No matter how much therapy I attend there are just some issues from childhood I'll never be fully free from; in particular, crippling fears and specific haunts. And I know I'm not alon. I'm still no fan of the dark and I always give sufficient credence to any and all superstitions, there is no reason to tempt fate; especially since I've made it this far.
I loathe most insects, snakes and anything that resembles a rat. And I actually think those are healthy issues. Some fears are just unshakeable. Do you agree?
Redditor u/Chaelaminsky1990 wanted to hear about details of the past that so many of us just can't seem to outrun, by asking:
What irrational fear did you have as a kid that you thought you'd grow out of but never did?
I grew up in New York. When I was about six, I was walking up the stairs from the train when a rat fell from the street onto my head. I don't remember the rest. Need I say more?
Look Away
Scared Dog GIF by MOODMAN
Giphy
"Mirrors, I'm always have a thought that I'm going to see something that I shouldn't. lol"
Deep Blue Sea...
"Sharks in the pool at night. Can't see 'em but I know they're there."
"Came here to say this, but it goes beyond pools. It can be any body of water. Sometimes when I'm in the shower I just start thinking about sharks and have to shower real fast and get the freak out of there."
"Sometimes I get freaked out when I'm not even around water thinking I'm just gonna wake up and realize I've been passed out in the middle of the ocean with a shark about to attack me. Kinda weird. I watched Deep Blue Sea when I was really little and it freaked me out, and I've always blamed it on that."
Can't See
"The dark, I'm 48."
"My caution meter goes up. Not like I can't walked around my house in the dark but hearing or watching horror or thriller stories, it's quite rational to be cautious and recheck all the doors are locked."
"It's not just 'the dark' for me, I'm fine in the dark outside or in rooms of my house. It's dark in unfamiliar places/rooms."
From Beneath
"The fear that something under my bed will grab my foot if it hangs off the bed."
"Yo... I specifically store a bunch of stuff under my bed so it is all full up under there specifically so I can know. NOPE NO MONSTERS HIDDING IN THERE. and if they are. They much smaller than me so I could overpower those smurf sized monsters grabbing my feetsies. Not tonight non-existent underbed gnomes. Not tonight."
- Kondrias
Mighty Waters
loud house animation GIF by Nickelodeon
Giphy
"As a child every time a toilet clogged I would start crying because I thought it was going to overflow, flood the house and we would all drown. Now I don't cry, but the fear is still there."
I hate toilets. I've been involved in too many floodings. It's like I'm cursed when I go number two. And that under the bed thing, that's real problem.
Entanglements
Jazz Seaweed GIF by The Itchyworms
Giphy
"Swimming in the ocean in the sections that have sea weed and are consequently dark."
Shut It!
"I absolutely cannot under any circumstances fall asleep if the closet door is open. I've tried so many times. I KNOW there's not demons in there but at the same time like what if there is???"
"I can't sleep with my bedroom door closed. Closet and my en suite bathroom doors HAVE to be closed, but the door to the bedroom HAS to stay open. I blame my being a mom. WhAt If SoMeTHiNg HaPpEnS tO tHe BoY aNd I dOn'T hEaR iT!? He's 11 now and in no risk of SIDS or anything else I panicked about when he was a baby."
- KixStar
KaBoom!
"It took a long time to grow out of but propane tank and torches used to freak me out I thought everytime one was turned on it could possibly explode."
- Boat3000
"Me too! I was probably 8 hanging around in the basement of one of the "older boys". I was helping him with something and he was using a little propane torch."
"Well I guess he didn't tighten the tip onto the propane bottle well enough, propane escaped creating a second flame that went spewing out the side. He freaked out and threw it and we both BOLTED out of the house - his Mom in tow. Luckily a larger fire didn't start but I was quite fearful of those things for a long time. Now I know how to handle them and I can sweat pipes with little anxiety."
Superstitions...
"I'm 27 and I still smack the light off and run up the stairs like a dog ASAP."
- jrocbb
"I'm 32 and still jump in bed and hide under the blanket for a minute until my eyes adjust. Thankfully I only have to do this at certain relatives houses as I have a light with hanging switch above my bed so I can do it while partially under cover already."
Who is there?
"Always checking behind the shower curtain before using the restroom. My dad used it to scare me so much as a kid, that I now get relatively extreme anxiety from a closed shower curtain."
"Yup I have my own apartment now and only clear shower curtains are allowed lmao. Nothing happened to trigger this fear, except possibly a movie or something where the killer was hiding behind a shower curtain? Idk but at my parent's house I still check under and in anything in my room a killer could be hiding in before I go to sleep so I guess I'm just paranoid. lol"
Let me Poop
steve irwin snakes GIF by Bustle
Giphy
"A snake swimming through my plumbing lines and biting me in the butt while I'm taking a poop. It went away after a while until I saw a video of this exact scenario happening. Now I will never be able to poop in peace."
What did I tell you about snakes? See! And it's wise to always check every corner of the house when you can. You never know.
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***WARNING: THIS ARTICLE CONTAINS SENSITIVE MATERIAL. PROCEED WITH CAUTION!***
I can't think of anything hilarious at the moment. Make us LOL.
