When Bossy was a girl she was told you could never look in the direction of anyone welding because your eyes would burn.
So basically Bossy spent her childhood navigating a cityscape of blowtorches, terrified even the smallest amount of peeking would result in the riotous downfall of civilization. Or Bossy’s retina in flames, whichever came first.
But then Bossy saw this:
And Bossy began to think along the lines of: If Jennifer Beals can dominate a blowtorch maybe Bossy could sneak a very small look.
Also in Bossy’s childhood, she was told if she stared at a full moon on a particularly clear night, she would fall into a trance that would deliver her unaware to the tip of a rocky ocean jetty.
For those keeping track at home, Blowtorches and full moons. Two things you’ll never catch Bossy admiring.
What are your childhood fears, real and unfounded? Do it in Ten Words, if you want. Bossy misses that!
Charlie says
January 31, 2012 at 11:09 pmFave Fear: “Staring at a solar eclipse will blind you.”
__________
As a kid, I had a lot of fears. Some were rational: fire, extreme heights, my belt-wielding mom. And some not so rational: like if I cut my hand on something I’ll get blood poisoning, which will reveal itself by a red line crawling up a major vein to my heart. (Seems this happened to my maternal grandfather, resulting in the amputation of his right trigger finger.) Imagine the expression on the face of the school nurse when I spun that one.
La Suzette says
January 31, 2012 at 11:12 pmVolcanoes. I lived in California and had been to Mt. Lassen (at least 200 miles away). I was terrified that the volcano would blow up. I even thought the distant roar of an airplane engine was an eruption. Now I live 90 miles from Mt. Rainier (waaaaaaaaay bigger than Lassen!) and lived through the real eruptions of Mt.St. Helens. I’ll take those drugs, though, thx.
La Suzette says
January 31, 2012 at 11:14 pmCrimeny, I didn’t see the thing about 10 words. I miss it, too, Bossy!
Darcie says
January 31, 2012 at 11:21 pmQuicksand. I think Land of the Lost was to blame.
Chesapeake Bay Woman says
January 31, 2012 at 11:21 pmBoogie Man underneath bed will grab feet. Must dive in.
helenel says
January 31, 2012 at 11:22 pmMy cousin actually gave me this one – it still bothers me:
If toes hang over bed, George Washington bites them off.
(apparently, he hides at the bottom of the bed, with his wooden teeth…waiting…..waiting….)
Tootsie Farklepants says
February 1, 2012 at 12:02 amBeing chased. In the game of tag I was “it”….often.
Franca Bolla says
February 1, 2012 at 12:10 amLicking lips after smelling an oleander flower equaled immediate death.
This from a cousin, like helenel’s.
Jenn @ Juggling Life says
February 1, 2012 at 12:23 amGoing blind from reading in bad light. Didn’t stop me.
Little Miss Sunshine State says
February 1, 2012 at 12:28 amLightning will hit the house. Pack suitcase for quick exit!
Woodchucks in Grandmother’s back yard could bite! Stay far away!
leslie says
February 1, 2012 at 1:10 amI’m a rule-follower so it seriously pains me to write this in more than 10 words but I must. At a very young age I overheard my grandfather say someone had lost control of his car and died a fiery death. Thereafter I viewed driving as a game of chance. You never knew when a car would decide to seize control and kill you.
Wacky Mommy says
February 1, 2012 at 3:42 amTrolls Tarzan movies pits of fire my grandma’s canning yikes.
Jen M says
February 1, 2012 at 5:40 amCracks in the sidewalk. Sobbed all the way home from school one day convinced my mom’s back was broken.
amy says
February 1, 2012 at 8:19 amSay “Rabbit Rabbit” on the first day of the month before you say anything else or the month is ruined. Courtesy of my grandmother, who also debunked Santa Claus for me.
chris says
February 1, 2012 at 8:31 amBears and Bridges. Still verrrrrrry scarrrrry
Chris says
February 1, 2012 at 9:00 amGet goose bumps around geese. And walking chickens. Pigeons too.
hokgardner says
February 1, 2012 at 10:12 amUFOs and Big Foot gave me nightmares. Still do.
lora says
February 1, 2012 at 10:17 amYes Bossy, the full moon sure can take you places.
This was a big one in my childhood, I believed that if you looked at a full moon while walking, you wouldn’t be in the same place when you looked away. I am still convinced that it takes you forward or backwards in time, even if just a tiny bit.
