women!

[LesliePHX]

Barb, yeah, I figure you are right. I got that from one of the Desmond Morris cat books. He's got a lot of interesting theories, but many of them and their underlying premises are a little suspect. Makes a fun read though.

But speaking of cats as women ... I have always had my own suspicion that male cats tend to suffer gender identity issues since cats are inherently effeminate. I would say female dogs suffer the same thing, but dogs aren't as nuanced as cats, so they probably don't notice. :)

[WillFlyToDisney2]

Yep, I had a big fluffy cat once named Wilder (male cat) who had gender identity issues. He was prissier than any female cat I have ever owned.

Kelley

[LesliePHX]

Kelley, yeah, male cats deal with it in all sorts of interesting ways. The ones I've known tend to rebel against the cats-are-so-graceful effete stigma with a "Did you call me graceful??? I'm NOT graceful! I'm a MAN! Watch me fall off the cat condo on my head!" attitude.

[invert29]

The only things that scare me more than flying are Carnies...circus folk...small hands...they smell of cabbage.
(Name of movie this is from...anyone?)


Actually, I am afraid of spiders, roller coasters and man-made heights.

This thing is a little freaky, too. :banana

[noflyingfan]

Too easy! That's Austin Powers, baby!

[WillFlyToDisney2]

Oh yeah, and actually, I am not scared of flying - I am scared of PLUMMETING! Just wanted to clear that up. LOL

Kelley

[beaugest]

I read this article that said the reason dogs are always so happy to see their owners upon their return is because they were afraid the owner was eaten by a carnivore while they were away. Now far be it from me to argue with a fellow psychologist but I'm telling you Alfalfa(our dufus dog) is happy when we come home because we feed him. And how did those researchers figure that out anyway? Did they do a session with the dogs where the dogs revealed their inner feelings?
And while I'm on a rant---do you know the shrink who "treated " the polar bear in the Central park zoo got paid 10,000 dollars to diagnose him as depressed. Have you guys ever seen that poor thing. He's doomed to swim in small circles while weird people stare at him. I could have diagnosed his depression for a mere 5000...:hyped

[noflyingfan]

You know what, Kelley? When I wrote my fear of flying story for my paper two years ago, that's exactly what I said! I'm not afraid of flying, I'm afraid of plummetting!