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Updated 66 Days ago
My Fear Of (Place Strange Phobia Here)
In the spirit of getting to know each other better, I want to share something very deep and dark with you all. I feel like after a good month of writing for ToastedRav, that we’ve really developed a solid relationship and open forum where I can be completely honest about my quirks. (Go easy on me now...)
I have a phobia of something that most of you use everyday and disregard without thinking twice about. I envy you for it.
It plagues me when I go to the dentist. It troubles me when I get out of the shower. If I need to remove nail polish, it’s a major hassle. I am completely freaked out by this stuff. The mere thought of it gives me goose bumps.
My name is Stephanie Goodman, and I have a fear of cotton.
Whew, there, I said it! I absolutely, 100% cannot stand cotton balls. The feel, the sound- they freak me out! I will run, shriek, scream and possibly even become physically aggressive at the sight of them! (Just kidding about that last part.) Those little devils are the equivalent of Fran Drescher’s voice to common folk.
Bambakomallophobia has plagued me since childhood. I remember in Kindergarten, all of the other little school children merrily made their Santa beards with cotton balls, and I was in time out because I refused to make mine.
Come Halloween, I would get very frazzled at the decorative spider webs when Mom would put them up. I steered clear of webbed areas of the house like it was a nuclear war zone.
I find wearing everyday sweaters can be petrifying. Other people even wearing wooly sweaters gives me the willies. (I have been nearly wool-free since 1980-something.)
Unlike most, I fear the dentist because of their use of cotton, not because of the drills. That’s the easy part. I would likely take five root canals over having a roll of cotton in my mouth; I lose every ounce of social grace I have when it comes to the dentist and their cotton conduct.
Through the years, I have adapted ways around the use of cotton, but some things cannot be avoided. Q-tips, for example, I just have to buck up on that one. Clean ears are a must. As for nail polish remover, Kleenex works just fine. I’ve also come to accept the fact that I will never make a crafty Santa beard, but who needs one anyway?
I thought maybe there would be more information available about this particular phobia and perhaps there was some kind of support system, but I could only find this. That woman's story is absolutely no consolation! Will I eventually have public outbursts claiming a giant cotton man is chasing me, which will eventually lead to a guest spot of Maury Povich, which will eventually lead me to the loony bin? Crap.
I may be one in a million with this whole cotton thing, but I know you all must have some unusual phobias or quirks to share. Support me in the best way you know how (comments) and let me know that I’m not entirely alone.
Just let it out; there, there.
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On a side note, another thing I'm kind of scared of: people that wear grey sweatpants with a grey sweatshirt. I'm weird like that.
Holes in the ground: They make me feel sick and I even avoid the grates on sidewalks. The feeling is almost like vertigo but it's pure fear.
Just wanted to say hi...wait, I feel a presence in the room. Like a giant white cloud but more solid. Oh my God, its putting its crunchy white fingers in my ears..someone help me..oh no, not my mouth too! Help ! Call 911. Steph huff me,pees huff ma, ahhhhhhhhh!
(Na, that didnt really happen!)
Love Ya!
HAPPY EARLY HALLOWEEN!
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reCAPTCHA is a free CAPTCHA service that helps to digitize books.A CAPTCHA is a program that can tell whether its user is a human or a computer. You've probably seen them Ñ colorful images with distorted text at the bottom of Web registration forms. CAPTCHAs are used by many websites to prevent abuse from "bots," or automated programs usually written to generate spam. No computer program can read distorted text as well as humans can, so bots cannot navigate sites protected by CAPTCHAs.
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Currently, we are helping to digitize books from the Internet Archive and old editions of the New York Times.