Galiena says
February 1, 2012 at 10:26 amStepping on the dark part of the stairs to get to my bedroom, nighttime shadows, leaches in the creek.
CeeCee says
February 1, 2012 at 10:30 amNight sirens howl
Pacing, panting dogs.
Always mean
Tornado’s coming.
KathyB says
February 1, 2012 at 10:44 amCuban missile crisis: “Russians going to bomb us at recess.”
p.j. says
February 1, 2012 at 11:03 amDog at house on corner – always walked in the street.
km says
February 1, 2012 at 11:51 amPookie man in the well leaves adult fear of water
DawnA says
February 1, 2012 at 12:02 pmThe dark (still), closet monster, nuclear war (thanks Threads movie).
Abbeyroad says
February 1, 2012 at 12:49 pmLook in a mirror at midnight, see the devil standing behind you.
(Sorry, that was 12.)
Scottsdale Girl says
February 1, 2012 at 12:49 pmDark Water. Still can’t do it.
joeinvegas says
February 1, 2012 at 12:51 pmGoing blind from doing other things, found it’s not true.
CS says
February 1, 2012 at 12:51 pmRabid squirrels. Legitimate fear: squirrels ate hole in diaper bag!
z. mulls says
February 1, 2012 at 1:38 pmChewing gum on empty stomach results in holes in stomach
Olivia says
February 1, 2012 at 1:49 pmJunebugs. Confused one with a bear onetime. Long story.
Jami says
February 1, 2012 at 1:53 pmCresting a very steep bridge. No road on other side?
Meg at the Members Lounge says
February 1, 2012 at 2:15 pmEnter water at your own peril if you don’t wait the full hour after eating. Kids stare at water for an eternity while driving parents insane.
bossy's friend martha says
February 1, 2012 at 3:31 pmListen to soda cans for bees, tongue stung, swells, die.
dobes says
February 1, 2012 at 4:57 pmChildhood: Quick Draw McGraw’s identical evil twin Quick Draw McDraw. Lifelong: crunchy bugs.
Brenda S. says
February 1, 2012 at 5:55 pmEat watemelon seed, watermelon will grow out your belly button.
Michelle M. says
February 1, 2012 at 7:18 pmMust hold breath when driving by a nuclear power plant.
*still do this.
AngAK says
February 1, 2012 at 8:02 pmcut=lockjaw from tetanus. eclipse=blindness. wait 1 hour or drown.
Kansas City Chick says
February 1, 2012 at 9:04 pmMonsters under the bed & basement stairs, and peeping toms.
( I still run up the basement stairs)
Bobbie says
February 1, 2012 at 9:14 pmFalling into pond while ice skating; getting trapped under ice.
Beth says
February 1, 2012 at 9:51 pmold car overturned in river; someone die a watery death?
Catherine McP says
February 1, 2012 at 10:12 pmMake sign of cross when hear ambulance, or I’m next.
Sue says
February 2, 2012 at 1:09 amRussians dropping a nuclear bomb on New York and my not making it to the fallout shelter (read school corridor) in time. Seriously. Awful.
sour puss says
February 2, 2012 at 1:26 amA bat flying into my hair resulting in a shaved head.
mandible says
February 2, 2012 at 1:45 pmRapid squirrels – crossed streets to avoid them in deathly fear.
mandible says
February 2, 2012 at 1:46 pmSorry “rabid” – my mother scared the bejeebus out of me and ruined my love for squirrels forever
WebSavvyMom says
February 2, 2012 at 2:33 pm–>Swallowing gum and it stays in stomach 10 years.
WebSavvyMom says
February 2, 2012 at 2:34 pm–>Going blind by sitting too close to television.
Judy says
February 3, 2012 at 9:42 amLighting in the window at the end of the hall.
Liz in Virginia says
February 3, 2012 at 11:19 amSharks in the closet. Impossible; still, I close that door.
km says
February 3, 2012 at 1:30 pmdirt basements. bodies definitely in them. Current fear
Stefanie says
February 3, 2012 at 5:02 pmIf the cows are lying down, it’s going to rain.
Always hold breath driving across bridges, or they’ll fall down.
Evil faeries dance in my hair every night, causing tangles.
Ostriches are a big deal – hence, the Iran Ostrich Crisis.
Gorillas are terrifying, which is why we have gorilla warfare.
Don’t swallow watermelon seeds, they’ll take root in your belly!
Lightning in area – hang up the phone, before you’re zapped.
