I used to have two things that drove me nuts. Some call them phobias? A metal Rake on concrete was as bad as fingernails on a chalk board. Spiders. Spiders were my nemesis, I couldn’t touch one on a page. I outgrew those as I aged, gracefully I might add.
As adulthood overtook me, I discovered another strange quirk. “Light-bulbs when they blow out.”
I have tried to diagnose this reaction, or fear, of bulbs that go out. Generally they go out with a brilliant flash of blue, sometimes accompanied by a popping sound. Some bulbs expire gracefully, with just a quick dimming to nothingness.
Is it an ancient primal fear of lightning striking my caveman ancestors? Whatever it is always, always, results in me jumping half out of my skin. Sometimes dropping whatever I have in my hands and uttering a couple not so nice words (colorful metaphors). Michelle thinks this is humorous if she is nearby.
So if someone ever wanted to make me talk, all they would need is a bank of light bulbs that can be rigged to blow out, one at the time on demand. I’ll sing like a Canary.
Comments welcome,
It’s good to know in case I find out you are harboring secrets. Colorful words? Like bluefish?
Uh (blush), yea, I’ll go with that one! Thanks for the comment, it gave me a smile this afternoon.
I’ll take light bulbs over spiders any day! 🙂
Amen to that! Thanks for dropping in and the comment. I still don’t like spiders much.
I guess every one has one or two quirks. I also do not like to hear sound of metal in contact with concrete.
It always just set my teeth on edge, and gave me chills to hear metal on concrete. Thanks for the visit and comment, I appreciate you.
I couldn’t imagine what a bright phobia would be. Now I know. If you were making a drawing to show someone having an idea, would you avoid a light bulb?
No, it was just the event of the bulb blowing that bothered me. I guess it would be described as a situational phobia. I think the rake on cement was more of a discomfort than a phobia. Thanks for the comment.
Thoughts: I don’t think the rake-on-concrete thing qualifies as a phobia. Extremely annoying, yes… but trust me, I know phobias. Thirty years ago, I couldn’t drive on bridges or highways, would get terrible panic attacks. Finally went away (I got help!) but boy do I remember! Now the spiders, oh yes!! Heh, that could easily qualify. I can’t STAND ’em. I don’t quite panic though… but close. Now the light-bulb thing, my guess is that it’s just so completely unexpected – the noise, the flash, sure… like a miniature lightning flash – I’ll go with that!!
I beleive your right Ellie, I stand corrected on the rake-on-concrete. That would not qualify as a phobia. I had to look up phobia. I agree, the light-bulb blowing is more an irrational reaction/fear of a situation or event than a living thing. My light-bulb might barely qualify as a phobia of a situation according to what I could find, but it is not a “phobia” as most of the world judges.
(A phobia is an irrational fear, a kind of anxiety disorder in which the individual has a relentless dread of a situation, living creature, place, or thing.)
My light-bulb thing falls in a really grey area and may not be a classified as a phobia. 🙂 Thanks so much for the comment.
Ok Ron, here’s a piece I wrote some years ago and decided to post in my blog. It’s about this phobia/anxiety thing: https://crossedeyesanddottedtees.wordpress.com/2015/08/03/driving-me-crazy/
Ellie, I have been right in that vehicle with you in the past. I felt all those things, so many people don’t understand the bridge thing. I live where the bridges aren’t that high, but I had to drive over one in New Orleans years ago and thought I would have a heart attack!. I have pretty much conquered the bridge problem, but it can crop up once in a while if it is a huge, very high bridge.
OMG the high bridge here, we have one that looks like it’s soaring RIGHT UP INTO THE SKY, i had a HUGE panic attack near that one; my dad had to – well here, here’s the link for my post which includes the panic attack I’m referring to! https://crossedeyesanddottedtees.wordpress.com/2016/03/18/me-and-my-dad/
I enjoyed that. I had to get my wife to drive us over a bridge once as I just couldn’t do it. I could stare down people with knives as an officer, I could drive in high-speed-pursuits, but a high bridge at that time was my breaking point. Thanks for sharing those with me, I enjoyed them.
Anytime! I got a million of ’em! Lol