Wednesday 3 October 2007
Phobia, phobia
Did I mention a few weeks ago that the wasps were dying and that the autumn makes them lazy and prone to stinging? Have I ever filled in a meme describing my greatest (irrational) fear? Two words, beginning with 'b' and 'w' and rhyming with 'fee' and 'posp'. I hate the bloody things and my irrational fear of them has caused me to perform feats of strength and speed in an attempt to overpower or outrun the little critters. I've never been stung, repeat: never been stung. Nonetheless, I am a complete sissy when it comes to dealing with bees and wasps and those around me have had to put up with my arm waving and screeching for almost four decades. I'm at a loss. Why does it cause me such distress? Well, today I managed to frighten a dog and a boy with my antics whilst walking with them in the woods behind my house. A 'lazy' wasp got lodged in my hair, right behind my ear and then flew into the collar of my shirt and was gzzzing around my neck and head for ages. Thankfully there were no other people (except little boy and dog) in the woods when I decided to start flailing and keening (I don't don't scream for some reason), ripping off my jacket and shirt to dislodge the wasp from my most important body parts. I think the sight of a half-dressed, grown woman standing in the woods with a dog trying to dodge waving arms and a toddler crying in distress is enough to make anyone phone for social services. I need help. Anyone know of a good hypnotherapist? Wry?
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8 comments:
Allegedly irrational fears are the worst, aren't they? I hate spiders. Hate them, hate them, hate them. And the older I get, the more wigged out I am by them.
In fact, I'm still cursing the Dirty Bastard Cat for being nowhere-to-be-found the other morning when a spider and I crossed paths. Not a happy moment. I won and the spider lost, but it was hours before my blood pressure returned to a normal level.
Here's a question for you: knowing you've never been stung and taking that out of the equation, what do you think bees and wasps represent for you? What do they symbolize? Perhaps if you can pinpoint that, you can start to deconstruct your fear....
That was like watching a part in a movie, a funny one! (sorry) :) Spiders are what gets to me. I just KNOW when one is near. I went to an exhibit a while ago and held a tarantula, a very BIG one that felt really strange trying to walk up my arm. Hey, I figured it would cure me....hell no!
Oh god. I remember once throwing a moth down my sister's shirt and she ran across the yard flapping her shirt up and down in total fear while I laughed my ass off. I was SO MEAN.
I like bees.
Mabel: you said it, sistah. I cannot even justify my reactions - I'm most likely not allergic to bee venom and everyone who has described a sting to me attests to my being able to survive the pain of it. Gah!
Tina: welcome, welcome! You are brave for letting a tarantula walk on your arm. I used to live in NM and, occasionally, in the summer I would see one or two crawling along by the roadside - they weren't quick enough to avoid being smashed on the road by a passing semi, however.
I lived in Texas for a bit and used to see lizards and tarantulas, oh and did I mention SCORPIONS? Somehow we had some come up our drain in our tub, we lived in a trailer. It was just babies but that was crazy! My husband was in the Army there and out on maneuvers, I seen a scorpion crawl across the floor so I sprayed it with raid, scooped it up and put it on a piece of paper on top of the cabinet. When he got home, we looked and it was gone...ewww!
SML: Moths don't oog me but june bugs do. They have this uncanny ability to fly straight down the front of your shirt, buzzing and scratching on your chest. I don't mind European bees - they're a bit more docile than their American cousins...it's just the wasps here that continue to scare me. I am determined to get this fear seen to; I don't want to teach the little boy to be scared of flying insects. I figure he should come by his fears of his own steam!
I'm okay with bees and hornets, and I'll usually catch spiders in a glass and take them outside. If a spider is on me, I WILL scream, which is why I use a glass and a piece of paper to catch and release.
Mosquitoes? I hate the little bastards and will search the entire house if I think I heard one or saw one.
I'm sorry for laughing, but your post cracked me up :)
Hi Sid,
I'm okay with spiders. I guess it had something to do with my growing up in NM - the Navajo believe them to be 'grandmothers'. I couldn't be afraid of my grannies...they were sweet little gray-haired women. Tarantulas, however, are NOT grandmothers and more likely to be called Motherf*ckers, rather. Sorry for the cursing.
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