Do you have a weird and unfounded fear? It’s not just me, right? My fear, as embarrassing as it is, is talking to strangers on the phone. I love to talk on the phone to my friends (You would probably faint if you saw my phone bill). But the minute I have to talk to the pizza guy or–heaven forbid–the plumber I become a simpering little flower and can barely open my mouth. In real life I can talk to anyone. Face to face I have these majestic powers of small talk. But all paranoia breaks loose when I have to talk on the phone. This makes no sense to me. It doesn’t add up. I’m deathly afraid that the air conditioning repairman/realtor/high school secretary will see me as the fraud that I am and laugh at me. I know, I know, that would never happen. But in my mind it will. It will, I’m telling you!
And you? Are you fear and paranoia-free? (We won’t even discuss how terrified of spiders my husband is and how he runs away screaming like a little girl whenever he sees one.)
{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
Spiders is definitely mine! It’s one that I realize I need to get over… and I know the first step is looking at pictures of spiders until I can handle it, but I just… ew. I have to do a nightly check in my bedroom (and make Husband do it, too) every night before going to bed. We have assigned corners to check.
Today I noticed an empty cup and lid on the table in the break room and asked someone else to check and make sure no one had trapped a bug (AKA spider) in it so I could sit comfortably at the table…
It’s a little annoying.
I actually have the same phobia with the phone. I know it is silly, but I completely freeze up on the phone.
Your husbands fear of spiders is hysterical until you realize he’s serious. Poor, tormented man.
Yeah, that phone thing is weird. Sorry.’
I don’t have any irrational fears. Yet.
I also hate talking to strangers on the phone. In fact, I’m convinced that it is a wide-spread fear and one of the main challenges to Visiting Teaching. It’s hard for people to call someone they don’t know. I think introducing people to each other before they have to visit would help alleviate the fear of calling strangers. Just sayin’.
Crap that reminded me I failed to call the new unknown name on my VT list last month.
I was just thinking about this today! I am terrified of being recorded. I don’t mind still pictures, it’s things where I have to talk and something is recording what I say. I used to write down every word before I could leave a message on an answering machine. My biggest fear is calling in to win a contest on the radio, or worse, being interviewed on the news.
I hate talking on the phone, especially to make appointments. I also have a fear of murderers hiding in my closet or under my bed until I fall asleep. That is one step past irrational.
I too have a phone fear. Crazy but true. I do not understand it, but it is getting slightly better with age. I laugh because I always make my husband order pizza, I just can’t do it. I would rather drive to the store and wait for an hour cursing myself for not calling it in, then call it in. I also struggle with returning things to the store, I know CRAZY!!! But I think returning things is only an issue because it requires dragging anywhere between 1 and 5 kids to do it.