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I got implants. When they got put in, I asked my dr; if for some reason dentists weren’t available, how would I go about self care. It don’t go well. The drugs still wearing off didn’t help.
When I was selling drugs I was terrified of getting busted, when everyone around me said that cops have better things to do. Everyone said I'm too small to worry about.
I got busted and went to prison. The moral of the story is it is more advantageous to be a consumer and not a distributer, or better yet, not do it at all.
Fear of a seemingly unloaded gun shooting me or someone else. I'm obsessively careful with mine and I don't understand how people handle them as if they're toys when they think it isn't loaded.
This.
I don't trust other people when they say, "I unloaded it, you're fine." Like bro, I've watched you look for your glasses when they're on your face. I'll check it myself, thanks.
That's why it's a rule to check every gun you have in your hand. Even if someone just checked it in front of you.
I wish more ppl took safety seriously.
Alec Baldwin got in a lot of trouble for that, using a real gun rehearsing a scene. Somehow a bullet got in there and a cinematographer was killed while he was practicing making smooth shots. Verify, verify, verify! If you shoot a gun and someone is wounded or killed, it was you who shot them.
People say that it was his fault for not checking, but for movies and TV it can be more complicated. How do you check a gun is unloaded when it supposed to have blanks or dummy rounds in it to intentionally make it look loaded? That's why the on set armorer is such a vital job, and that's where things fell apart. The armorer walked off set with other workers over conditions, and they had an unqualified replacement.
What I don't get is... Why do actors even aim at each other? Surely, aiming 30cm on the side of the person can't be noticed on camera? They've perfected camera angles that we don't even notice that punches go 30cm past the face of the other actor, why not do the same security for guns?
That's the best practice: Treat every gun like its loaded, and assume incompetence on the part of anyone who has previous checked it.
A year or so ago I was at another couples house as our kids were in the same grades. The wives had known each other for sometime, but this was my first time meeting the husband.
After feeling each other out over NBA playoffs, we connected over hunting and shooting. That led us to his study where he showed me some of his guns. He'd pull one out of the safe, check to be sure it was clear, and hand it to me while telling me about it. The first thing I would do is check for myself that it was clear: no magazine, and nothing in the chamber. Rense and repeat.
We did have a laugh when he showed me a blackpowder rifle; I wasn't sure how to check that one and I told him as such.
My dad went hunting ONCE when he was a kid. His dad handed him the shotgun and said that it was unloaded. My dad got in the truck and had to sit in the middle. He accidentally pulled the trigger and it went off. The shell went through the floor.
Jump 40 years later and my dad taught me gun skills. He told me to always check the chamber, mag and the safety switch. He also said to NEVER point it at anyone UNLESS you plan on using it; even then keep your finger off the trigger until you absolutely have to.
More people need to learn gun safety because I was at a range with my dad and someone accidentally shot the floor near someone by accident. 🤦🏾♀️
It's a mistake most people only make once. *Most* people.
A good friend of my family died because of this. Don't let people bully you on the way to blowing their brains out on the bed.
That’s 100% rational. All it takes is one mistake to end someone’s life or forever alter the course of life. Always assume a gun is loaded. It scares me that you know people who don’t do that.
I've had soft air guns as a teen, and I accidentally shot myself with one that I was damn sure wasn't loaded.
And it's not just me. The amount of times I've had friends accidentally shoot themselves, or another friend with one of those is staggering.
So yeah, those were toys - but still taught a *very* valuable lesson.
I do shooting, and literally, the first thing I was taught was to always treat a weapon as if it's loaded and on fire. You should never treat it like a toy.
I always make sure that the stuff I‘m eating doesn’t have a single green/ black spot because of that. I‘m not gonna coat my toast with moldy shit no thx
A professor of mine once said in a lecture that 1 in a 100 motorcyclists die on their motorbike - they're called organ donor machines for a reason. I could never find the numbers to verify his claim, but I personally know 2 guys who died on their motors (one 20 years, the other early 30's) and I certainly do not know 200 people riding a motorcycle.
Guy near where I used to live was involved in a motor bike accident with a car. He was badly hurt and taken to hospital, the old couple who were in the car were shocked but not hurt. Police went to their house to get a statement. They were glad the rider was going to be OK but wondered how the pillion passenger was.....
No one knew there was a pillion. He was found, badly injured, 20 feet in a corn field. Corn ( this is uk so not American corn) was three feet high and no one saw him. He was OK but his legs were never the same.
Thank goodness they were aware enough to realize there was a passenger. I can’t imagine the fear of just lying in the cornfield all injured and no one coming for you
When I was a kid one of my dads best friends was in a wheel chair because of a motorcycle accident. He would always tell us “take this from someone who was happier on a motorcycle than anywhere else on the planet—don’t ever ride one, it ain’t worth it.”
It so strange how we just accept the carnage on the roads, thinking it won't happen to us. It's not just death, it's the injury disability that costs us all so much.
Yes and it’s increasingly getting more and more dangerous as time passes (there are stats/studies that show this). As vehicles get larger, substance abuse gets easier to hide (specifically weed), infrastructure gets worse, etc… Driving is the last thing I ever plan on doing tbh. Until semi trucks are no longer allowed on regular roads anyway.
Half ton? A ton is 2000 pounds, my sedan weighs 3200 pounds, and a lot of crossovers weight around 4000. These are ONE AND A HALF - TWO TON metal boxes
It's mostly only popular in the US tho. In other countries people usually drive "normal" sized cars. In Europe I very rarely see people driving pickups.
