Friday, October 30, 2009
Validation
We've discussed our most bizarre fears here before. My number one fear being that someone will jump to their death from a tall building, landing on passerby me, swiftly killing us both. It's an elaborate fear. And also a plausible fear. Which is why my pulse goes up a notch when I walk past buildings with more than five floors.
There's another fear I have held close since childhood. A fear of walking on grates in parking lots and on sidewalks. When I was a kid, it was because I believed Cookie Monster lived down there. (What kid is afraid of a Sesame Street character?) But as an adult, it's because I'm afraid that the grate will crumble beneath me, plunging me to my smelly sewery death.
Ridiculous?
I don't think so. And neither does this Baltimore man who plunged about 15 feet underground after the metal grate he was walking over collapsed.
Validation is a satisfying, yet terrifying thing, people. Watch out for those grates. And for Cookie Monster. He'll cut you for a snickerdoodle. He really will.
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13 comments:
I am terrified of grates too!
There are 2 blocks in downtown Vancouver that have grates that span the entire width of the sidewalk. Needless to say, I have not been on those blocks in years.
We ARE sisters!
I am terrified of walking on grates (although the hubs won't even humor this fear)
I'm also scared of drowning or being hit by a train.
Also totally plausible.
People have always laughed at me for saying "for all I know, I could be hit by a bus and die tomorrow". One of my best friends from childhood recently had a sister get hit by a bus and die. Guess I wasn't so "out there" after all.
And yeah, the grates are SCARY.
I go out of my way (often knocking people over in the process) to walk around grates and manholes.
You just never know...
Did you ever see the Sex and the City episode where Samantha falls into one of those delivery hatches in the sidewalk of an NYC street? After seeing that, I developed a fear.
crazy! i'm afraid of those things too... but sometimes they're too tempting to not test the (kid-friendly) marilyn monroe potential of a floaty skirt. :)
cookie monster will cut you though, it's true.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=shbgRyColvE
i'm also one of those weirdos who walks around or hop over grates.
oh yeah i avoid grates too, so scary.
I will not walk over grates..WILL NOT because I am scared they will collapse..but now you have me thinking about the whole cookie monster thing
My sister had nightmares about Kermit the Frog when she was little. No joke.
Ahh! That is the scariest crap ever! Now I'm going to be scared of grates too! Hmmm. Now I want a snickerdoodle!
Um - i'm scared of them too, mostly because I just KNOW one day I'm going to drop my keys in one.
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