Fears
Some people are scared of things that go bump in the night. They check the closets and under the bed before jumping under the covers, sleeping with the light on. Others are germaphobes, who are certain that each doorknob they twist and hand they shake is teeming with viruses that would rival any dark age plague. And there are those whose fears are more banal, but no less worrisome: The fear of heights, confined spaces, loneliness, clowns, failure, conflict, rejection, public speaking, and death.
I, myself, am not afraid of any of these things. But that doesn’t make me special. Instead, I seem suffer from what some would label as an “irrational fear”.
I’m afraid of manhole covers.
There. I said it. Manhole covers.
Somewhere, in the back of my mind, hidden in a dark fold of grey matter where the most primal of instincts has a direct feed into my nervous system, where the “fight or flight” response is ready to kick into action at the first sight of a sabre tooth tiger or a velociraptor, this fear of manhole covers lurks like a shadow on my soul.
Ya see, in my mind, I’m going to step on a manhole cover and the bottom will immediately drop out from underneath me, sending me plummeting down to depths unknown, where I’ll break my legs upon impact of some smooth, concrete tunnel deep underground. My cries for help will go unnoticed in the world above, and I’ll suffer alone in a forgotten part of the city’s infrastructure until shock or dehydration takes me.
Most people can understand, and even relate to, a fear of the dark, wild ghosties and beasties, graveyards, and drowning, but manhole covers? Yeah, that’s usually a new one.
Okay first, I have to say that I LOVE the creepy visual graphic you used for this post! OMG….it’s soooooooooooo scary!!!!!!!
Second, I guess because I live in a city, I know of many people who share your same fear of manhole covers. Also, the metal grates on the sidewalks. There are some people who will around them, to avoid having to walk over them. And I have to say, sometimes I’ll walk over them myself and they’ll be shaky and rattly, and I DO think, “Holy shit…what if this things caves in????”
Oh…and I have a fear of accidentally dropping my house keys down a water drain on the city streets, so I always make sure their in my pocket before I cross the street because I’ve actually seen that happen to people.
My daughter says I’m a germaphobe. Hey, just because I used to carry an econo-sized bottle of sanitizer in my handbag doesn’t mean I have a problem. I did recently switch to the small travel size one. heh!
Public speaking and drowning, yeah, those are on the list.
The photo you chose for this post is excellent!!!
Well, when you think about it, when you step on a manhole cover, you’re betting your life that it will hold. Me, I never step on them if i can avoid it.
I thought that manhole covers are constructed so that it’s impossible for them to drop down or go through the hole … but I could be wrong …
Drowning is my fear. I live in a province almost entirely surrounded by water. Yeah.
Dropping your keys down water drains. Great. You just birthed another fear in me
Heh…
Yeah, I’ll agree with you on the public speaking. That’s a difficult thing to get over, especially in my job where once a year I have to host a conference where I speak to hundreds of people. Gives me the willies, but you do get over it after a few minutes.
I will not step, skateboard, skip, or taunt those bastards. You never know when they’ll swallow you whole…
This, my friend, is why it’s called an “irrational fear”. I can see myself acting like a fool, but I just can’t stop it. Argh! heh…
Ooooh scary picture. I can’t remember seeing a manhole cover where I live but, surely, they must be there. Are they really man-size? My pet hate is grilles that you can lose things down.
Oh, I have many irrational fears, and some perfectly rational ones, too. I live in fear of all kinds of things and if there’s nothing to be afraid of, I’ll probably invent something!
Manhole covers – that sounds perfectly reasonable to me. But you’ve read the paragraph above. Of course it does!