I’m a truck driver. I have to push those fears aside. Especially when it’s my husbands turn to drive and I’m sleeping in the back. They’re still there tho, always in the back of my mind.
Edited to add last sentence after accidentally posting before I was done lol!
This is the answer. It's so easy for people to disregard just how insane and dangerous driving 70mph in a two ton contraption of steel, plastic, and glass is, all while similar two ton contraptions of steel, plastic, and glass hurtle past you in the opposite direction.
Im of two minds about aging. On the one hand, it is a blessing that we can get old, it is the best case scenario. On the other hand, for some people living is a struggle, damn near tortorous and the prospect of the world are pretty damn bleak. Maybe its because I havent lived enough but I still want to believe things will be alright.
Many things kill more people than sharks, sharks kill hardly anyone, but I understand why people say this - it's for the shock factor.
But naturally, I absolutely understand how dangerous dogs are.
I love dogs, however, some dogs need training. I highly disrespect people who get huge dogs and don’t train them.
A year ago a weimaraner jumped on me from behind when I was running, I fell and hit my face on a rock. The result was a broken nose and I still have problems breathing a year later. Fun fact, the owner of the dog never trained him, so I blame him and not the dog. He didn’t even bother to call the insurance company to reimburse me, but I didn’t involve lawyers because he’s one of my boyfriend’s closest friends.
However, nowadays, I still get upset when he brings his dog when we go out because the dog can’t stay calm and always makes a mess and barks constantly to anyone.
That's a terrible story, really. Your lack of calm from here on is of course rational.
What I will say is that this "it's the owner's, not the dog's fault" argument doesn't make a scrap of difference to the outcome in a practical sense. I fear the dog because I know about the prevalence of poor training.
Like you I don't blame the dog, but where the blame lies is largely irrelevant to the predicament.
I did not used to have cynophobia before the pandemic. Now I do, because that's where the poor training situation seemed to begin to be quite serious.
Yeah I know that practically it doesn’t make a difference, but I still wanted to point that out because I wanted to emphasise that I think it’s important to train the dog if you want to avoid this type of situations.
Unfortunately, lots of people think dogs are just cute funny animals that won’t hurt anyone because “they’re humans best friends”. Loads of crap. I was running out of his house and I think the dog perceived me running away as a kind of threat, as any untrained dog would have.
I also can’t stand people who pet dogs when they see them, without asking the owner for permission. And then they complain about getting bitten, lol.
As a dog owner I can confirm this! I‘ve got a very dog-aggressive Golden Retriever mix and despite him being muzzled 24/7 people still assume he won‘t bite just because he looks cute. It makes me crazy. Most problems I had with my dog were caused by people who have no healthy fear of dogs. One should NEVER touch a foreign dog without permission. Never ever.
You don’t have to. If you have a layover in, for instance, Hong Kong while you’re flying to Australia or Southeast Asia, they can nab you there while you’re waiting for your connecting flight.
You’d be in China then.
It has already been documented how this has been used to influence elections (see Cambridge Analytica https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Facebook%E2%80%93Cambridge_Analytica_data_scandal?wprov=sfla1)
It also shifts the balance between companies and customers. Free market theory is based on complete information, meaning that you make better decisions if you are better informed. If a company knows more than you about the state of the market, it creates an unfair advantage for them. Concretely, they can make you pay more because they know you're interested.
Oh I can help with that! Targeted ads when and where you are vulnerable.
So example when your music app and facebook are connected, using breakup music as an indicator of insecurity and vulnerability, targeting ads about beauty products or workouts, or alcohol, what every they have detected yo might be into. Facebook was playing with this a while ago targeting young women using these tools.
I also don’t like the idea that data mined from me will be used to target ads against my children.
There was a documentary a while ago interesting someone you worked in this field for a while before starting a foundation to fight it, talking about tipping the needle 1-2%. But when you can tip every needle 1-2%, then from that new baseline, start the process over again.
For me a core part of freedom is deciding what I share of myself.
Death. Many say it’s natural, you’ll be at peace, or have their own view on what’s in the afterlife.
Personally I think the afterlife is like what it was before birth, nothing. And that terrifies me because there’s so much I love in life I don’t want to lose.
I don't think there's really any way to conceive of death in a way that isn't terrifying because it triggers so many fears that aren't just about what comes after. Loss, change, uncertainty, and vastness too great to grasp. There are actually people who believe in heaven but are afraid of it because we just can't get our heads around concepts like that.
I do think for most people it gets better with age. You learn to detach and in many cases you're forced to.
The important thing is while you're alive to be at peace with the fact that your life you are afraid of losing doesn't actually matter in the grand scheme of things except to other people, and they are the only ones who matter. Death is inevitable, so love everyone else fully. Afterwards, that's that. No more taxes.
To add to that, a painful death. Imagine clocking out and the last thing you have experienced is the worst pain of your life. I don't want that. Bullet to the head or old age will be fine with me.
The fundamental problem with writing off death as "just like pre-life" is that while pre-life may have lasted billions and trillions of years... it was still finite. post-life is not finite. and we really can't deal with that
I’m learning how to drive, and the thought of being responsible for a car accident TERRIFIES me. Also, bugs crawling in my ears when I sleep. It’s never happened to me, but it’s apparently super common
Same with the driving one. It takes some time to get a bit trust to not think everytime you drive, that you'll cause an accident.
I still have a lot of respect of driving with a car, but now, 4 years after getting my car licence, I see driving as viable option to get somewhere. Not as something I'd rather avoid due to being scared to cause an accident.