NumberWhisperer says
February 3, 2012 at 9:23 pmInhaling those delicious fumes at the gas station. Turns out those fears were founded. Good thing I only took little sniffs.
Kim says
February 3, 2012 at 10:57 pmWhite line fever…driving late at night when you are really tired. Sure to crash and die. Nothing to do with drugs.
Kris says
February 3, 2012 at 11:06 pmOMG, I had to comment on #14 – I THOUGHT I WAS THE ONLY ONE WHO DID THAT. I learned it from Nickelodeon’s “tv host” Stick Stickly (the popsicle stick) and have done it ever since.
Julia says
February 4, 2012 at 5:50 pmsniffing pesticide residue from crop duster fog. i was right.
Lynn says
February 4, 2012 at 8:17 pmDogs with rabies…after watching Disney’s “Old Yeller”.
runnergirl says
February 4, 2012 at 9:37 pmDidn’t the moon outside his window transport Max to the land of the Wild Things in his dream? They had a wild rumpus, which looked kind of like us partying at a Beru concert in the 80’s……
Childhood fears: Snow tires lined up under workbench in garage, CBS logs with the giant eye and the man with the deep voice who loudly announced “THIS IS CBS” for station ID, dreamt a wall sized ginormous spider one night and refused to sleep in my bed for about a year (took blanket off bed and slept on floor outside parent’s locked bedroom door), Sorry, there was no way to deal with those in 10 words or less.
Continuing suspicions as attempt to overcome other childhood fears/issues: basement at night, large crunchy bugs, snakes and hairy spiders.
runnergirl says
February 4, 2012 at 9:37 pmlogo, not logs.
Judy says
February 5, 2012 at 10:26 amLightning in the window at the end of the hall.
(I misspoke when I wrote “lighting” not “lightning”)
jennifer says
February 5, 2012 at 3:19 pmMake faces…. and your face will get stuck like that!
Jackie says
February 6, 2012 at 5:45 amOk, I’m one of those people that read your blog….well because it makes me smile, but I never comment. This post has made me want to finally share. So here it goes in just one word or probably more to follow……JAWS!!! Yes, JAWS…dun dun…dundun…dundudndudnudndundun….After watching this sadistic thriller I could no longer even swim in a pool. I would go under water and every time the music would start playing in my mind growing louder and louder. I also had a water bed, didn’t we all back then? Which I could no longer sleep in. Too funny! Then, I just watched something the other day about sharks being in lakes…..WHAT???Great..and so it begins all over again. LOL! Oh and another movie my parents should have never let me see because hellooooo….I was a child. OK a hormonal teenager which we all know is even worse. The exorcist! Now that movie made Jaws look like a disney movie. I’m also catholic. Lets just say I couldn’t get near the church or a priest for a long time. Plus, pea soup was never one of my favs….LOL. Thanks for all your great posts. They make me smile or relate to you in some way.
Stefanie says
February 6, 2012 at 10:53 amJackie, JAWS got me as well. My parents wouldn’t permit me to see it in the theater (smart, they were) because they knew it would freak me out. Nobody saw it coming when I attended a pool part at the Y a year after it came out, and got to experience watching JAWS on a big screen at the edge of the pool…WHILE I WAS FLOATING ON AN INNER TUBE. With twenty other twelve year olds. And yes, there was the requisite sadist who slunk around under the water grabbing our feet and thrashing our tubes.
I haven’t been back to a Y in thirty years.
Anne says
February 6, 2012 at 5:35 pmWolves, quicksand, and pirates (in Ohio!)
Ce says
February 7, 2012 at 9:18 amI was afraid of space aliens abducting me and performing torturous experaments on me while awake. I was afraid of the apocolypse coming and burning me alive. The obvious ones,I’ll leave out,but these are just A couple. Sorry about this being more than 10 words,Bossy,but I’m not that creative today. I haven’t eaten breakfast,and I’m still thinking about having to find the swirl line to get into heaven. :/ ;D
LaurieB says
February 7, 2012 at 11:04 pmThat snakes could slither faster than I could run…blame my sister. Ok, it was 12 words but I about had a heart attack when I was 7 yrs old when I came across a garter snake in my backyard in Atlanta. I just knew I was dead, the snake (all 5 inches of it) was going to catch me, bite me, poison me, then eat me leaving no evidence of my existence. I made it inside in record time and wouldn’t go into the backyard again for months.
Tina L. says
February 18, 2012 at 5:10 pmVampires will bite my neck if not under covers always