I have a lot of "things." I wouldn't necessarily classify them as phobias, because if you sat me up on the Maury stage and chased me down with them, I probably wouldn't start screaming and crying hysterically or anything like that. I would probably just feel awkward. I was just discussing my "things" with the guy at Atomix who also has "things," and our friend who has a genuine phobia of snakes.
I have a thing about Nazis. Which, you know, duh, everyone has a thing about Nazis, right? That's pretty normal. But seriously, this one time, at work, I was helping an Argentinian woman shop, found her a dress, blah blah blah... but then she handed me her credit card to pay and her last name was Eichmann. Which of course caused me to shake uncontrollably while ringing her up and then subsequently run to the bathroom to vomit and sob. Because it was really all too possible that I had just helped Nazi spawn purchase a cocktail dress. What kind of a situation is that to be in? Could I even have reasonably said "I'm sorry, I cannot sell you this dress because it is entirely probable that you are related to Adolph Eichmann (who by the way, hid out in Argentina for years before he was caught) and that just makes me feel physically ill?" Not really. That would be inappropriate.
This also manifests itself in the way that children that happen to be blonde twins sort of freak me out. It's terrible, I know. They just make me feel a little ill. Especially if they are in matching outfits. I like children in glasses. I like children with floppy hair. I do not like little boys with white blonde crew cuts and find them unfriendly looking.
I also have a thing about needles- but not so much the part that you get stuck with as the part where you can see your blood or whatever they're injecting you with in body of the needle. That's the part that makes me sick. I really feel importantly about my insides remaining intact.
Speaking of my insides, I prefer to think that I am solid. I never made it through a whole biology class on the subject of the digestive system without wanting to die. All I have to hear is "the saliva begins to break down the food" and I want to jump out of my body. I hate the idea of organs.
I am not afraid of the dentist, exactly. I am more afraid of dental hygienists. Because they're always so perky and trying to make me talk while they have sharp objects in my mouth. Also, all the dental hygienists at my old dentists office were named Judy, and that made me really uncomfortable for some reason. It seemed cultish.
Food is a big, big problem for me. I am horrified by most of it. I do not like food that masquerades as food it is not. I am perfectly happy to eat edamame or soy nuts- I do not want to eat soy that is pretending to be a hot dog. If I do not want to eat meat, I will happily eat regular, non-lying vegetables. I also do not like most white foods. I am a food racist. I have never eaten Wonderbread, sour cream, cottage cheese, or straight up mayonnaise (I will eat it in the form of a tuna fish sandwich or aioli). I will only eat tuna fish sandwiches that I make myself. I will only consume milk as part of a cereal or coffee type situation, and even then, if it has been in my fridge for more than three days I will throw it out. I fear food getting old. I do not want food to make me sick. I do not want to ever accidentally eat something that has gone bad. I will not eat food, such as cottage cheese, that has gone bad on purpose. I do not care how much you extoll the glory of cheese curds, I do not want you to take me on a trip to Wisconsin (wherever that is) to consume them. I will not eat them because they are called curds and that is gross. There are probably spiders in them, because I have heard via nursery rhymes that they are a thing spiders enjoy. I will also not be eating whey.
I will not drink beer because I believe I can taste the barley and somehow that seems wrong to me.
I am not exactly claustrophobic. I just fear not being able to leave a place. I cannot go to the Metro because they do not allow you to leave and then come back- and you probably think this has to do with smoking, but it doesn't, really. I can bring my fake indoor cigarette if I like. I just do not like the idea of being trapped anywhere. I like to be able to come and go as I please.
I hate dolls. I don't want to be around them and their dead, dead eyes. When I was a kid, I never played with dolls, as I preferred talking to people with things to say, not things that went around looking like people but were not. One time, back when I was young and worked in the mall, there was this weird "make your own baby doll" kiosk, with all these heads and arms and things lined up and it was very disturbing. I am horrified by kids who get the American Girl dolls that look like them and then wear matching outfits with said doll. It's just wrong. Precious Moments figurines are the worst, as not only are they terrifying looking, but I find them to be smug.
I also loathe birds. I feel like birds and I are at odds as to whether they should peck my eyes out and leave me blind and bloody. I do not want them to flap their wings against my skin. I do not want to find their spare parts in my alley. I do not want to be Tippi Hedren.
I hate cotton balls. They make a very disturbing noise, and also when you take your nail polish off with them they get all stringy and stick to your nails and it's gross.
I hate voicemail. Because I can look at my phone and tell that you called and do not need you to leave a message telling me so. I will call you back.
I immediately dislike people the moment they tell me they are sensitive. Sensitive people make terrible friends, and I would vastly prefer that they just come out and say "I find my problems to be more important than yours or anyone else's." Because that is basically true.
I think it's creepy when dudes talk about how they like girls who are crazy. It makes my skin crawl, and there is something about the fetishization of mental disorders that I am altogether uncomfortable with. I find it sleazy and not in a good way. They say it's because "crazy girls are better in bed" and I am always suspicious of that because most of the chicks I know with serious mental problems like to talk to me about how they cry after sex- and personally, I would find that awkward. Personally, I think it's because said dudes are basically terrible and you would *have* to be crazy to date them. I think that what they're really after is poor judgement. I also think that men like to blame things going wrong on women being "crazy." And, you know, call *me* crazy, but there is not a lot about basically saying "I prefer my women mentally incapacitated" that I don't find terrible.
I don't like people to tell me about how they saw a ghost one time. It's really, really uncomfortable because I do not believe in them, but at the same time do not want to accuse people of lying or being delusional.
I do not want to be in rural areas. If I am going to be murdered, I would prefer it be in the city where the serial killer attacking me would be on a time crunch and would just like, shoot me in the head or something. In rural areas, they have cellars and lots of space between houses, and thus more room for a long drawn out murder. I have to think about these things, you know.
So, yes- my life is a
whirlwhind of neuroses. Offensive neuroses, many of them. I realize this, and I am working on it. So if you love birds, or if you are very sensitive, or have
blonde twins, or if you think my fear of cottage cheese is stupid, I apologize and I promise you I am working on it.
