Re: Our Fears
 

Re: pediophobia and Child's Play...

Does anyone remember that My Buddy doll that was around in the eighties? The one that looked like Chucky?

I first saw Child's Play with my younger brother when we were very young, around Christmas time. Come Christmas, he got a My Buddy doll, but was so terrified by it that my parents decided to store the thing in a closet. Well, one morning I woke up very early, grabbed the doll out from the closet and placed it on my brother's bed, right next to his face.

He woke up sometime later, screaming at the top of his lungs, believing the doll had come to life. Unfortunately my bratty laughter gave me away and I got a good yelling by my parents.

P.

Re: Our Fears
 

Oh, how could I have forgotten about this phobia of mine!

My problem is that I can’t make phone calls and speak with people I’ve never met. I find such a procedure simply impossible. There is something horrible in speaking with someone who is nothing but a voice in a receiver – something artificial and uncanny. If someone calls on my cell and I see “private number” or a new number… I don’t pick up. For me it would be like having a conversation with someone from outer space! Paradoxically, when speaking with unknown people tête à tête I tend to be very talkative.

Today, I have been reminded of this phobia in the worst way possible. A coworker from top national newspaper (where I receive my free training) approached my desk saying: ‘Having in mind your linguistic abilities I have a perfect task for you. You’re gonna make three calls to airports in the US, France & Spain & try to learn everything you can about the new security measures, cancelled flights etc etc. Simple, right?’

I thought I’m going to freak out! Hell, if it is supposed to be simple for me to make three international calls and speak in three foreign languages with three mysterious ladies or gentlemen, then why can I hardly speak with my new neighbor through the intercom?

I guess I will never forget the sea of eyes that turned in my direction when I said: “I’m sorry, but… hmm… you see… I really caaaan’t do THIS!” and the long moment of silence when everyone kept staring at me in the we’re-gonna-make-you-do-it way. What a corporate horror!

Well, for the next week, in order to cure this sore point of mine, I’ve been appointed to receive a few phone calls in the newspaper’s international department. This may turn out to be the worst experience of my life, but I know I have to pull myself together and get rid of that bloody phobia.

I can’t stop imagining it.

YELLOWISH HAZE: (…) How can I help you?

THE VOICE: Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn???

Don't worry about it, Yhaze. Just imagine they are only human beings at the other end of the phone and not really the monsters they truly are. Or vice versa, dependent on your mood at the time.

I can sympathise, however.

Good luck with it.

Re: Our Fears
 

Slawek, perhaps the stars are right... for a career change. Seriously, your fear is not uncommon. A portion of my work involves processing credit card transactions for fundraising. When something goes awry with a transaction, I have to contact the donor. More often than not, I reach an answering machine or voice mail system. More often than not, my messages are ignored. They probably fear that I'm a scammer, even though I clearly identify myself and the charitable cause which they pledged a gift to. In this instance, I would much prefer a cold contact with a real person, even though I cringe at the thought of the call itself...

Re: Our Fears
 

Des, GSC, thank you for encouragement.

Remember Buffalo Bill From Silence of the Lambs saying: 'It puts the lotion in the basket and gets the hose again?'

I can imagine myself sitting at my desk and hearing the same indifferent tone telling me: 'It picks up the phone and dials the number'.

Keep your fingers crossed. I'm off to work.

Re: Our Fears
 

I am totally afraid of stuffed animals. It makes no difference whether said effigy (is that really proper in a nonhuman context?) is the product of Cynothoglys (the mortician or taxidermist god) or the toy store. The result is the same: utter repulsion and morbid fear. In an antique shop in Belgium, I saw an ancient and worn stuffed artificial kitty with one eye and a stitched red mouth. I will never stop dreaming about this monstrosity...

Re: Our Fears
 

My Achille's heel is anything that is too far away, but just in my field of perception. This could be either a miniature house, someone very far away shouting at me so I can only barely hear their voice, or very quiet music. 'Fear' barely describes the feeling this produces in me - an anxiety attack is brewing just writing this.

The reason for this is because when I was about 10 years old I suffered from an extremely delirious fever in which Speedy Gonzales was screaming at me from very far away.

Messed up, I know. But I've been having panic attacks since I was 4, so my mental health isn't exactly balanced anyways...

Re: Our Fears
 

I think I've got a slight fear of just about everything.

I'm agoraphobic, in the "open space" sense (among others,) and it manifests in some weird ways: when I'm flying in an airplane, I sometimes imagine the body of the plane disappearing into thin air in mid-flight, leaving me to plummet miles to the earth. That scares me more than the idea of a regular ol' plane crash, though that's certainly far down on my list of desired ways to go. Similarly, outer space freaks me out, and the idea of suffocating slowly while floating around in a spacesuit terrifies me. And if I have to float past a huge planet in the process, forget it!

Re: Our Fears
 

ventriloquist, normally I would suggest that you avoid reading the 1964 story "The Man with the Speckled Eyes" by R. A. Lafferty. However, I'm taking my first ever college course (Psychology 101) at a local community college. Reverse psychology may be in order! Face your fears! This story involves falling away from Earth... No, no, you shouldn't read it, after all. Never mind.

Was that the dinner bell?

Salivating,
Rover

Re: Our Fears
 

Hey, your reverse psychology just might work; that story sounds interesting. In my personal "floating through space" scenarios, though, I imagine I'd eventually stop panicking and start enjoying the sights. (After all, it's a unique and oddly romantic way to go.) It's just difficult to predict how long it would take me to stop soiling my spacesuit.

I'd probably start panicking again if I realized I wasn't going to die, but rather drift along helplessly for however many aeons it took before I crashed into something else. Maybe I'd lose my mind and create an imaginary universe in which to take refuge. Kinda like another man in the heavens I know.