What freaks you right the f*ck out?

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OK - something that's been rattling around in my head for a bit. With the onset of spring & tornado season it hit fairly close to home.

What thing (or things) just give you the serious heebie-jeebies. I'm not talking a little bitty spider or a scary movie. I'm talking something fairly uncommon that creep you out.

Mine? Can be found here:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...io_Greensburg,_Kansas_tornado_May_4,_2007.ogg

To summarize - National Weather Radio tornado warning for a EF5 tornado that destroyed an ENTIRE TOWN in Kansas in 2007. Knowing the end-result makes it a little creepier for me. However, had I heard this live, as it was happening, & been in the immediate area, you would've found me in the deepest cellar hyperventilating.

I don't know exactly what it is. The combination of the gravity of the situation & the delivery of the medium. Usually these are preceded by the tell-tale warning tone, and the interruption ends up creating an eerie silence. The voice still sounds robotic in its delivery - although they've made it much more pleasant sounding than in the past. I have heard some from 5-10 years ago that are extremely robotic.

Luckily I live in central KY, so not exactly tornado alley. I couldn't imagine being in the midwest plains being able to see a tornado roll across the land from miles away, watching it bear down on your location. However, about 10 years ago, while managing a local italian restaurant, there was a tornado outbreak in the area. We had the TV's on & tuned to local stations. A radio in the kitchen tuned to local radio. We had about 10 customers & 6 employees in the restaurant which was in a strip mall shopping center. Amazingly enough I was fairly calm at that time while wandering front front to back door keeping an eye out. Of course it was dark & the blowing rain made it impossible to actually SEE anything. Then on the radio someone calls in to report a funnel cloud dropping above a location about 1/4 mile from the restaurant.

I followed my instructions & told everyone to come back into the kitchen & get into the walk-in freezer or cooler just in case. I guess the responsibility overcame my normal freak-out response. It was interesting to see the different reactions of the people. There were a couple of customers who shrugged it off a kept eating. Another came back to the kitchen but wandered around, helping himself to another draft beer. And then there was one of my cooks - she was hunkered down in the cooler, sitting on a keg, cigarette in hand, staring blankly ahead and breathing hard. Entire spectrum of human reaction there.

So anyways, like I said... what freaks you right the fuck out?
 
The state of the Education system in America. The fact that teaching to a standardized test is more valuable, than teaching critical thinking and problem solving skills. Just how I see it, and in my head it creeps me out.
 
Right there with you, Doc. I get to deal with the products of this system, and their poor choices, daily.

For me, it's the decreasing level of acceptable morals amongst kids... Don't get me wrong, I make no claims about being a saint, but when I see at exactly what level these kids consider things to be acceptable... when I see what's on TV... I get this sinking feeling. If stuff like this is acceptable to this generation, what will the next generation be okay with?
 

North_Ranger

Staff member
United States.

No offence, but sometimes the things going on over on your side of the puddle just freak me out. Particularly the combination of bat-shit, we-don't-give-a-fuck-about-the-rest-of-the-world attitude combined with right-wing fringe groups, living over the budget in digits that would make Hugh Hefner look like the frickin' epitome of frugal living and a nuclear stockpile high enough to blow up the damn planet three times over and then some.

Luckily these emotions come and go.
 
United States.

No offence, but sometimes the things going on over on your side of the puddle just freak me out. Particularly the combination of bat-shit, we-don't-give-a-fuck-about-the-rest-of-the-world attitude combined with right-wing fringe groups, living over the budget in digits that would make Hugh Hefner look like the frickin' epitome of frugal living and a nuclear stockpile high enough to blow up the damn planet three times over and then some.

Luckily these emotions come and go.
Oh please, if it wasn't for the U.S., Europe would have imploded on itself 100 years ago...

Europe is just as fucked up and corrupt (if not more so) than the United States.

The reason things in your country (Finland) seem all so hunky dory compared to the U.S. has a lot to do with the fact that your population is less than one of our major cities. It's a lot easier to govern a country that reaps off the benefits of being part of the EU and has a population of like 5 million people.

The difference in the United States and Finland is so astronomical as to be unfair to draw any analogy that would impart any light.

There sets Finland, a country roughly the size of Montana bearing a population of barely five and a half million, for which the population is nothing if not the inverse of America's in every respect.

Only 1.5% of their people, if that, are from the temperate regions of the world, which is to say, are melanin-bearing people. Rather, theirs is a people consisting of some 93% Caucasian, a veritable homogeneous country, having a sameness about it.

Its political economy is that of a glorified welfare state bearing flourishes of market socialism, as do the other Nordic nations like that of Sweden and Norway. That is, there exists a leavening aspect because there exists no spike in the social strata as exists in the United States, a country wherein there carries a free-for-all, a go-for-yourself, say, a do-or-die, a I-don't-care-about-you mindset.