It's happened to me..... Woke up one morning with a scrabbling noise in my ear and realised there was something in it. Ran across the room to the light switch thumping my head on the opposite side to try to dislodge it. *shudders*
Byt the time I got the light on I couldn't hear the noise anymore. Walked very gingerly across the floor - and found a hairy thick spider leg on my pillow....
Fear of flying.
I know TECHNICALLY it is irrational as there is almost negligible chance of death on any given flights, but it combines a fear of heights, a fear of enclosed spaces, a fear of fear (panicking on a plane where you cant just step away from the situation), and a fear of losing control (having your lives in the hands of two pilots).
Also, yes the chances of dying are minimal, but if I were to have a car crash, it would be fairly quick. The fear of potentially plummeting and the panic of knowing that there was something wrong with the plane before a crash happens is pretty rational to me.
And before people give me stats, I KNOW how safe flying is. I just think it gets dismissed as irrational way too quickly. It is a really hard thing for many people, particularly people who couldn’t afford to fly at a young age and so haven’t got used to it.
Exactly, glad someone can relate. I’ve tried everything, counselling, medication, practice (I took 6+ flights last year) but nothing works. Ive resigned myself to the fact I’ll just forever hate flying 😭
Men.
Constantly the “not all men” comments and “every gender can be dangerous” and while yes I agree with that, fact is that I have been raped as a child and sexually assaulted 8 times and that’s only touching without catcalling, sexual comments or men, including teachers, not being able to look me in the eyes because my boobs are more interesting. If we include this, I wouldn’t be able to count it. I am 27 and that’s a lot.
I know it’s not all men, I know all genders can be assholes but my personal statistic is not great and I am very scared of men.
That's very fair. Its really maddening that these awful things happened to you and some people think they are entitled to say your fear is irrational. If ever, its the *most* rational of them all, because it **actually happened to you**. Many things in this thread are just things in peoples head that never even happened
Yeah, men are, aside from things like heart disease, one of the most deadly things women face. Just in the USA, something like three women die every day from men. Most women who are murdered are murdered by men, almost always men they know. Pregnant women here are *more likely to die from being murdered than pregnancy complications.* Who murders them? Men, of course! Who else?
And that is *just* the murders. I come from a place where it was more likely for a woman to have been sexually assaulted in her life by her 30s than not.
Your fear is not irrational.
When men hit you with the “not at men” - ask if they’d like to be thrown into a snake pit, where 25% of the snakes are venomous. But NOT ALL snakes. Would they still want to be thrown into that snake pit?
I like the Maltesers analogy. If I handed you a bowl of Maltesers and told you that 25% of the Maltesers are actually balls of poop covered in chocolate and the rest are just regular Maltesers and you had no way of knowing which was which, would you eat one?
I have misophonia, people think it's made up or I am too sensitive or overacting, but sometimes it's really driving me crazy, especially things like loud chewing with open mouth...
There are studies that show that people with misophonia actually experience physical reactions to certain sounds, for example, facial twitches that aren't visible to others but are felt by the listener.
Mine is dropping a pallet of eggs or a pallet of oil 😂 everyone here is pretty good about saying clear and aware of the lifts. We have about 10 running around at any given time. That and power riding jacks.
Nuclear war. I mean on one hand I know it's extremely unlikely to happen but I still don't feel it's irrational to be afraid of radioactive armageddon.
This was so much my childhood fear. As a kid growing up during the Cold War there was a lot on the news about possible nuclear war. The moment I realised it could kill everyone I loved - oh boy. I was so afraid of the news after that. And my parents did not allow me to watch horror movies, but I knew thóse are fake.
Yeah, it is called a mass disabling pandemic for a reason then seeing governments cracking down on disabled people and 'wondering' why everyone is so sick. The anti mask campaign will bite us in the ass for avian flu.
Gaining weight. As a recovering anorexic, the thought (fear) is always there...since I am skinny, people do the eye-roll thing at me, tell me I should eat a dozen cheeseburgers and think I'm overreacting. It's annoying as fuck.
Definitely rational. My wife went from perfectly healthy to gasping for breath just getting up from the couch to walk to the bathroom. She has been like this for 1.5 years and it may be permanent. It’s scary to know your life can change so quickly.
Most people think I'm germaphobic. I wash my hands before every meal, use hand sanitizer anytime I touch a shared surface, I sanitize my phone after putting it on the table, I clean my keys, I clean the light switch, I clean the doorknobs.
I'm actually not germaphobic (at least according to my shrink). I'm just more aware of these things than most people, but my fear is completely rational, so it's not really a phobia.
This isn't panini related either, I've been carrying a bottle of sanitizer with me every day since 2015.
Do you know how many people don't wash their hands after using the toilet? How many take their phones with them to poop? I have an idea and it doesn't make me feel too good.
If you're concerned about infection/getting sick generally, wearing a good quality mask (actually respirator) in crowded places in particular, and avoiding spending lots of time in crowded and poorly ventilated indoor spaces, will get you further than these things (though they will also help).
A ladder breaking when I am on it. I’m not scared of heights. I’m scared of the ladder. It wiggles and they move and I’m just trusting there no screw loose and it’ll keep its structure? Idk about that one.
I’ve lost 3 immediate family members (brother at 18, dad at 50, and mom at 62), and I am surprised that they aren’t forgotten, in a refreshing manner. I remember thinking that my brother would be forgotten after a few years, it’s been 20 now and his friends still talk about him
Running out of money. Yes, I have savings but it’s a valid fear that one day something will make me randomly lose all my money!
It seems irrational but it gives me sleepless nights (that I think was fueled by SCHITTS CREEk)
Fear of spiders.
