
I hate clowns. Like a lot. I know a lot of people have a clown fear, but mine manifests more like an irrational anger towards clowns - thing is, I have a really good reason for it.
When I was younger, my mother decided to take me to a parade. She got a great spot up by the barricades and things were going great - until the clowns. I don't know what the hell this one clown was thinking, maybe they got caught up in the festivities or maybe they were a serial killer. Who knows.
What we do know is this clown reached over the barricade, took me out of my mothers arms, and just kept on marching. My mother (a whopping 5 feet tall) had to run after me, weaving through a Manhattan parade crowd, screaming that the clown had her baby.
Security wouldn't let her over the barricade, and the crowd wasn't exactly thrilled about being shoved aside. It took a while but eventually she managed to get me back and fire off some choice language to the clown in question.
Since then, clowns are like an instant no-thank you.
Reddit user @Sjuma19 asked:
What is the weirdest phobia that you have?
Here are some of the best (worst?) responses.
Answer The Phone
That my parents are dead, especially when it takes them a while to answer the phone. It's the weirdest f*ing anxiety I have every time. I remember this anxiety as far back as when I was in grade school where my parents had to pick me up and I worry they are in a car accident when they pick me up late.
Now I'm a grown man and I still get this heavy feeling in my gut when neither of them pick up the phone after my third ring.
The Ultimate Humiliation
I'm terrified that I'll go to a threesome and the other two people will ignore me completely.
Into The Sky
Casadastrophia, its described as a fear of falling into the sky but the only time I notice is is if I'm in a big open area, next to a really tall building or I'm in a building with a tall ceiling usually stadiums.
Oh woot. That's a phobia. My scariest dreams are of this. Straight falling upwards and trying to stay in buildings to not fly off. I'm getting better at mastering it though. That's the trick!
- _AJ__
There are dozens of us! Empty parking lots on a cloud-free day, man... It has to do with balance though. People who rely more on visual queues for balance, when we have no reference point to the ground we feel like we are tripping and hence "falling" up. So at least there is a weird logic behind it.
- Burdicus
The Deep
Thalassophobia.
It's not as much a fear of the ocean or deep water as it is a fear of the creatures in it and the disadvantages that the environment places on a human being.
Think about it. You're deep down, visibility is low, you have no idea what's out there, but you know full well that whatever IS out there is a hell of a lot faster than you. It can attack you from any angle. Above, below, behind you. You can't watch everywhere and as soon as you try to surface for air there's no possible way you'd see something lunging at you.
The Stairs
I hate walking up those stairs that have gaps in them. Give me a solid staircase any day. Ever since I was a kid I always freaked out going up them worrying that I'd slip through.
My old school had stairs like this. The boys would stand under them and look up dresses/skirts, or they'd reach out and grab kids ankles.
It got to the point where we'd all wait for the teacher after lunch and walk up with them, or get in late. It went on for months.
I remember feeling so frustrated one day that I walked out of class, went straight to the principals office, and reported every single one of those little f*ckers. Naturally, it turned into a massive sh*tshow.
For a week every kid in class was called in for interviews, and I guess since the ball was rolling all other girls started naming who'd done what to whom as well. Parents were called in. Some appalled, some refusing to believe their kids were perving/had almost frigging killed kids by tripping them. There were 2 suspensions, and almost every boy in class got 3 months of detention.
I spent the rest of the year being hated by all boys in class but one (the only one who hadn't participated, and was often a target for grabbing). At the time it was awful but looking back probably one of the best things I ever did in school. Someone could have died. Dumbarses.
Anyway, I too have this fear but it's very rational.
Thank God For Online Pizza Ordering
Calling people on the phone.
I am not unreasonable, I don't mean that I literally never call anyone, so "phobia" is a bit of a strong word. What I mean though is the idea of calling someone or answering the phone for someone I'm not intimately familiar with gives me serious anxiety. If a friend or family member calls me or vice versa, no problemo. But if I have to call or answer for anyone else? I'm sweating bullets. Even at work, my boss finally had to be blunt with me and tell me directly to answer the phone if it rings because I was low-key pretending to miss calls even though I may be the only person in the office at the time.
Thank God for online pizza ordering.
The Drain
Standing on the plughole in the shower, don't know why but it gives me the creeps. Like something is going to come up and stab me from inside?
I had a centipede crawl out of the drain while i was in the shower today. Nearly cried.
