The fear factor

I always used to say that I wasn't afraid of anything. There's still not much that I can say I'm truly afraid of, though I'm discovering that as I get older, the things that might've scared me when I was young no longer seem quite so frightening.

Having spent close to twenty years in the medical profession, I've discovered that there are far worse things than dying.

On the other hand, I've found that there are things that I've become VERY fearful of. Unreasonably so, even.

But, I'm not talking about a true fear...exactly.

I'm talking about the heebie jeebies. The things that kinda make the hair on the back of your neck stand at attention. Essentially unreasonable fears. Things that make ya wanna go "EWWWWWW!"

Things that give you a major case of the icks, if you will.

Everyone's got at least one. For instance,

Jimbo

, despite being firmly planted in Joisey, has an unreasonable fear of alligators. Just seeing a photo of one is enough to give him a case of the hot squirts.

Now I realize that a gator is something to be highly respectful of. And yea...I'd probably piss my pants if I ever came face to face with one. But do they give me the heebie jeebies? Nah. Not so much.

I know snakes are a big ICK for some people. I happen to like snakes. 'Course, I've never had the pleasure of running into one with fangs, but in general, snakes are pretty cool. In fact, quite a few years ago, I caught a baby bull snake and tried to keep it. The ex and the daughter, however, nixed that idea.

Nah. Gators or snakes don't much scare me. There ARE, however, a couple of things that will send my ick factor into overdrive.

Right at the top of my list are spiders. Skulking, furtive, scuttling, hairy, creepy little bastards. All those legs. Why the hell does an insect need eight legs, anyway? Even the most innocous looking little spider can send me right into a raging case of the heebie jeebies.

The movie "Arachnaphobia"? I love it, but I can hardly stand to watch it. It makes my butt clench.

So you can imagine my horror when I checked out

Dax

this morning and found the gawd-awfulest photos. My poor butt still hasn't relaxed. The mere idea of finding something like that on my living room floor...well...it just...oh, I don't even wanna think about it.

The other thing that gives me a major case of the icks are sharks. They're like giant underwater spiders. Except they swim. And they're waaaay bigger. With really big teeth. I mean...it's just not right. Fish. With TEETH.

I know, I know. It's kinda like Jim and his fear of gators. Ya just don't see many sharks here in Illinois. Thank gawd. But we DO go to Florida a lot. And you can betcher ass I'm always on the lookout for fins while we're paddling about in the warm gulf water.

I DO love Shark Week on the Discovery Channel, though. I suppose it's kinda like watching Arachnaphobia...it's a butt-clenching, vicarious sorta heebie jeebie.

So tell me...what sends YOUR ick factor into overdrive?