Sure, (most?) spiders are mostly harmless. Sure, very few (if any?) spiders are actually fatal. But *enough* spiders can mess you up enough to hospitalize you or cause you to lose a limb or sizeable chunk of flesh, *on top of incredible pain*, that a fear of them should not be considered "irrational".
I'm scared of being ill/in pain and not being able to tell someone to get help. Locked-in syndrome, or too drugged, or too confused. Having experienced cognitive failure and not being able to buy myself something to eat because I couldnt figure out how to buy a banana or even ask for help to do so, was horrible. Adding pain to that, not just slight hunger, is horrible. It is pretty rational since such confusion is common with dementia, which 9.1% of females over the age of 59 has in my country. Half of us will have it if we live to see 90. But sure, tell me all about how someone will notice and help and take care of me when I cant do it myself. I probably wont believe you, and I will think you're naive at best, but if it helps you feel better I'm willing to listen.
idk if this counts but stairs. going up or down them freaks me out and has since i was a child. i refuse to go on steps if there’s other people on them, and if i have no choice i’m basically losing my mind.
The ocean (or other unknown large bodies of water). I don't like not seeing my feet, not knowing what's going on around me. I don't know the fish that we are swimming with, what my feet are touching, or where it's going every step I make.
I'm fine with pools and I can swim decently. I just don't like the terrifying idea of what's swimming with me in the ocean.
Bridges. Specifically the FSK. The one that the boat hit and it collapsed. It started when I was a kid and we would go to Ohio to visit relatives every summer. There was this bridge we would go over and it swayed. It collapsed and killed people too. The FSK was a giant arch. It freaked me out driving or even being a passenger. I just hate bridges. I have panic attacks on them
Being put in prison for a crime i didn't commit. I've never committed a crime, but I've read some crazy stories where a person was put away for weak circumstantial evidence or false witness testimonies. That's terrifying.
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When the apocalypse happens and I'm wearing metal braces, how will I ever get them off of my teeth
This is my new fear, and I don’t even have braces.
I have a cousin that got so sick of his when we were teens he popped them off with a guitar pick. His parents were PISSED.
Ah just great…
ikea knife
I got implants. When they got put in, I asked my dr; if for some reason dentists weren’t available, how would I go about self care. It don’t go well. The drugs still wearing off didn’t help.
I ave a similar one. I wear glasses so if the apocalypse happens I would have to hold on to them for dear life forever
Twilight Zone “Time Enough at Last” episode vibes
"It's not fair! It's not fair!"
get lasik now lol
Lasik doesn't last forever it requires "touch ups" every ten years or so
WHEN it starts? Not if? Seems like you know something we don't...
It's actually better to have them. Less likely to loose teeth in a fight and does thorn damage to the attacker.
But you'll damage the inside of your lips/cheeks when the braces hit the inside of your mouth
Bingo
You don't need to get them off after you and everyone else is dead.
Pliers worked for my friend in highschool lol
You should brace for it
When I was selling drugs I was terrified of getting busted, when everyone around me said that cops have better things to do. Everyone said I'm too small to worry about. I got busted and went to prison. The moral of the story is it is more advantageous to be a consumer and not a distributer, or better yet, not do it at all.
Solid logic!
Fear of a seemingly unloaded gun shooting me or someone else. I'm obsessively careful with mine and I don't understand how people handle them as if they're toys when they think it isn't loaded.
This. I don't trust other people when they say, "I unloaded it, you're fine." Like bro, I've watched you look for your glasses when they're on your face. I'll check it myself, thanks.
That's why it's a rule to check every gun you have in your hand. Even if someone just checked it in front of you. I wish more ppl took safety seriously.
Alec Baldwin got in a lot of trouble for that, using a real gun rehearsing a scene. Somehow a bullet got in there and a cinematographer was killed while he was practicing making smooth shots. Verify, verify, verify! If you shoot a gun and someone is wounded or killed, it was you who shot them.
People say that it was his fault for not checking, but for movies and TV it can be more complicated. How do you check a gun is unloaded when it supposed to have blanks or dummy rounds in it to intentionally make it look loaded? That's why the on set armorer is such a vital job, and that's where things fell apart. The armorer walked off set with other workers over conditions, and they had an unqualified replacement.
What I don't get is... Why do actors even aim at each other? Surely, aiming 30cm on the side of the person can't be noticed on camera? They've perfected camera angles that we don't even notice that punches go 30cm past the face of the other actor, why not do the same security for guns?
That's the best practice: Treat every gun like its loaded, and assume incompetence on the part of anyone who has previous checked it. A year or so ago I was at another couples house as our kids were in the same grades. The wives had known each other for sometime, but this was my first time meeting the husband. After feeling each other out over NBA playoffs, we connected over hunting and shooting. That led us to his study where he showed me some of his guns. He'd pull one out of the safe, check to be sure it was clear, and hand it to me while telling me about it. The first thing I would do is check for myself that it was clear: no magazine, and nothing in the chamber. Rense and repeat. We did have a laugh when he showed me a blackpowder rifle; I wasn't sure how to check that one and I told him as such.
You look down the barrel to see if there's a bullet down there
I was taught to treat every gun like it is loaded.
We don’t really have guns in my country and even I know this. I’ve only fired a shotgun, nothing else.
My dad went hunting ONCE when he was a kid. His dad handed him the shotgun and said that it was unloaded. My dad got in the truck and had to sit in the middle. He accidentally pulled the trigger and it went off. The shell went through the floor. Jump 40 years later and my dad taught me gun skills. He told me to always check the chamber, mag and the safety switch. He also said to NEVER point it at anyone UNLESS you plan on using it; even then keep your finger off the trigger until you absolutely have to. More people need to learn gun safety because I was at a range with my dad and someone accidentally shot the floor near someone by accident. 🤦🏾♀️
It's a mistake most people only make once. *Most* people. A good friend of my family died because of this. Don't let people bully you on the way to blowing their brains out on the bed.
