What's Your Phobia?

We are all scared of something, whatever it may be. For me, I had to confront my worst fear a few weeks ago. I was getting ready to head to the beach and was going through my usual routine of getting all of my gear together. I went to my apartment balcony, grabbed my towel, which was drying from the other day, and then walked back inside, and threw it on my chair. That’s when I turned around and saw a good three-inch spider jump down from the towel. I swear on my life, that that nasty little devil looked up at me for a split second, and then took off running towards my refrigerator.

To be honest, I did absolutely nothing, mainly because I hate spiders with an utter passion. I am almost positive that he knew I wasn’t going to anything, and he must have been laughing in his little spider brain. Anyway, I can’t stand these nasty critters whatsoever, and I know I have always been that way since I was a kid. It’s the way they look, and all those extra legs, that just sends shivers down my spine. I hate to say it, but I can’t walk down the reptile aisle at PetCo, because I know that one of those little tanks has one of those god-awful tarantulas just sitting there, all hairy and disgusting.

But on that note, I have no problem with any other creepy crawlers. I am cool with snakes, other bags, rats, and any other nasty little bugger you can think off. So why am I afraid of spiders? I have no clue. I thought about it though, and I guess that a lot of people have their own particular phobias. My girlfriend is afraid of heights, and my dad hates cockroaches. They don’t really know why, they just know that they do. So I guess I really don’t have to be too embarrassed about my little fear. Some day I’ll get over this though. I’m not sure how, and hopefully I wont have to go the ridiculous extreme of buying a pet tarantula to do so, but I know that one day I will.

---Stefan Slater

Photo: Wikimedia Commons