Childhood fears are common and unique to each of us. One of the ironies of growing up in a safe neighborhood and secure family is that our fears tend to be a bit silly in retrospect.
You've maybe seen the meme that says, "When I was a kid, I thought quicksand was going to be a much bigger problem than it turned out to be." It must have been all those Tarzan movies, maybe Gilligan's Island. The quicksand was always cleverly hidden and waiting to foil the escape of the bad guy or provide a chance for the hero to rescue someone.
The scariest things in my childhood were badgers (not the University of Wisconsin kind) and stepping on tacks. I haven't encountered either as an adult but I'm sure its only because I've been on alert for about 50 years now. My vigilance started after it was rumored that a badger was seen in the neighborhood and one of the kids I was with told us that a badger could bite off a person's leg. I think it was the same summer I stepped on a tack and I can still feel it going into the bottom of my foot. It wasn't very painful but it was such a weird feeling it makes me grimace to think of it even now.
I'm relaxing a bit about the badgers now but still wear sturdy soled shoes. No sense taking chances this late in the game.
1 comment:
You might be wise to fear the UW Badger kind, and while you're at it throw in the Green Bay Packers!!
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