Lady
Shocked Oh No GIF by Yêu LuGiphy"I have this friend, love him to bits, but his wife has a tendency of just constantly showing everyone pictures of their son at every social event. At the start it was understandable, but now I'm just like 'Lady, it's been two years; they're not going to find him.'"
UnoriginalUse
at 9am...
"Not the most morbid but I love Anthony Jeselnik’s story about his neighbor who has Alzheimer’s. 'One of my next door neighbors is a 90 year old man suffering from Alzheimer’s. And every single morning at 9am he knocks on my door and asks me if I have seen his wife.'"
"'Which means that every single morning at 9am I have to explain to a 90 year old man suffering from Alzheimer’s that his wife has been dead for quite some time. Now I’ve thought about moving. I have thought about just not answering my door in the morning. But to be honest, it’s worth it… just to see the smile on his face.”
dreagan021
Comedy?
"Why can't orphans play baseball? They don't know where home is."
GW2RNGR
"Why can't orphans play tennis? They get confused when they hear love."
JayDub506
People who make comedy are evil. LOL.
The Darkness
That 70S Show Reaction GIF by LaffGiphy"Dark humor is like food; not everyone gets it."
storm_the_castle
God Laughs?
"A Holocaust survivor dies and goes to heaven, where she meets God. To break the tension she tells God a joke about the Holocaust, but God doesn’t laugh. The lady shrugs and says 'I guess you had to be there.'"
“'I guess you had to be there' is a common expression used when someone doesn’t laugh at a joke. It means that the comedy may not translate without the context of the situation."
"In this case the Holocaust survivor is saying it, meaning that during the Holocaust God was nowhere to be found. It’s not really a joke about the Holocaust, but the absurdity of belief in a benevolent God. Hilarious right?"
semimillennial
Oh Baby
"How many dead babies does it take to fix a light bulb? More than 3 cause my garage is still dark."
sirnibs3
I don't know whether to laugh or cry. Because I don't know what it says about us as people if we laugh. Oye.
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Curious to hear from strangers online, Redditor Liam_Tang asked:
"People who've divorced, aside from adultery, what were the irreconcilable differences that ended the marriage?"
You think you know a person when you walk down the aisle.
These Redditors were in for a rude awakening.
Pet Neglect
"My wife divorced her ex for many reasons, but the final straw was when she went out of town for a few days, and when she got back he had not fed or given water to the dog. The dog lived a long and happy life after that."
– StrangeCrimes
Obsessed With A Crush
"Not me, but I had an old coworker that divorced his wife for spending their entire savings on candy crush and games of the same type."
– Hexis40
Compatibility Musts
"ITT: Intimacy (sex/romance), beliefs (religion/spirituality/politics), kids, and I haven’t seen it yet but it’s coming: finances."
"The big four. You REALLY need to discuss these things in detail BEFORE getting married."
– rabbiskittles
Physical violence is a legit reason for people to peace out of a relationship.
The Flattening
"She threatened to hit me with a hammer."
– michaelrohansmith
Hitting The Bottle
"She became an abusive alcoholic. It was sad but I had to get out."
– diegojones4
Emotional pain is too damaging to recover from.
Truth Hurts
"She told me as we stood in front of the judge ending our 7 year marriage, 'I never loved you, I just wanted kids.'"
– Pinch_Dogs
Can't Fix Angry
"She was beautiful/smart but an angry angry person. I thought I could be sweet to her and 'fix' that. Heh. She kicked the crap out of me emotionally. Wife II has been a walk in the roses for 32 years now :)"
– lowlandr
A change of heart is worthless if comes too late.
"We Could've Had A Nice Marriage
"He could not understand that my wants and needs were as important as his wants and needs. We tried to make it work for 7 years. During that time, for things that were really important to me, I tried explaining logically, asking nicely, begging, crying, yelling, passive aggressiveness... cycled back through all of these options multiple times."
"(If I knew something was important to him, I would do that. For example, he was really into sports, so I went to all his events, even though that is not at all my thing.) When I finally threw up my hands and told him it was time to get a divorce, he suddenly panicked and said 'What can I do? Do you want me to do half the chores? I'll do it! Do you want me to get a job? I'll do it! Do you want me to buy you presents for your birthday? I'll do it!'"
"So, in other words, he could have been doing that all along, but just couldn't be bothered. That made me so angry. We could have had a nice marriage that we both enjoyed, but no, by the time he saw the light, that ship had sailed."
"We are both happily remarried now (to different people) and I joke that his new wife owes me a thank you note. It was his experience with me that taught him to listen to her and take her needs seriously."
– Bluebird-True
"What Can I Do?"
"My ex was exactly like this. I didn't marry him but when I told him let's break up, he went all like, what can I do? Let's get engaged, let's look at houses, etc. Basically all the pre-marriage topics that we should be discussing about after being together for 7 years."
"I got so angry and straight up told him it's too late... I don't need you anymore."
– gudetarako
As much as a couple wants to stay together, unforeseen circumstances can eventually tear people apart.
Very few people can maintain healthy long-distance relationships.
When a new job opportunity takes a significant other away, would you begrudge them for wanting a better position to earn more money? Or is it better for them to reluctantly turn down the opportunity so they could stay with you? Do either scenarios breed resentment?
These were questions I've often asked myself with past relationships, and my answers varied depending on the person I was with.
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