Finland's literacy rate rivals virtually any of the top 10 countries in the world, being highly literate in which Finland's government places a premium on its people's well-being: none falls through the proverbial cracks that occur -- to ensure that end, they tax their working citizenry to avail this.

Point is, none is exempt from the trials of life. To that affect, Finland has an increasing aging population, which is noteworthy given its comparatively small population relative to the size of the land area; meanwhile it bears an increasing pattern of population increase overall, which it is having to factor. Because as sure as none is exempt, this hitherto low crime rate is subject to escalate, certainly true if its socialist model graduates to having a more capitalist expression.
 
What freaks me the hell out:

Not more than 30 minutes ago seeing a car doing 70 + mph slam into the highway barrier wall, flip, and spin out through the guard rail on the other side...

In other words, people behind the wheel of a car that I wouldn't trust with a tricycle.
 
W

Wasabi Poptart

People like my neighbor freak me out. The level of stupid is astounding.
 

Cajungal

Staff member
Kids who talk about nothing but TV and video games. It's just so unhealthy when that's their only pastime. The kids I teach don't even play little cute kid games. They play violent games that make me cringe. When we have sharing time to talk about what kids did over the weekend, there are about 1/3 who say cool things like "my friends and I played baseball" or "I cooked dinner with my mom" or "I build a treehouse." The rest of them just list off all the games they played and the TV shows they watched. I'm all for giving your brain a rest, but it's just not good for a developing mind to stare at a screen for hours without a single thought in their heads. I keep track of the ones who consistently have interesting things to add to the discussion, too, and it's not the boy who says he wishes he could be just like Mario.
 
Kids who talk about nothing but TV and video games. It's just so unhealthy when that's their only pastime. The kids I teach don't even play little cute kid games. They play violent games that make me cringe. When we have sharing time to talk about what kids did over the weekend, there are about 1/3 who say cool things like "my friends and I played baseball" or "I cooked dinner with my mom" or "I build a treehouse." The rest of them just list off all the games they played and the TV shows they watched. I'm all for giving your brain a rest, but it's just not good for a developing mind to stare at a screen for hours without a single thought in their heads. I keep track of the ones who consistently have interesting things to add to the discussion, too, and it's not the boy who says he wishes he could be just like Mario.

My wife's 2nd cousins are like this. At every family gathering all they talk about is Lego Star Wars or they're on their damn GameBoys the entire time...
 

Cajungal

Staff member
Bluh. You know, I don't have kids, but I remember being one. Dad fought against us having any kind of video games in the house for the longest time, and I understand why. When he finally caved, it was all we wanted to do. Even the best parents have to fight to get their kids' attention when they're hell-bent on spending all day in front of the tube. I don't know if some kids are just more prone to naturally keeping a sense of balance in their activities or what... I know that not all kids get sucked in like that. The ones who do just frighten me. What's going to be left of their brains in a few years?
 

North_Ranger

Staff member
Oh please, if it wasn't for the U.S., Europe would have imploded on itself 100 years ago...

Europe is just as fucked up and corrupt (if not more so) than the United States.

The reason things in your country (Finland) seem all so hunky dory compared to the U.S. has a lot to do with the fact that your population is less than one of our major cities. It's a lot easier to govern a country that reaps off the benefits of being part of the EU and has a population of like 5 million people.
Hey, he asked, I answered. And I wasn't talking about events a hundred years ago. Granted, the Treaty of Versailles was pretty much where the UK and France screwed th pooch, but that's another discussion entirely.

And I wasn't making governmental comparisons, I was just saying that some of the ideological, political and economic developments in your hemisphere give me pause from time to time. 'cause like it or not, what happens in the United States has consequences around the world. Heck, even what happens in Libya has consequences, for instance at the pumps. And what happened in Japan is definitely gonna be reflected in for instance the international insurance market.
 
Knowing that there is a possibility of an even more devastating natural disaster than the Japanese earthquake. Also the stupidity of putting nuclear power stations in an earthquake zone.
 

North_Ranger

Staff member
Well, if my understanding is correct the nuclear plant went into shutdown at the first sign of an earthquake. It was the tsunami that followed that caused the accident, shutting down the diesel reactors that kept the cooling system going during the shutdown.
 
Japan's troubles have me freaked out, because we can and will get earthquakes that are just as large. And according to some geologists, we're due for one any year now. I remember what it was like in '89, and I'm worried we'll get something even worse within the next decade or so.
 
Hey, he asked, I answered. And I wasn't talking about events a hundred years ago. Granted, the Treaty of Versailles was pretty much where the UK and France screwed th pooch, but that's another discussion entirely.

