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Ok, I know that's sort of repeating myself, but this is for those extra special fears that pop up and you think to yourself "This is a stupid thing to be worrying about".

I'll start off with mine to give everyone an example.

Every time I crack an egg, I'm worried a dead baby chic will pop out instead of the usual yellow yolk and egg white. I know it's dumb, but I still think it every time.

Anyone else have a weird or stupid irrational fear they'd like to share?

Mt friend lived on a farm until very recently. He had the aforementioned happen to him.

I fear getting my shoelaces caught in the escalator and being shredded to bits.

I can totally see that one LittleSin and that worried me more as a little boy (go go parents!).

I actually fell on the escalator when I was about 4. I had scratches up my face and Dad snatched me up before I hit the grate part..but I still remember the fear of that spikey death THING coming ever closer.

I went through a period where I couldn't think about using a knife without picturing cutting myself by accident. Put a knife in my hand, and I was fine, but try to think about using a knife and all I saw in my head was bloody fingers and cut palms. It was weird.

I also have this persistent fear that any girl under ~25 that I interact with online is going to view me as a creeper, with no provocation, and be disgusted that I even said something to her.


I'm also afraid I'll throw out something important with the packaging. So I keep boxes around for months, telling myself I'll check them carefully and then throw them out soon, but they just sit around driving my family nuts.

Pfft, all of my fears ultimately came true, leaving me a shattered, empty husk of a man!

Well, besides my fear as a little kid that my bowling ball would be forever lost if I threw it down the bowling alley, which led me to sit down in the lane and clutch the ball, sobbing and not wanting to let it go. That one never came true.

Krisken said:

Ok, I know that's sort of repeating myself, but this is for those extra special fears that pop up and you think to yourself "This is a stupid thing to be worrying about".

I'll start off with mine to give everyone an example.

Every time I crack an egg, I'm worried a dead baby chic will pop out instead of the usual yellow yolk and egg white. I know it's dumb, but I still think it every time.

Anyone else have a weird or stupid irrational fear they'd like to share?

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Ha, like Sin, a friend of mine that grew up on a farm was appalled that I was just cracking eggs into the frying pan and not into a bowl first just in case there's a fetal chicken inside.

I'm terrified of using a 10-pin bowling sized bowling ball. Every single time I've held one I'm afraid my finger is going to get caught in it and it's going to break my finger. I only go 5 pin bowling.

That every time I walk into the woods, or sit under a gazeebo, one of these






will be waiting.


I'm not even in florida anymore, and I'm still scared to wander into bushes without a friggin stick.

I went to go smell a flower once in Gainesville and there was one there, waiting, starting. I shit bricks. It scars you. You can almost feel it's hairy legs brush against the back of your neck as you scramble to brush off the strands of the webbed fortress you just walked into.

10,000 miles away, and it's still too close. Winter is coming, the Starks say. Good, I say. Let them all freeze.

I also have an irrational fear of sharp objects and my mind has an odd way of predicting what kind of grizzly death will result from their use. Also dark barns. I couldn't even walk into my grandfather's barn this past January without shitting myself. Using my camera flash for light made it worse.

Frankie Williamson said:

I'm terrified of using a 10-pin bowling sized bowling ball. Every single time I've held one I'm afraid my finger is going to get caught in it and it's going to break my finger. I only go 5 pin bowling.

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Ever seen one of those balls with holes drilled drastically far apart? That's for people who throw with spin; you only put your fingertips in there. Terror averted.

-edit-

I should add, if you don't want to throw with spin, but want to use the fingertip method, keep your thumb out, free fingers spread out, and keep the palm of your hand under the ball. Works okay.

Frankie Williamson said:

Ha, like Sin, a friend of mine that grew up on a farm was appalled that I was just cracking eggs into the frying pan and not into a bowl first just in case there's a fetal chicken inside.

I'm terrified of using a 10-pin bowling sized bowling ball. Every single time I've held one I'm afraid my finger is going to get caught in it and it's going to break my finger. I only go 5 pin bowling.

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You're not missing much. 10-pin is way easier, but that's really all the difference there. I much prefer 5-pin myself, and almost nobody I've met since leaving the hometown has ever played it. It seems to be harder to find nowadays, too. Even the one back home closed down.

There's 5 pin bowling? I never heard of this.

checkeredhat said:

You're not missing much. 10-pin is way easier, but that's really all the difference there. I much prefer 5-pin myself, and almost nobody I've met since leaving the hometown has ever played it. It seems to be harder to find nowadays, too. Even the one back home closed down.

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The bowling alley in my city has only 5-pin. In fact, the only 10-pin bowling alley I've ever been to was in Red's in West Ed.

5 pin is predominately Canadian. Only with the advent of televised 10 pin from the states has it grown recently. Used to be a "treat" for the kids to get roll the big ball.

