Okay I've heard some pretty crazy things, but come on! A fear of the number 13? You've got to be kidding me that people actually suffer from this phobia.
triskaidekaphobia \tris-ky-dek-uh-FOH-bee-uh\, noun:
A morbid fear of the number 13 or the date Friday the 13th.
I couldn't find an appropriate word to describe this week. I was looking for something that meant "jovial" I think. What changed this week that made life so much more bearable for everyone? It seemed like everyone was in relatively high spirits this week. There was laughter and genuine happiness, people were being nice to each other, I didn't even get very perturbed when my coworker got on the phone with his brother, carrying on for an hour in Farsi. You can't imagine how irritating that is!
This week was the culmination of a lot of strife and worry for me. I thought I'd have to find a new job this month, but instead I was actually valued in a real way, which was something I never expected to happen. When it did, I found myself shocked that something had actually worked out well.
I'm also looking forward to a weekend away in Miami to rejuvenate and prepare for fall. If you do something alone and no one knows about it, does it actual occur? If you are the only person alive affected by your choice, does it matter what it was? I've been thinking alot about this. Not every decision matters in the great scheme of life. So why do we put so much emphasis on everything?
Tonight on my way into the building I said hi to a guy who was changing the plate on his car. Just as I was about to enter the building, he said, "Hey, don't you go to McLean Bible Church?" I looked at him strangely for a moment and then said "how did you know that?" I never got a straight answer from the guy. I thought he'd maybe seen me there or something, but he said he goes to another church. Then he said "You have bible study in the lobby sometimes right?" Okay, I've held bible study there ONCE. Yes, ONCE. Now I'm a little freaked out. How does this guy know so much about me? When I asked him that he said, "God told me." Okay, obviously a joke, but creepy anyway.
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When I asked him that he said, "God told me." Okay, obviously a joke, but creepy anyway.
WHAT? That is so creepy! Not so much that he knows you go to McLean or that you have had bible study in the lobby, but that he wouldn't give you a straight answer about it. I have visions of him stalking you around the building, just WAITING for this chance to be like, "Hey...girl I am stalking...I know things about you! Heh heh heh."
"If you do something alone and no one knows about it, does it actual occur?"
That's always a weird feeling, like, "Nobody would know about this if I didn't tell them." Badly Drawn Boy has a song about that--"Camping Next to Water."
There's no use in feeling
All the things I'm feeling
There's no one here to feel with me
It's a cute song.
So much to say--
1. A coworker makes fun of me by sying I am atexaphobiac. I don't like it, but a persistant, irrational fear? No.
2. "If you are the only person alive affected by your choice, does it matter what it was?" That's a trick question (as Marisa Tomei says in My Cousin Vinnie, "a bull-shit question"). It's irrelevant or moot (or something). There is no choice that affects one person. None. No, I dont' like Dean Koontz. No, I'm not getting mataphysical. I simply can't beleive there is any such choice.
3. When I went to Pitt (the first time) people would ask me at bars miles from home, "Hey aren't you in Perloff's Aristotlain Logic?" (Why, yes, I was and I got an A+ too, but there are over a hundred people in that class!) or some such at-first-glance stalker-like question. At first, I was freaked out too, but then I thought: I must be exceptional for someone to remember such detail about me without us having spoken heretofore; their life must not be as interesting/action-packed as mine if they had time to notice that; OR a combination of the two. Then, after that, I had another realization, "maybe that guy [those people] just don't pay attention in class". I wouldn't worry about it-- maybe the guy at your buildig was waiting for a ride that day and overheard you or something. [Shrugs].
-K
I almost forgot..
You think that's weird, look at all the stuff people are afraid of:
http://www.phobialist.com/reverse.html#A-
As someone who has one, I'm painfully aware of the reality, but think of how unmanageable life would be if you had some of these?!!
Examples:
A. OCTAPHOBIA. At least there's no 13 o'clock and things rarely cost X dollars and 13 cents. What if you had octaphobia adn you had to ride the Number 8 bus eight blocks to get to work on time (8 o'clock) and you wanted to buy 7-up (it's 2 for $8 at Safeway this week-- I'm looking at the circular right now). What would you do?
B. What if you had graphophobia? "Get the memo AWAY FROM ME!!". Forget about writing checks.
c. Therophobia? Soup would really suck. Gazpocho anyone?
D. Nomatophobia! You couldn't watch movies. "Bueller, Bueller, Bueller..." "AAAaagh!"
My question about those phobias is, are they REAL, documented phobias, or do people just come up with the latinized word for something and tack on "-phobia" on the end?
Anglelineophobia: fear of lined sheets of paper.
Barnumswheataphobia: fear of animal crackers.
I dunno. I know both of you guys have definite, real, defined phobias, but I only get claustrophobic occasionally, so I don't know that I can relate so much. But I do know that when I feel claustrophobic, I have to take deep breaths, close my eyes, and remind myself that I can, in fact, move all of my limbs. It's horrible. If I was ever actually locked up in a small space and couldn't move, I'd probably go crazy within an hour (seriously). I'd lose it. I can't imagine being that way around ordinary, everyday objects.
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