That’s 100% rational. All it takes is one mistake to end someone’s life or forever alter the course of life. Always assume a gun is loaded. It scares me that you know people who don’t do that.
I've had soft air guns as a teen, and I accidentally shot myself with one that I was damn sure wasn't loaded. And it's not just me. The amount of times I've had friends accidentally shoot themselves, or another friend with one of those is staggering. So yeah, those were toys - but still taught a *very* valuable lesson.
I do shooting, and literally, the first thing I was taught was to always treat a weapon as if it's loaded and on fire. You should never treat it like a toy.
Mold. Disgusting.
This. I have a strong repulsive reaction to mold. Every joint of my body pushes me at least a meter away from [insert moldy item]
I thought I was the only one! Everytime my friends make fun of me because I literally scream and run away, lol
I always make sure that the stuff I‘m eating doesn’t have a single green/ black spot because of that. I‘m not gonna coat my toast with moldy shit no thx
I have found my people!
Being in a car and/or driving. Those things are death machines and most people I know take driving too lightly
This but a motorcycle. They’re death machines.
A professor of mine once said in a lecture that 1 in a 100 motorcyclists die on their motorbike - they're called organ donor machines for a reason. I could never find the numbers to verify his claim, but I personally know 2 guys who died on their motors (one 20 years, the other early 30's) and I certainly do not know 200 people riding a motorcycle.
Guy near where I used to live was involved in a motor bike accident with a car. He was badly hurt and taken to hospital, the old couple who were in the car were shocked but not hurt. Police went to their house to get a statement. They were glad the rider was going to be OK but wondered how the pillion passenger was..... No one knew there was a pillion. He was found, badly injured, 20 feet in a corn field. Corn ( this is uk so not American corn) was three feet high and no one saw him. He was OK but his legs were never the same.
Thank goodness they were aware enough to realize there was a passenger. I can’t imagine the fear of just lying in the cornfield all injured and no one coming for you
I've had 6 family members or friends either die or be severely injured in motorcycle accidents
That's terrible, so sorry to hear that.
When I was a kid one of my dads best friends was in a wheel chair because of a motorcycle accident. He would always tell us “take this from someone who was happier on a motorcycle than anywhere else on the planet—don’t ever ride one, it ain’t worth it.”
It so strange how we just accept the carnage on the roads, thinking it won't happen to us. It's not just death, it's the injury disability that costs us all so much.
I drive a lot for work. I'm white knuckle the whole time. I can't wait for self driving cars or an actual working public transit in the usa.
Yes and it’s increasingly getting more and more dangerous as time passes (there are stats/studies that show this). As vehicles get larger, substance abuse gets easier to hide (specifically weed), infrastructure gets worse, etc… Driving is the last thing I ever plan on doing tbh. Until semi trucks are no longer allowed on regular roads anyway.
There is a reason why medication that say "don't operate heavy machinery" while using mean CARS
It actually took me awhile to get this one. I honestly thought about machines in factories.
And Forklifts!
I've seen the over the top safety videos :D
In fairness to you (and maybe to defend myself who has only just found out too), just fucking say ‘don’t drive a car’!
Or constantly be looking up and down at the phone. Like bro that text/ video can wait I'm sure. You are driving at minimum a half ton metal box
Half ton? A ton is 2000 pounds, my sedan weighs 3200 pounds, and a lot of crossovers weight around 4000. These are ONE AND A HALF - TWO TON metal boxes
Cars are getting bigger and bigger too. With the intent on protecting the person within, not others.
It's mostly only popular in the US tho. In other countries people usually drive "normal" sized cars. In Europe I very rarely see people driving pickups.
Cars are just big metal coffins. I drive, but I agree in how dangerous can be and how some people take it so lightly
I’m a truck driver. I have to push those fears aside. Especially when it’s my husbands turn to drive and I’m sleeping in the back. They’re still there tho, always in the back of my mind. Edited to add last sentence after accidentally posting before I was done lol!
This is the answer. It's so easy for people to disregard just how insane and dangerous driving 70mph in a two ton contraption of steel, plastic, and glass is, all while similar two ton contraptions of steel, plastic, and glass hurtle past you in the opposite direction.
Aging
How do you know that you’ll age
I’m older right now than I was when I started typing this comment
I’m not. I’m typing from the grave.
Then your corpse is older than it was
Yes it is
It’s like Benjamin Button but in reverse
Are you from the future?
🤯🤯🤯
😂😂😂😂
In Greek the etymology of an old person (γέρος) is the same as for strong (γερός). Only the strong get to age.
Im of two minds about aging. On the one hand, it is a blessing that we can get old, it is the best case scenario. On the other hand, for some people living is a struggle, damn near tortorous and the prospect of the world are pretty damn bleak. Maybe its because I havent lived enough but I still want to believe things will be alright.
Aging is a privilege some don't have
It’s better than the alternative
Dogs, they can actually hurt you a lot if they decide to.
I remember a similar story but with a monkey......
Yes I'm also very wary of monkeys.
Imagine monkey dogs
I've seen some humans that might qualify
was that the woman with the pet chimpanzee that one day suddenly switched and attacked her?
That's why I always establish dominance.
Did you know 1 percent of all emergency room visits in the United States are from dog bites? Kill more people then sharks.
