Things I am scared of * October 31, 2006
Posted by charmingbutsingle in Uncategorized.trackback
I have my quirks — a couple of things I do out of a bit of fear that is so mild and silly that it is more superstition or habit than anything else.
Each night I go through the apartment to make sure that the lights are all off. As I walk from my dark living area and into my bedroom, I speed up my pace a little bit and as I get about a foot and a half from the edge of the mattress, I leap right into the bed and quickly crawl to the middle, never letting my feet get close to the edge.
When I was little I was afraid a witch was going to grab my tiny little ankles and pull me right down into her lair, which was under my bed. And 20-some-odd years later, I am still worried about this — but only at night.
I also always check to make sure no one is in the shower when I go in the bathroom. Anyone’s bathroom. My bathroom, my friends’ bathrooms, my parents’ bathrooms, bathrooms at a hotel, bathrooms at parties.
You don’t even want to know how many gross showers I had to peak in when I was at parties in college at some crappy house shared by four boys with one bathroom that they cleaned maybe once a semester when their parents were coming to visit.
It is a mild obsession. I know no one is in the shower. But until I see that for myself, I am tense.
My sister is the same way. It was mildly reassuring for me to know that I wasn’t the only one who was checking for a psycho (dressed in a very scary clown mask, natch) in the shower with my conditioner, shower gel and exfoliating mitt.
“It just makes sense to hide in the bathroom if you’re a crazy axe murderer,” my sister explains. “Because you’d definitely catch the person off guard and with their pants down.”
Not me. Because I have a plan.
If I ever find someone in my shower, I’m going to pull the shower rod down and whack them over the head with it. And then run screaming into my bedroom, lock the door, push something in front of it and call the police.
I just hope the Witch isn’t under the bed when I get in there.
* I know “of which I am scared” is proper grammar. But, seriously.
Hitchcock would be proud.
I think this means you have a “Psycho” Psychosis.
Sounds fair enough to me though, especially today…
- Norman “Wombat” Bates
Charming, you are not the only one! I checked the shower the other night when I was alone (without my dog) for the first time in my new place. I also, checked closets and places no average sized man would fit!
In my house, when I turn off all the lights for the night, I run up the stairs….
just in case, someone tries to jump out and grab me at the last minute!
May I suggest: “Things that scare me.” It evades both the terminal preposition and the awkward avoidance thereof.
I’ve been afraid to stand near the edge of my bed since I saw Pet Cemetary at age 8.
Scalpel and achille’s tendon= cringe!
I’ve been afraid to stand near the edge of my bed since I saw Pet Cemetary at age 8.
Scalpel and achille’s tendon= cringe!
TP — They don’t scare me, I’m afraid of them, duh. ;P Advice so noted. But I hate changing the names of posts.
I am a bathroom checker as well, eventhough my shower door is frosted glass and you can kinda see in it. I do the shut the lights off and run as well.
I also can’t go to the bathroom in the middle of the night without turning all the lights on. My mom told me about when she was little on LI she went into the bathroom and stepped on something crunchy, she then turned the lights on and saw the bathroom was filled with cockroaches. Yeah, I’m serious.
Don’t worry, we are all crazy!!
I hate it when my shower curtain is closed and I can’t remember whether I closed it or not. I actually checked last night while I was sitting on the can. Cuz that’s the last place you want to be surprised.
I also hate it when I bend down to wash my face and then look up in the mirror. Or I close the medicine cabinet doors. I always expect someone to standing behind me.
Like the Candyman.
Clowns. Hate. Them.
Oh my gosh, wanderlusting, ME TOO!!!! I am always so afraid to look in the mirror for the same reason!
And I thought I was the only one who was afraid that someone was going to reach out from under the bed and grab them by the ankle.
I do the shower thing, too. No matter where I am.
You check for an empty shower. I always make sure there isn’t anyone in my backseat when I get in my car.
Great post. I used to be obsessive about checking the shower, but then I stopped. I fear, though, that this post will bring the irrational fear out of dormancy.
I also used to fear that I would walk into a dark room only to find someone sitting there waiting for me.
Unlike you, though, I never had a plan for how I would react in either of these two scenarios were they to come true. Someone asked me once, and I was stricken that I didn’t have an answer.
I suppose I better come up with a plan!
Whenever I’m taking a shower and am home by myself, when I close my eyes I get freaked out that some psycho will break into the apartment and come into the bathroom. I also get paranoid whenever Hubby goes out of town and I’m home alone, especially at night. I’m kinda glad I’ve never lived by myself.
I’m totally the same way.
I check the shower all the time. And if I’m home alone, all the lights are on, and most of the time, I hate going upstairs.
For some reason, I think that I’m safer downstairs, sleeping on the couch. Never mind that if some crazy ass psycho did break in, I’d be that much closer to him than I would be if I trudged upstairs and curled up in bed.