Really The Toilet
I developed, and thankfully eventually got over, the oddest toilet related fear. Every time I went to the loo, I was afraid that I was really elsewhere and doing my business in my pants, possibly in public.
For example, I would be peeing and have to assure myself with touch and sound and smell that indeed I was on the toilet. Not in bed sleeping and dreaming I was on the toilet. Not at work somehow asleep at my desk. Or anywhere else.
This lasted maybe two years and was quite frustrating and upsetting.
Crushed By The Sky
It's a little hard to describe, but wide open spaces. Specifically, outdoors. Like plane runways, meadows with no trees to act as borders. Really, any outdoor space, that when I look up into the sky, it feels like there's nothing stopping the literal sky from crushing me. Typing it out, it sounds ridiculous, and I know for a fact that that isn't ever going to happen. But I can still very vividly feel the panic and urgency of using my hands like blinders, staring down at the ground, as I quickly walk/ran to the nearest tree during our school field day.
The Ice Cream Man
This is SUPER weird but I have a phobia of the ice cream van. Whenever I hear the music it makes my stomach drop and I get a feeling of existential dread creeping over me. I've felt like this my whole life, my parents told me I used to get woken up from naps by our local ice cream van doing the rounds when I was like 2, crying that something was coming out of the sky to get me. These days I'm not quite as dramatic but any ice cream van music makes my skin crawl.
No idea why I feel like this, my theory is I must have been killed by an ice cream van in a previous life.
Other Liquids
I am disgusted by and terrified of drinking other liquids than water. For me it's not just not liking it, but actually being afraid of touching this liquid in any way or accidentally consuming it.
If someone pours himself a glass of a fizzy drink next to e.g. a bread basket, I won't touch or eat that bread anymore because it's 'contaminated'. I just get really anxious when near other liquids. Like full on fear. Heart pounding, sweating and being hyper aware of where that liquid is and what might get in touch with it.
Life is really tough right now.
It's never been easy, but the world is such a disaster, it's really hard to have faith in humanity.
We need to help one another.
And often times the greatest help comes from a complete stranger.
We all leave an imprint on one another, good or bad.
Some leave a more permanent one than others.
Redditornyxflarewanted to talk about the people from our lives that left a lasting impression. They asked:
"Who is one stranger you still remember?"
So who here still depends on the kindness of strangers?
1986
"I was leaving the hospital in 1986 with my husband and newborn. A lady in the elevator admired the baby and then looked at us and said, 'be good to each other.' We weren’t."
potato_bod_mom
Pay it Forward
"When I was 18 I was at McDonalds trying to get breakfast for all the guys from work, I came up like 5 bucks short and this old guy paid the difference and said 'you’ll have to help somebody out someday too.' So now whenever I get the chance to do something like that for someone that’s what I say. I hope the cycle makes it back to that guy."
hockeybag7
Thank You!!
"One day I woke up and had a headache. And that headache lasted every day for 2 years. I saw every doctor I could and tried every diet I could. No answers. My quality of life was non-existent and I was on the cusp of losing my job. I was at a restaurant with my mom, I was on one of my specialty diets that was supposed to help with headaches (spoilers, it wasn't)."
"I asked the waitress what was in the salad dressing. She asked 'I know it's none of my business, but can I ask why"' A short conversation later, she mentioned a doctor that worked specifically for people dealing with mold toxicity, otherwise known as MYCOTOXICOSIS."
"That waitress saved my life that day and I don't even remember her name. This was in Superior, Colorado at the now closed CB&Potts. If you happen to read this, you have no idea how grateful my family and I are to have run into you that day. Thank you."
thisendup76
Thanks Sweet Lady
"I had a person like this when I was a kid and I left my wallet next to a vending machine at the mall and when I came back it was gone. I lost a whole 7 dollars and I was devastated. This sweet little old lady saw me having a melt down and I was freaking out about how my parents were going to kill me and this lady legit gave me a 20."
"To an 8 year old who gets 2$ allowance per week a 20 was like getting handed 300$ as an adult. I hope it came back around for her too. Since this was in 1997 and she was probably 70 I don't think she would still be alive today."
mikee8989
"The Sikh man I met on a flight from god-knows-where to London who invited me to their temple to eat for free."
EbonicalHillbilly
I'm amazed. There are good people in the world. Still jaded.
Thank you stranger...
"My anxiety was at it's peak and I was walking home from school. Then someone came up to me and just started talking to be like I was a normal person."