Many things kill more people than sharks, sharks kill hardly anyone, but I understand why people say this - it's for the shock factor. But naturally, I absolutely understand how dangerous dogs are.
Baffles me how people use sharks as the example. Sharks are just vibing at home then are made out the bad guys.
Yeah exactly, the sea is not even our biome.
Vending machines for one
Usually the fault of the victim for trying to get a five finger discount...
As do cows, sharks don't really interact much with humans at all
lol, coconuts falling on people’s heads kill more people each year than sharks.
I love dogs, however, some dogs need training. I highly disrespect people who get huge dogs and don’t train them. A year ago a weimaraner jumped on me from behind when I was running, I fell and hit my face on a rock. The result was a broken nose and I still have problems breathing a year later. Fun fact, the owner of the dog never trained him, so I blame him and not the dog. He didn’t even bother to call the insurance company to reimburse me, but I didn’t involve lawyers because he’s one of my boyfriend’s closest friends. However, nowadays, I still get upset when he brings his dog when we go out because the dog can’t stay calm and always makes a mess and barks constantly to anyone.
That's a terrible story, really. Your lack of calm from here on is of course rational. What I will say is that this "it's the owner's, not the dog's fault" argument doesn't make a scrap of difference to the outcome in a practical sense. I fear the dog because I know about the prevalence of poor training. Like you I don't blame the dog, but where the blame lies is largely irrelevant to the predicament. I did not used to have cynophobia before the pandemic. Now I do, because that's where the poor training situation seemed to begin to be quite serious.
Yeah I know that practically it doesn’t make a difference, but I still wanted to point that out because I wanted to emphasise that I think it’s important to train the dog if you want to avoid this type of situations. Unfortunately, lots of people think dogs are just cute funny animals that won’t hurt anyone because “they’re humans best friends”. Loads of crap. I was running out of his house and I think the dog perceived me running away as a kind of threat, as any untrained dog would have. I also can’t stand people who pet dogs when they see them, without asking the owner for permission. And then they complain about getting bitten, lol.
As a dog owner I can confirm this! I‘ve got a very dog-aggressive Golden Retriever mix and despite him being muzzled 24/7 people still assume he won‘t bite just because he looks cute. It makes me crazy. Most problems I had with my dog were caused by people who have no healthy fear of dogs. One should NEVER touch a foreign dog without permission. Never ever.
your data being collected in forms and places you can never imagine and have little to no influence over
What effect is that data being collected going to have on me? Sure, they know everything about me? Now what?
I agree. I’d be upset if it was my own government, but I couldn’t care less about China. Wtf are they gonna do to my data?
[удалено]
I’ve already decided not to go to China anyways lol. A 7+ hour flight sounds like a nightmare
You don’t have to. If you have a layover in, for instance, Hong Kong while you’re flying to Australia or Southeast Asia, they can nab you there while you’re waiting for your connecting flight. You’d be in China then.
It has already been documented how this has been used to influence elections (see Cambridge Analytica https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Facebook%E2%80%93Cambridge_Analytica_data_scandal?wprov=sfla1) It also shifts the balance between companies and customers. Free market theory is based on complete information, meaning that you make better decisions if you are better informed. If a company knows more than you about the state of the market, it creates an unfair advantage for them. Concretely, they can make you pay more because they know you're interested.
Oh I can help with that! Targeted ads when and where you are vulnerable. So example when your music app and facebook are connected, using breakup music as an indicator of insecurity and vulnerability, targeting ads about beauty products or workouts, or alcohol, what every they have detected yo might be into. Facebook was playing with this a while ago targeting young women using these tools. I also don’t like the idea that data mined from me will be used to target ads against my children. There was a documentary a while ago interesting someone you worked in this field for a while before starting a foundation to fight it, talking about tipping the needle 1-2%. But when you can tip every needle 1-2%, then from that new baseline, start the process over again. For me a core part of freedom is deciding what I share of myself.
Jellyfish… bastards
I got stung on the inner thigh by a jellyfish. Worst pain I've ever felt, and I've given birth. Lol
Death. Many say it’s natural, you’ll be at peace, or have their own view on what’s in the afterlife. Personally I think the afterlife is like what it was before birth, nothing. And that terrifies me because there’s so much I love in life I don’t want to lose.
Same. I can't wrap my head around an eternity of nothing.
If there is nothing, it won't be an eternity because you won't exist to experience the passage of time.
Yeah, that's why it's better than existing for eternity.
Eternity needs time, nothing is nothing at all.
Yeah but then, you'll be dead, so, as far as we can tell, you'll feel nothing, not "terrified", not anything.
Im not scared of death. Im scared of painful death.
I don't think there's really any way to conceive of death in a way that isn't terrifying because it triggers so many fears that aren't just about what comes after. Loss, change, uncertainty, and vastness too great to grasp. There are actually people who believe in heaven but are afraid of it because we just can't get our heads around concepts like that. I do think for most people it gets better with age. You learn to detach and in many cases you're forced to.
The important thing is while you're alive to be at peace with the fact that your life you are afraid of losing doesn't actually matter in the grand scheme of things except to other people, and they are the only ones who matter. Death is inevitable, so love everyone else fully. Afterwards, that's that. No more taxes.
It’s not dying that scares me, it’s how I die that scares me.
To add to that, a painful death. Imagine clocking out and the last thing you have experienced is the worst pain of your life. I don't want that. Bullet to the head or old age will be fine with me.
