My Crazy Phobias

Today I was thinking about the crazy phobias that plague me.

Here's a big one: Imagine what it's like to have two little kids and everywhere you go, people are handing them balloons (especially at restaurants), and you accept them with mounting anxiety because what kind of parent would you be if you didn't let your kids have a balloon? Balloons are fun enough, except for when you are a globophobic, which is a fear of balloons, which really means that you're not afraid of balloons, per se, but the sudden explosive bursting of a balloon. All through my children's early years and right up until last night when I had four leftover balloons (from a work program) in the back of my car, I lived in fear of balloons suddenly bursting.

My anxiety over sudden, loud noises carries over to my hatred of loud, bright fireworks. I'm probably in the minority of people who cannot stand fireworks (Too loud! Too bright!), anxiously and count the minutes until they're over every 4th of July.

Another big fear of mine is plugging in electrical devices that could suddenly turn on when plugged in. Specifically, lamps and things like vacuum cleaners. I have no idea where this fear came from. I can only guess that my early years were a haze of plugging in things that suddenly lit up or made a loud sound. I googled "fear of plugging in electrical devices" but, alas, there doesn't seem to be a phobia name for that one. Yet.

Probably my third big fear is lighting matches from a matchbook (as opposed to lighting the wooden match kind). I have never been able to light a match this way. Too scary for me. Weird, huh? I suppose I'd be in super big trouble if I were a smoker.

Everybody has phobias, and I have the usual ones that are common such as claustrophobia and a fear of drowning, to name just a few. I remember my niece Nic, who's now 26, being terrified of clowns. I have to admit I find most clowns pretty creepy also. Especially the one featured in the recent movie Zombieland (picture at right). That's the stuff of nightmares.

In general, I consider myself a pretty well adjusted person, with a "normal" amount of phobias. That is, until I just re-read this post and realized how crazy I sound. Now I'll probably develop a blogging phobia, and coin a term it! Maybe it could be called blogophobia! Maybe...