And I wasn't making governmental comparisons, I was just saying that some of the ideological, political and economic developments in your hemisphere give me pause from time to time. 'cause like it or not, what happens in the United States has consequences around the world. Heck, even what happens in Libya has consequences, for instance at the pumps. And what happened in Japan is definitely gonna be reflected in for instance the international insurance market.
Don't worry, you will LOVE us when we take over you country, implement our strict McDonald's and Starbucks diet regimen and force you to all start wearing Mexican made pants.

Which will be really awesome until the great snake uprising of 2035:Leyla:
 
Millipedes.

I'm not even kidding. Sure, it's not as unsettling as an overwhelming fear of the stupidity of humanity, but something about the way they move freaks me right the fuck out.
 
you will LOVE us...pants...great snake uprising...:Leyla:
I'm sensing some innuendo here...

Since I got my amateur radio license and a radio, I've been listening to the weather spotters chat during major storms, and this year I'm taking the training class and joining the ranks. Being able to listen to the movement of the storm in real time has made us a lot more comfortable with severe weather, although truth be told we're relatively safe here in Michigan. We have tornadoes touch down occasionally, but not at the frequency others experience them.

Was especially handy to have during our month long road trip last year through the middle states during tornado season. Saw some pretty cool clouds and minor storms, and it was surprising how fast a day could turn from sunny to tornado watch weather out there.

The only thing I'm afraid of is not being near my family when such an emergency does happen. My wife is capable, but I hate the thought of going through, for instance, something like Katrina or September 11th and not being near my family, and not knowing where they are or being able to contact them.

I suppose that's another reason I got my amateur radio license, and I'm going to try and have my wife get one as well. Food, water, etc may be difficult to get under such circumstances, but not knowing if your loved ones are safe is more painful, I suspect, than an empty stomach.
 
It's not small. It's huge. It's a monster. You're walking in the woods on a fine day in florida, and then BAM, your hair is full of web and you're screaming like a 4 years old girl.
Added at: 12:25
Also I didn't read the OP.

Terrikfail.
 
M

makare

Terrik I will never love you again!


Also that fucker is not little bitty....
 
It's not small. It's huge. It's a monster. You're walking in the woods on a fine day in florida, and then BAM, your hair is full of web and you're screaming like a 4 years old girl.
Added at: 12:25
Also I didn't read the OP.

Terrikfail.
I was being facetious by pointing out the "nothing small" clause. 'Cuz you're right, that thing is HUGE. Ew.
 

North_Ranger

Staff member
The only reason you get to something like that is because of the 1st Amendment, one of the greatest inventions in the history of mankind. You're lucky you live in the U.S.A., because other countries wouldn't put up with complaints like that.
I see what you did there, Tress. :p
 

figmentPez

Staff member
Sleep.


Yes, seriously. I'm sure most of you love sleep and think it's great. Me, not so much. I have had so many years of hellish nights that I have to steel myself just to start getting ready for bed, let alone actually lying down and trying to sleep. Granted, things are better recently, but I'm still struggling with memories and fears of the past.
 
I was being facetious by pointing out the "nothing small" clause. 'Cuz you're right, that thing is HUGE. Ew.
Actually - those are kind of the reason I included the phrase "itty bitty". Some people freak out on ANY spider. Little bitty wolf spiders & such.

Those, we are all in agreement, are huge & must be killed with fire.

The responses have been interesting. The first two being from guys who put their lives on the line on a daily basis, chose social issues. To that end, I submit a similar problem that doesn't freak me out so much as it makes me angry.

The total lack of humility in ALL age groups is quite disturbing. It is not all about YOU. You are not always right. When someone dares to prove you wrong, the solution is not violence. I go back to a story I think I mentioned here before. Crowded movie theater watching Traffic. Halfway through some guy's phone rings for the 3rd time and, for the 3rd time, he takes the call. Someone two rows in front turns around and says "Man shut that thing off!" Instead of turning it off & realizing what he's doing is unacceptable, he & his girlfriend start yelling & offering to "take it outside". You shouldn't have to fear doing the right thing because you're afraid you end up with a cap in your ass.
 
Sleep.


Yes, seriously. I'm sure most of you love sleep and think it's great. Me, not so much. I have had so many years of hellish nights that I have to steel myself just to start getting ready for bed, let alone actually lying down and trying to sleep. Granted, things are better recently, but I'm still struggling with memories and fears of the past.
Soooo.... Did you have a late-night sneaky uncle or something?
 
J

Jiarn

Knowing that in less than 5 years I'll have 3 teenagers in the house. My son turns 13 this year, my step son and daughter both turn 13 in 3.....

I am not prepared.....
 
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