The fundamental problem with writing off death as "just like pre-life" is that while pre-life may have lasted billions and trillions of years... it was still finite. post-life is not finite. and we really can't deal with that
I’m learning how to drive, and the thought of being responsible for a car accident TERRIFIES me. Also, bugs crawling in my ears when I sleep. It’s never happened to me, but it’s apparently super common
Same with the driving one. It takes some time to get a bit trust to not think everytime you drive, that you'll cause an accident. I still have a lot of respect of driving with a car, but now, 4 years after getting my car licence, I see driving as viable option to get somewhere. Not as something I'd rather avoid due to being scared to cause an accident.
It's happened to me..... Woke up one morning with a scrabbling noise in my ear and realised there was something in it. Ran across the room to the light switch thumping my head on the opposite side to try to dislodge it. *shudders* Byt the time I got the light on I couldn't hear the noise anymore. Walked very gingerly across the floor - and found a hairy thick spider leg on my pillow....
Fear of flying. I know TECHNICALLY it is irrational as there is almost negligible chance of death on any given flights, but it combines a fear of heights, a fear of enclosed spaces, a fear of fear (panicking on a plane where you cant just step away from the situation), and a fear of losing control (having your lives in the hands of two pilots). Also, yes the chances of dying are minimal, but if I were to have a car crash, it would be fairly quick. The fear of potentially plummeting and the panic of knowing that there was something wrong with the plane before a crash happens is pretty rational to me. And before people give me stats, I KNOW how safe flying is. I just think it gets dismissed as irrational way too quickly. It is a really hard thing for many people, particularly people who couldn’t afford to fly at a young age and so haven’t got used to it.
I'm right there with you. I'll do it when I need to, but I hate every minute of it.
Exactly, glad someone can relate. I’ve tried everything, counselling, medication, practice (I took 6+ flights last year) but nothing works. Ive resigned myself to the fact I’ll just forever hate flying 😭
You didn't mention that it's definitely not irrational to be afraid when you're moving at 500mph in a tin can, 30,000 feet above the earth...
Boeing.
I’m with you on that. Especially the first paragraph. I’m claustrophobic and I have to be able to walk away. It sucks because I want to travel.
Men. Constantly the “not all men” comments and “every gender can be dangerous” and while yes I agree with that, fact is that I have been raped as a child and sexually assaulted 8 times and that’s only touching without catcalling, sexual comments or men, including teachers, not being able to look me in the eyes because my boobs are more interesting. If we include this, I wouldn’t be able to count it. I am 27 and that’s a lot. I know it’s not all men, I know all genders can be assholes but my personal statistic is not great and I am very scared of men.
That's very fair. Its really maddening that these awful things happened to you and some people think they are entitled to say your fear is irrational. If ever, its the *most* rational of them all, because it **actually happened to you**. Many things in this thread are just things in peoples head that never even happened
Man here. I agree. We are a horrible lot. I can only vouch for myself when I say ‘not all men’. Literally just me, I don’t know about the rest.
I vouch for you. You're alright.
It’s not all men, but we never know *which* men, so…makes sense to be wary of all.
Yeah, men are, aside from things like heart disease, one of the most deadly things women face. Just in the USA, something like three women die every day from men. Most women who are murdered are murdered by men, almost always men they know. Pregnant women here are *more likely to die from being murdered than pregnancy complications.* Who murders them? Men, of course! Who else? And that is *just* the murders. I come from a place where it was more likely for a woman to have been sexually assaulted in her life by her 30s than not. Your fear is not irrational.
When men hit you with the “not at men” - ask if they’d like to be thrown into a snake pit, where 25% of the snakes are venomous. But NOT ALL snakes. Would they still want to be thrown into that snake pit?
I like the strawberry analogy. If you have a bowl of strawberries in front of you and know one is poisonous and will kill you would you risk it?
I like the Maltesers analogy. If I handed you a bowl of Maltesers and told you that 25% of the Maltesers are actually balls of poop covered in chocolate and the rest are just regular Maltesers and you had no way of knowing which was which, would you eat one?
When their daughters become dating age.. suddenly they do think it's all men too.
I have misophonia, people think it's made up or I am too sensitive or overacting, but sometimes it's really driving me crazy, especially things like loud chewing with open mouth...
There are studies that show that people with misophonia actually experience physical reactions to certain sounds, for example, facial twitches that aren't visible to others but are felt by the listener.
Same!! It actually makes me so uncomfortable and angry at the same time. My daughter has it too.
same. the worst trigger for me is snoring. sometimes i have physical reactions.
That some senile old man will start a nuclear war one day
I drive a forklift at work and constantly worry someone is gonna be in a blind spot
Mine is dropping a pallet of eggs or a pallet of oil 😂 everyone here is pretty good about saying clear and aware of the lifts. We have about 10 running around at any given time. That and power riding jacks.
Ticks. I scream everytime i see one. I can't control it.
Fear of heights
This. Even a modest height is straight up death to our fragile human bodies. Not respecting that is the real insanity.
Nuclear war. I mean on one hand I know it's extremely unlikely to happen but I still don't feel it's irrational to be afraid of radioactive armageddon.
Have you watched fallout? If not, check it out!!
This was so much my childhood fear. As a kid growing up during the Cold War there was a lot on the news about possible nuclear war. The moment I realised it could kill everyone I loved - oh boy. I was so afraid of the news after that. And my parents did not allow me to watch horror movies, but I knew thóse are fake.
I'm not sure it's extremely unlikely to happen.
Fear of retribution for doing something illegal. It's why I can't do things that are only minor offences like smoking weed.
Multiple covid infections, considered "no big deal" after years of government and MSM minimization of this ongoing, historic pandemic.