"Social skills were @ss, but he didn't seem to care. Gave me the confidence I needed to start doing the same and helping others who were lonely. Thank you, stranger. It was because of him that I was able to help others get out of their Social awkwardness."
p1tch-dark__
Freezing
"It was around February 2016 and the city got hit with a massive snow storm, I remember waiting at the bus stop with a mother and her child in a stroller. The bus was 45 minutes delayed, it was very cold with the wind chill, when the bus arrived we both got on."
"I chose a seat of the opposite side of the bus and this mother and her now crying child was sitting near the front, I could see that the mother was trying to warm her sons hands but was having no luck while her child kept crying. I moved from my seat and sat next to her and took her child’s hands in my hands. His hands were freezing while mine were toasty from my gloves."
"After about 5 minutes, the child calmed down and the bus was quiet again. I stayed with that mother and child for almost 2 hours on the bus until we finally got to our stop. I never learned of the child’s name or the mothers. I just simple sat there with them warming her child’s freezing hands up."
Niishin
Stay for Me
"I don’t remember him, just what he did for me. I was 19, got t-boned in an intersection by someone running a red and was knocked unconscious. He was a witness, and I think someone said he was the first person to call 9-1-1. He took my phone while I was out (before the days of locking phones), called my house, no one home, called my dad’s cell, which was answered."
"He told my dad what had happened and which hospital the paramedics said they were taking me to, and somehow managed to avoid making my dad panic about me. I mostly came to before I got loaded into the ambulance, at which point he gave me back my phone and said my parents would meet me at the hospital."
"I gather he then stayed to talk to the cops to speak up for me because I didn’t remember what had happened and the other driver kept saying it was my fault. I never got to thank him for going so far out of his way to help a complete stranger."
DefunctPenguin
I think about her often...
"I believe I was 19 at the time. I worked at Walmart at time and was working in the back that day when a lady that worked in the meat department was walking past me crying, I hugged her and asked what was wrong. She was covered in bruises and she told me her boyfriend beat her. She opened up and told me she was leaving him so I asked if she needed a place to stay that way she's safe and she told me no."
"Turns out he was waiting outside for her during her lunch, I once again asked if she was okay and if she needed help and she said no. After that night I never saw her again. I have no idea if she is alive and safe. I hope she's okay, I think about her often."
Vampire_Bun
Crash
"This guy that helped me out after I rolled my truck, he was late for work because he stayed with me until the tow truck got there. Really restored my faith in humanity."
hockeybag7
Some people just leave a lasting impression. So better. Be kind.
When we hear the words "addict" or "addiction", our mind usually jumps to drugs and alcohol.
But addictive behavior transcends those common vices.
Indeed, people can find themselves becoming addicted to just about anything.
While some pose a less significant threat to one's physical health, they remain no less serious a problem.
Redditor Windsorbear97 was curious to hear which addictions the Reddit community felt weren't given enough attention of concern, leading them to ask:
'What is an addiction that nobody takes seriously?"
Time to cut back on the screen time...
"My phone and my usage of said phone."- VagueViper88
And not the kind you find on stage...
"Drama."
"Some people thrive and are addicted to drama and chaos."- CM_NRS
You can't just have one
"Binge eating."- Loulabee1983
Oh look at that, I must have it!
"Shopping."
"Especially if you grew up poor and have more money when you're an adult."
"My mom was so bad with this that when she died it was a disaster figuring out what she had paid for and where she had debt."
"I have a friend who would spend her whole paycheck on Amazon purchases and wouldn't even see this as being an issue, even when she would beg her parents or rich men for money to make rent."
"They usually buy junk they don't even need or clothes."
"So many clothes."
"They always shop when they are not feeling well, it is 100% a coping mechanism."
"I was in my 20s when I realized that no one else had a mom who would go to Walmart with a 100$ budget cause they were feeling sad."
"Such an obviously expensive addiction too." - User Deleted
How "social" is it though?
"Dopamine feedback loop from various forms of electronic entertainment and social media sites."- Clintman
"Social Media.'
"Went to a counsellor after I had taken any sort of social media app off of my phone in an attempt to stop using it to distract myself from what I'm feeling because I'm currently going through a break up."
"Basically as soon as I got too emotional in the session, she suggested we do this blinking exercise where you look at a nice photo and blink and do that a few times."
"we did this because she 'knew distractions worked well for me'."
"That's why I'm back here as well."
"Seems pointless to distract myself if my 'good' option is to be distracted by someone else sitting across the room."- Glum_Advertising_958
Can't think of getting through my day without it.