I’ve only lived with my boyfriends, and am living with my parents while in grad school, so as soon as I move out on my own, I’m getting a big, mean protector dog.
After seeing one of the Ghostbusters movies, where the pink goo comes out of the bathtub faucet, I hated closing my eyes in the shower (to wash my face, rinse out shampoo, whatever) because I thought the pink goo would start coming out of the shower and kill me.
The temptation to look in the shower is always there. Same with the edge of the bed, and the backseat of the car - I’m guilty of all those. I may not be committed enough to check them all the time, but when the panic hits me I check (trying very hard to look like I’m *not* looking, even when I’m home alone… I guess I’m to embarrassed to let myself know I’m checking…?)
By the way, I must say I think I’m in love with you for acknowledging the grammatical issues with your blog title…
i check showers too. especially if the curtains are drawn. i mean that just sounds like a prime hiding spot.
so, i just hold it and wait to relieve myself in a familiar place…avoiding the fear altogether.
I can’t sleep with my closet door opened. I check the shower, the backseat, and I always expect someone to be hiding behind the stall doors in public bathrooms. I think it has to do with growing up in the 80s. Was anyone else warned that a man in a van dressed up as a clown would swipe you off the playground? I still call vans without rear windows Kidnapper vans. And, Cherrie Johnson taught us never to play in an empty fridge.
the shower thing… that’s the reason i have a clear shower curtain. but my other silly fear is that when i close my eyes to wash off the shampoo or face cleanser, a scary skeleton or something equally gruesome will be either in the shower with me or in the bathroom staring at me. for this reason i burn my eyes every freaking morning with noxema. and heaven forbid if my fiance should walk into the bathroom while i’m washing my face without notifying me because if i open my eyes and see a figure in the bathroom i scream like i’m being murdered.
i do the shower check.
every. single. time.
my thing is thinking that when i look in the mirror something will come out of the shower and i will se the reflection of it first.
and pee everywhere in ridiculous fright.
This is so funny, I do all the same things - the leaping onto the bed from 2 feet away at night, the checking the shower before i pee, AND the whole face washing, look up in the mirror expecting to find someone behind me that wanderlusting is talking about. Sometimes when im home alone and its late, I’ll wash my face with one eye open.
I’d probably scare the axe-murderer behind me.
I had an (incredibly odd) acquaintance in college who used to hide in the shower at parties when he was drunk. Some strange voyueristic thing… but now I compulsively check the shower at parties!
i have to fall asleep facing my bedroom door. can’t deal with the thought of someone sneaking up behind me. nevermind the fact i would be unconscious!
when i was little, there was a large, mirrored dresser facing my bed. if i faced the dresser when lying (laying?) down, i would be staring at myself. it freaked me the heck out. and the whole “bloody mary” concept didn’t help. for YEARS i slept facing away from the mirror, perched on the opposite side of the bed.
my bedroom door was also at the bottom of the stairs to the attic, which i swear was haunted.
i have also checked showers, back seats, etc. we all have our neuroses. i know i have a big one, but i can’t think of it now…i’ll let you know when i remember it.
I dont have a problem with my bed as my bed gose right to the floor but i do have a big fear of looking out of a window at night speicaly if can see my refelction as its harder to see i can just imagin somebody staring back, and i hate anything that makes a shadow across the room, my curtains must be drawn before it gets dark otherwise i cant go in to the room or i will stear clear from the window!!
do any of you know what this is called,
(checking showers & such for people)? i am 14 & i check :[
Whenever I go into the bathroom, (my bathroom just so happens to sit right between my moms room and my room) at night, (When my mom still has her light on) I open the door, turn on all the lights, and open the show curtain. And at night, I sometimes I find myself staring the bathroom in the eye, because I left the door open, and I either flip the light on real quick, or close the door.
I especially hate the times when I’ve just gotten wrapped up in my blanket and found a good spot, when I relize my toes are cold cause I forgot to put socks on. They I scream at myself on the inside to get up and get some socks.
Then, whenever I have my back to the bathroom door, I find myself always putting a pillow or my arm, a spare blanket, a bear, ect. behind my back, so I feel like some phycopath can’t get a clear shot at my spine. (which is natural I’d be very protective when it comes to keeping my spine in good shape, seeing as how my sister was born with spina bifida. look it up)
I as well check my shower. I don’t know why. I just have always looked. I even leave the shower curtain open when i take a shower. I leave the part that is by the door open, so if someone comes in, i can hit them over the head with my shampoo bottle. I also am scared of windows at night. I am afraid someone is going to pop up.
I also am scared of spiders, andclowns. I still hop onto my bed too, even though im old enough to not believe in monsters. Still, i always think someone is underthere. I have problems lmao. But, i also hate the lights on, when you dont need them on, and i hate when people leave the shampoo caps open. I always have that feeling when i close my eyes, that someone will be in the shower with me, andkill me. Like in Psycho, (Hickcock movie)