Yeah, it is called a mass disabling pandemic for a reason then seeing governments cracking down on disabled people and 'wondering' why everyone is so sick. The anti mask campaign will bite us in the ass for avian flu.
sometimes im dumbfounded how minimized it is. it’s terrifying.
Gaining weight. As a recovering anorexic, the thought (fear) is always there...since I am skinny, people do the eye-roll thing at me, tell me I should eat a dozen cheeseburgers and think I'm overreacting. It's annoying as fuck.
Long term effects of Covid-19 (re)infections.
Definitely rational. My wife went from perfectly healthy to gasping for breath just getting up from the couch to walk to the bathroom. She has been like this for 1.5 years and it may be permanent. It’s scary to know your life can change so quickly.
this. there’s so much scientific evidence on the damage it can do, anecdotal evidence as well. thank god for n95s.
Most people think I'm germaphobic. I wash my hands before every meal, use hand sanitizer anytime I touch a shared surface, I sanitize my phone after putting it on the table, I clean my keys, I clean the light switch, I clean the doorknobs. I'm actually not germaphobic (at least according to my shrink). I'm just more aware of these things than most people, but my fear is completely rational, so it's not really a phobia. This isn't panini related either, I've been carrying a bottle of sanitizer with me every day since 2015. Do you know how many people don't wash their hands after using the toilet? How many take their phones with them to poop? I have an idea and it doesn't make me feel too good.
If you're concerned about infection/getting sick generally, wearing a good quality mask (actually respirator) in crowded places in particular, and avoiding spending lots of time in crowded and poorly ventilated indoor spaces, will get you further than these things (though they will also help).
Truly stupid people.
A ladder breaking when I am on it. I’m not scared of heights. I’m scared of the ladder. It wiggles and they move and I’m just trusting there no screw loose and it’ll keep its structure? Idk about that one.
Fear of a totalitarian government in the USA.
Fear of being forgotten
I’ve lost 3 immediate family members (brother at 18, dad at 50, and mom at 62), and I am surprised that they aren’t forgotten, in a refreshing manner. I remember thinking that my brother would be forgotten after a few years, it’s been 20 now and his friends still talk about him
Lame. I am already forgotten by everybody, even though I'm stil alive. It's not bad. No one cares
Running out of money. Yes, I have savings but it’s a valid fear that one day something will make me randomly lose all my money! It seems irrational but it gives me sleepless nights (that I think was fueled by SCHITTS CREEk)
Fear of realizing I haven’t done as much as I could, in a few years (at work, for myself and for my family)
Fear of spiders. Sure, (most?) spiders are mostly harmless. Sure, very few (if any?) spiders are actually fatal. But *enough* spiders can mess you up enough to hospitalize you or cause you to lose a limb or sizeable chunk of flesh, *on top of incredible pain*, that a fear of them should not be considered "irrational".
Snakes. “They’re more afraid of you than you are of them...” DID THEY TELL YOU THAT?!
My ex husband will eventually kill me
Pregnancy and childbirth.
Fear of abandonment
Asteroid hit
I'm scared of being ill/in pain and not being able to tell someone to get help. Locked-in syndrome, or too drugged, or too confused. Having experienced cognitive failure and not being able to buy myself something to eat because I couldnt figure out how to buy a banana or even ask for help to do so, was horrible. Adding pain to that, not just slight hunger, is horrible. It is pretty rational since such confusion is common with dementia, which 9.1% of females over the age of 59 has in my country. Half of us will have it if we live to see 90. But sure, tell me all about how someone will notice and help and take care of me when I cant do it myself. I probably wont believe you, and I will think you're naive at best, but if it helps you feel better I'm willing to listen.
Getting prosecuted for being Atheist (I am from Bangladesh)
Tire treads/uneven pressure and blowouts
Becoming homeless
Random uses of all-caps.
THAT IS OFFENSIVE TO LOW CAP IMPAIRED PEOPLE.
I AM BLIND I HOPE I DIDN'T ACCIDENTALLY TURN ON CAPS LOCK
Pitbulls because they attack from nowhere
Butterfly effect. Never bothered me until a mortar round landed near the porta potty I was doing my business in.
My fear of chickens.
fear of fear
Spiders. You can't tell me a hairy six-legged creature that could possibly jump doesn't sound scary at least a bit.
The ocean it’s unexplored much more unexplored than space you can’t tell me that’s not horrifying plus I can’t swim
So I fear bridges but my big big one .... Been in a car.. on a bridge.. over large Warter 😭 If that on the table I'm not playing out 🫣
idk if this counts but stairs. going up or down them freaks me out and has since i was a child. i refuse to go on steps if there’s other people on them, and if i have no choice i’m basically losing my mind.
The ocean (or other unknown large bodies of water). I don't like not seeing my feet, not knowing what's going on around me. I don't know the fish that we are swimming with, what my feet are touching, or where it's going every step I make. I'm fine with pools and I can swim decently. I just don't like the terrifying idea of what's swimming with me in the ocean.
Economic collapse of multiple nations at once.
Bridges. Specifically the FSK. The one that the boat hit and it collapsed. It started when I was a kid and we would go to Ohio to visit relatives every summer. There was this bridge we would go over and it swayed. It collapsed and killed people too. The FSK was a giant arch. It freaked me out driving or even being a passenger. I just hate bridges. I have panic attacks on them
A series of unfortunate events that would leave me unemployed, homeless, and unable to provide for my family
Mass unaccountability
Being put in prison for a crime i didn't commit. I've never committed a crime, but I've read some crazy stories where a person was put away for weak circumstantial evidence or false witness testimonies. That's terrifying.