Frankie Williamson said:

The bowling alley in my city has only 5-pin. In fact, the only 10-pin bowling alley I've ever been to was in Red's in West Ed.

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Back home we only had 5 pin, too, but the closer I get to Toronto, the less 5 pin alleys are around, and the fewer people I meet who have ever even played it. I keep trying to convince people to give it a shot.

Bloody townies!

I was in a 5-pin league for a couple years as a kid. I was pretty great too.

Terrik said:

There's 5 pin bowling? I never heard of this.

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Smaller ball, smaller pins, placed further apart.

The pins are assigned point values based on position, rather than just being 1 point each, so that they total 15 points:


Also each frame is 3 throws, but it still only counts as a spare if you get 'em all in 2. Knocking all the pins down in three only counts as a flat 15pts.
Added at: 02:41

Gusto said:

I was in a 5-pin league for a couple years as a kid. I was pretty great too.

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I too was in a 5 pin league for several years. I loved it.

I once got 7 strikes in a row in 5 pin. I was in the mid 200's pointwise for that game. Best I've ever done. It was a fluke, since I am a God awful bowler.

I'm going bowling this weekend.

I fear some creeper like figmentPez will stalk me from online to in person if I give any telling info out.

I've got two that are somewhat related:

1) Although it hasn't happened since about this time last year, I used to have recurring nightmares of a nuclear holocaust. It was either a very large explosion or just a bright flash. Either way, I was so convinced, that it would wake me up. In my not-exactly-awake state, I would sometimes rush to the window and look out whispering in a panic, "Oh, my god...Oh, my god." Nourah can attest to this, though I'm not sure about the latter, window-rushing part. Certainly the nightmare waking me up part, at least.

2) The whole 2012 thing honestly scares me a little. I'm not 100% convinced that the world is going to end. Maybe...60%? Totally irrational, I know. It largely results from my over-active imagination. I start thinking about all the scenarios and play them out in my head. I did the same thing when the Large Hadron Collider was first turned on.

This one's a show stopper:

I'm super afraid of touching belly buttons. I have a ridiculous knee-jerk reaction if my finger gets close to one. What I'm worried is going to happen is I'm going to somehow get my finger stuck or go through the skin- spearing someone- and have to act as a plug.

I think it's hilarious, but it really just..bleh, freaks me out. Eewww, just thinking about it!!

I have an irrational fear of SIDS, and check on my kids every hour until they're a year old.

I really can't think of anything. I'm sure I have things. But yeah, can't think of one.

Diabetes.

Never heard of 5 pin bowling either. In Boston, they were into candlepin bowling, which was weird. It was like Skeeball with pins. Speaking of Boston, LittleSin, I remember this happened while I was living there: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/2005/03/02/Man-is-strangled-by-MBTA-escalator/UPI-39141109812284/

When I grew up in SC, I was deathly afraid of lightning and tornados. General Specific lives about 15 miles from where I grew up, so he can attest to the violence of central SC thunder and lightning. Not necessarily windpower like a plains storm, but loud thunder and bright lightning. Lived all over this country, and I've never seen anything close. The best I can figure is that is has to do with the convergence of mountain and marine air. Our house was struck at least 5 times when I was a kid. In any case, I still kind of freeze up with that deeply ingrained fear now.

fade said:

Never heard of 5 pin bowling either. In Boston, they were into candlepin bowling, which was weird.

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There are way more types of bowling than I was aware of.

This will be my last mention of bowling in this thread because we just got it back on track.

Mathias said:

I have an irrational fear of SIDS, and check on my kids every hour until they're a year old.

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I share your irrational fear.

I don't have kids, but if I did I would share in your fear as well.

It'll probably be why my kids will grow up with an irrational fear that some man is watching them sleep, trying to discern if they are still breathing, and maybe if they lie still and hold their breath the scary man will go away...

Considering it's the leading cause of death in healthy infants over the age of one month, it's not THAT irrational of a fear.

Speaking of escalators, I actually have a horror story to share. When I was very young, like 4 years old or so, I was with my mother in a department store, and we were riding the escalator upwards. Being a mischievous little boy, I tried stuffing the tip of my shoe into the narrow gap between the edge of the escalator and the side panels.

Next thing I know, my shoe got caught in the gap, and gets ripped apart. I still remember my leather shoe splitting in half, and the front half disappearing into the gap. The escalator ground to a halt, everybody on it was wondering what happened, and my mother immediately left the store with me and took me home.

It wasn't until I was older, and thought back on that incident, that I realized how lucky I was not to lose any toes. At the time, all I could think about was how silly I looked, with half my shoe gone and my foot sticking out.

Oh, and I have a phobia of lightning, to the point where I stay away from windows during a thunderstorm.

Man, I don't even have kids and SIDS scares the hell out of me - to the point that any time we're around someone's kid I'm constantly a little on edge if the kid's asleep. Friend of mine lost a nephew in the middle of a school day (he was a teacher), and we were a small enough town that everyone knew about it instantly. To that point I'd never seen such a rock steady man completely lose it.