"Caffeine, without a doubt in my mind."- No_Relationship9732
Big money... not really
"Gambling."
"It’s taken seriously to an extent, but things like the lottery are very glamorized, and there’s so many tv competitions and radio competitions etc out there nowadays and they’re kinda gateways."- Safe-Initiative4266
There's no harm in putting something off... until it's too late!
"Procrastination."
"It’s embarrassing because I should be able to 'just do it', but then a task that shouldn’t feel too hard will feel so daunting and impossible, I’ll end up doing it late or sometimes not at all, and the whole cycle is the root of so many problems in my life."
"It’s emotionally and functionally horrible when it gets bad enough."
"I’ve read all the advice out there and none of it works for me for longer than a day or two."
"I’m at my wit’s end and feel crazy because it’s so illogical but I can’t stop."- thatbassonist
Indeed, if you find yourself unable to kick a particular habit, it might be worth asking yourself if this is, in fact, just a habit.
And then find the courage to ask for help should you need it.
Banning and censorship is nothing new in America.
Or, in the world at large really.
It all starts on a small scale.
They start stripping us of things at school and work.
You know, all for the greater good.
Redditor t0rnado_thegamerwanted to discuss the items that have been taken out of circulation for ridiculous reasons. They asked:
"What's the stupidest thing your school/work banned?"
I feel the banning has only just begun. But let's see what we've already lost.
Fallen
"We weren't allowed to build a snowman because it 'might fall on you.' They suggested we build a 'snow forest' instead - snowballs on the ground > 1 meter apart. Nobody built snow forests."
AntiparticleCollider
Signs
"6th graders and only 6th graders weren't allowed to draw outside of assigned art projects. I heard any number of reasons for the ban--'gang signs,' vandalism, distraction--but never got one for why the ban didn't apply to 5th or 7th graders. My only guess is that one of the 6th grade teachers just really hated seeing children's artwork."
hypo-osmotic
Silence
"My primary school (age 5 to 11) in the UK banned talking during lunch. Every single child had to eat lunch in a big room, in absolute silence. No talking to friends or socialising allowed. It was pretty insane now I think about it."
OneFreamon
"I was gonna comment this too. My school banned talking at lunch if it got too loud. We had a cup at each table the teachers would make us turn them over and stop talking frequently each lunch."
"The theory was that someone would choke and no one would hear them if it was loud. Incidentally, the only time somebody choked was during a period of quiet and nobody knew because YOU CAN’T TALK WHILE CHOKING!! The person was fine though."
AerobaticDiamond
The Rule Book
"The lack of shoes, as in there is an specific rule against it detailing what should and should not be worn in your feet, all this because a friend of mine read the Rule book and it only said that 'Students must always come wearing appropriate pants and shirts that do not break the etiquette code.' He went to school with shoes and took them off at the entrance for a semester just to piss off the principal. I love that guy."
Inkydex
Code
"Anything with a snowman on it. Apparently that was code for cocaine."
Cad-Banes
Wow, Snowmen really get a bad rap out in these streets.
Ouch
"We weren't allowed to say anything was easy because it might hurt the feelings of kids who didn't think that thing was easy."
tgrizzle69
Stay Dry
"Back in my high school, they banned water bottles unless they were clear bc people had been sneaking alcohol into school, but like clear alcoholic drinks are a thing?? so it basically did nothing."
randibird
"Our school did that, too, after previously banning water bottles altogether. One of my teachers then got really bent out of shape about so many people using disposable plastic bottles but the school was really strict about how clear your water bottle had to be and not everyone had a qualifying reusable bottle on hand so what did she expect?"
hypo-osmotic
in the ye' olden days...
"Bottle flipping when that was a trend in the ye' olden days long since forgotten. I don’t know why, and it’s not like they did a good job telling us about the ban so my first and only detention I’ve ever gotten was from flipping a stupid water bottle. That and the 'fight club' that formed in PE but that’s a different story."
Labrat_The_Man
Lies
"Probably Yugioh cards.They were banned because a group of moms made up a rumor that in another unspecified country a kid had died while holding a fiend-type monster, so clearly they were satanic. Years later I learned that one of those moms was my friend's mom and she just didn't want to buy the cards for her son."
GladiusNocturno
Ho Ho Ho
"Saying Christmas. Had to be called 'the current religious festival.' And no decorations were allowed."