Me personally, well, I'm a hypochondriac, though I've been doing a much better job at keeping that under control the last 6 months or so. I'm also incredibly afraid of dark water. Not of drowning mind you, but of something that I can't see touching my legs. Also, sharks. And jellyfish.

I think being afraid of stuff like monstrous predators or things that can cause you great harm is in no way irrational. It's how we survived as a species. Now, Kagsin's fear of bellybuttons, that's fucking irrational.

I don't think my fear of spiders is irrational. They are horrible evil things. Evil should be feared.... and hated.

I do feel I take it to a stupid level though. Once, as I may have shared before, I had to have my sister's then girlfriend come and kill a spider for me because i was too scared to do it myself. This required calling her on the phone and her driving across town.

On a side note, my sister's ex girlfriend is an awesome person.

I fear that one day I'll have to draw my sidearm... and the trigger will refuse to depress.

Like, seriously, straight-up nightmares at least once a week about it.


That and the way my cats will occasionally lick my face at random in the middle of the night... as if they're juuuuuust checking to see if I'm still warm, and thus inedible.

I won't drink milk if it's past the date on the label. Intellectually I know it's still good, but I just can't drink it. I gag.

Dave said:

I won't drink milk if it's past the date on the label. Intellectually I know it's still good, but I just can't drink it. I gag.

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This. I sometimes throw things out if they're even close to the expiration date, just in case, even if they smell/look totally fine.

Also, fish. I love eating them, but I've developed a huge phobia of fish to the point where I get nervous being in open water. I'm a great swimmer and I'm not afraid of drowning, but I'm worried I'm going to feel a fish brush past my legs. *shudder*

I am scared of the spider that lives in your keyboard.

*checks off another* This is coming along fine now. Shego, how's your list going?

Oh, side note. I'll just put this here...

noooooo burn that bathroom down....

SeraRelm said:

*checks off another* This is coming along fine now. Shego, how's your list going?

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I'm afraid of bologna sandwiches and hawaiian punch. And doritos! Or sun chips if they got em. Maybe you should write that down.

That would be even more hilarious if it was a female sitting down on that seat...

There is nothing funny about that picture. Needs cleansed with fire.

makare said:

I don't think my fear of spiders is irrational. They are horrible evil things. Evil should be feared.... and hated.

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Jumping spiders aren't so bad. It's those long-legged spiders, hanging above your head, floating slowly down to suck out your innards.

I have several but here are the first two that came to my mind.


Every time I see a storm drain I am terrified of somehow losing my keys,phone,etc down them. I always end up gripping whatever is in my hands extra hard and if I have it in my pocket I feel my pocket to make sure it is still there.

Anytime I look down from a high place I am afraid that my glasses are going to fall off my face and I am going to lose them . I have been wearing glasses for practically my whole life and it has never happened but I continue to be concerned over it.

SeraRelm said:

Oh, side note. I'll just put this here...

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Well, now I have to check under the lid every time I go to sit down.

Are there big spiders in Mississauga? I know in Alberta, the biggest they get is like a couple of cms long.

Frankie Williamson said:

Are there big spiders in Mississauga? I know in Alberta, the biggest they get is like a couple of cms long.

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I don't know. Never seen any but that doesn't mean they don't exist. Never seen them in Oakville either.
Back home we have dock spiders though. They're pretty huge and horrifying. That's only about an hour north of here so they must have them here too, but you don't see them much away from lakes and stuff.

Sea weed. I know it's silly, but something about their clammy texture just gives me the willies. Plus, you can never know what lurks hidden within them...

Otherwise my irrational fears are rather mundane. I don't have the best of balances so I steer clear of ledges out of fear of falling; changing a lightbulb in my living room is a bit scary because I need a stepladder to reach the lamp, and not four feet away is the window... with a two-story block straight into pavement. And even though I'm careful as hell, there's always the fear I've forgotten something when I go out; whether it's the passport when travelling, or leaving the stove on in general.

Rational fears, however... *sighs* Well, you know my situation. Sometimes I just find myself thinking what would happen if the treatments didn't work. How much time would I have, how could I spend it, trying to tell the bad news to friends and family... I just try not to think about it and hope for the best. Sometimes that fear just gets to me...

North_Ranger said:

Plus, you can never know what lurks hidden within them...

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Food with bones in it.

I have no idea why, and it only started in my late teens, but my teeth scraping bone just makes me gag.

Bowielee said:

Food with bones in it.

I have no idea why, and it only started in my late teens, but my teeth scraping bone just makes me gag.

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At least we the people who know you can now rest easy, knowing that should the world end in a nuclear armageddon, you will not be gnawing on our bones in the postapocalyptic aftermath.

I, on the other hand, would eat each and every one of you if and when the need arises.

Fear number 1: Being surrounded by Chinese people.