PloppyTheSpaceship
Why are we banning the wrong things? This is nonsense.
People say parenting is one of the most rewarding things in life. That all of the lack of sleep, constant crying, and stress is worth it when you see your baby smile. And all of that is true, for the most part.
However, being a parent is hard, and it's not always easy to give that unconditional love. Sometimes, you do your best for your kids and they still turn out to be people you can't really reconcile with.
You'll always love your kids, but sometimes it's near impossible to like them.
Redditor eyriesistable asked:
"At what point did you realize you don’t like your own kid?"
Some Reddit Users Talked About Momentary Dislike
These are parents of young, cute toddlers and are mostly joking about disliking their kid.
Laughing At Pain
"My 2 year old just yanked my hair and laughed when I said 'ouch!'. I still love him but he's a little f*cker sometimes."
– Beansinside
The Classic Toddler Offense
"My two year old got sent home from daycare today because he bit three different kids, unprovoked, before noon."
– Brandonjoe
My Pet!
"He stole my cat."
"Only 18 months old the little prick and he's always had a fascination with animals, any time he sees one he points, starts walking towards it going "aaaaaaaww""
"Anyway, me and my cat used to be best buddies but currently my cat is sat in his lap whilst he's stroking him going "aaaaaaaww""
"And it's the same every day"
– IIPESTILENCEII
A Drinking Problem
"I walked in to her room and caught my kid sitting on her bed drinking a Pepsi. She has always known we are a Faygo household. I can look past some things but when you disrespect me in my own house I just don’t know how you get past something like that."
– thebreon
Waiting To Get Her Back
"Every time the lil' f*cker wakes us up before 5 am. Can't wait untill her teenage years, I will be up at dawn every day asking why she isn't getting out of bed and make some of her day instead. Revenge is only 10 years away."
– Redlax
Others Talked About Issues That May Never Be Resolved
These are parents who don't like their kids' personalities and don't see anything ever changing.
A Missing Bond
"For real, I used to have an issue for several years with my three daughters. I didn't feel the parental love that one would expect. I would still protect them from harm and all that but I did not have the emotional connection I thought I would with my kids. I spoke out of concern with my wife about it several times and she suspects that it was how I was raised by an abusive father figure. Nowadays the love is there but I feel that I missed out on too many things when they were growing up. I did not bond when I was supposed to I guess. I never really went out of my way to hold them when they were little. I just pray that I hid that fact well enough from them that they don't find out. I don't want them to think I don't care..."
– BentheWarlock
Some Of Them Want To Use You
"When they became a narcissistic adult-trash talking everyone for attention, me included. They are a user (of people) like I’ve never seen before. I still love them, but do not like them."
– 6moinaleakyboat
0 for 3
"My grandmother had 3 kids and doesn't like any of them. Loves all three but doesn't like them. The first is just an a-hole who used her for money and her house like a hotel. Second... they just don't click, total opposites. Third is a needy lil mooch/hoarder who throws tantrums over stuff like the frosting color on Easter cookies because "that's not how daddy did it when I was little""
– allhailqueenspinoodi
He Is Mean
"He started hating on me from an early age. He would literally give me the cold shoulder - monosyllabic responses to me while not looking up from his games, then become open and chatty when anyone else entered the room. I ate it for years - he's just a kid, right?"
"I ended up leaving his dad. He blamed me for everything and called the cops on me after yelling at me over the phone."
"I talked to his brother after the cops left. He was so frustrated on my behalf and only then told me all the low-key things younger brother had done under the radar; he was more mean than I realized; I thought it was only directed at me. My older son was sympathetic and made me feel better. He said his younger brother had a lot of issues."
"I really don't give my younger son an option to call the cops on me again."
– IntheCompanyofOgres
Lie, Lie, Lie
"I think it's kinda sad how I know that my stepfather (who had his own daughter) wished I was his kid instead of her. To be fair, the girl kept making stories up about what we did to her and she was alienating him from the rest of his family. I think I can even pinpoint the day he realised that this wasn't miscommunication but rather her just lying about everything."
"She ran away from home and after years of fighting it was finally calm. And honestly, screw her, she didn't have to lie to anyone about us, she didn't have to steal from me or my mum to the point that a gift for my birthday was a lock on my door."
"I hope she doesn't screw over whoever is taking care of her now but I doubt it."
– Aggressive_Tear_769
These are some intense stories! Parenting is hard, and the truth is, when it's good, it's good, but when it's bad, it's really bad.