The theme: 5 things that scared me when I was a kid.
1. Alice Cooper, after he appeared on the Muppet Show. (Giggle.) I know, I know...and this lasted until about sophomore year in high school, when I saw Wayne's World. And now he does commercials for Staples, has written a book about golf, and has opened a Christian youth center...yes, yes, keep laughing at me.
2. A Gilette commercial circa 1979. I have had super-sensitive hearing since birth, and when their electric razor commercial came on the TV, I ran behind the couch and covered my ears. Keep laughing.
3. My younger brother - briefly - because he threw my Burt stuffed doll in the toilet. And because he bit me from time to time. But I wasn't really afraid of Nik, so much as I was afraid of him throwing more of my stuffed citizens in the can. Post script: for his birthday a few years ago, I got him a Burt doll. I am reasonably certain he hasn't thrown it in the toilet.
4. Sharks. I am still afraid of sharks. I blame this squarely on my fourth grade teacher, who showed our class "Jaws 2." What kind of teacher shows a horror flick about a man-eating great white to a bunch of 9-year-olds when she has a free day? I mean, shit! Talk about running out of ideas for lesson plans. Extra reading would have been just fine with me.
5. Briefly, bear tracks in the snow in my backyard in Minnesota, when I was about 5. My best friend next door and I ran inside and hid under the covers. My parents thought it was hilarious, because the bear tracks had been left by the plumber.
12 comments:
Pencil sharpeners in grade school always scared me--the kind where you stuck the pencil in one end and then cranked the handle on the other end. I have no idea why they were so frightening to me but I think that is why I am so bad at math to this day--I could never read what I had written because my pencil was never sharp and I was writing mostly with the wood.
Garbage disposals scared me when I was little. True story--I got home from summer camp one year and asked my mom where my turtle was. She told me that he got loose and fell into the garbage disposal while it was running and was killed. (This is the same woman who thought that "The Congo" by Vachel Lindsey was appropriate as a bedtime story for a pre-schooler. She wanted me to appreciate poetry, I guess.
Seeing the flying monkeys in The Wizard of Oz forced me to duck my head and hide my eyes. It came on TV once a year and each year I promised myself that they wouldn't scare me. Every year they did.
Bats. 'Nuff said.
We had steam heat in our house in MN where I grew up. The clanking of the radiators in the middle of the night seemed to be some sort of precurser to an invasion of some sort.
Jaws to 9 year olds? That is awesome! Did s/he wait until you were 10 to show you Friday the 13th, preferably on Halloween?
Five things that scared me when I was a kid, off the top of my head:
Scissors: My first grade or kindegarten teacher (whatever grade they teach you to use scissors) once told us to hold the scissors blades down or we might end up stabbing our best friend and going to jail forever. Thanks, teacher!
Clowns: This one stands to reasons. Clowns are creepy.
Black Beauty: I snuck in on my parents watching this movie and the scene where they're getting him off the boat in the violent thunder storm just scared the shit out of me. Don't know why, just did.
Ewoks: The scene in the second Ewoks movie (which I know own and laugh at) where the parents get killed was very scary for me. A close second was when MacGuyver's dog was killed by old age in one episode.
My next door neighbor: One Halloween he played dead on his front porch until I came over to trick or treat and scared the crap out of me. My mom got my candy from that house that Halloween. Dick.
Nuff said.
Good ones! Alice Cooper was all show; he was harmless, but he had the look of the Anti-Christ, so I could see how he freaked you out. Michael Myers from the Halloween movies was the one who I feared the most. Freddy Krueger I could handle, but not Michael.
even scarier....my father use to play golf with alice cooper in AZ. I have pics tp prove it.
Great list! I forgot about "Jaws". I saw that when I was pretty young and it scared me good.
I remember being scared by Santa Claus when I was about 4 years old..
until my Dad pulled of his beard, to show me he was a friend.
But after that for sometime I was still scared of the friend.
The last comment was me Kitty, I keep forgetting to change back after I read my mail.
Blame it on loss sleep because hubba is not well..
hI RK! its Coby Your painting will go out Friday Next week It will be done This Sunday. 4 days cure should be a plenty! I hope you like it!
hI RK! its Coby Your painting will go out Friday Next week It will be done This Sunday. 4 days cure should be a plenty! I hope you like it!
Well, in your defense, plumbers ARE a wee bit scary. he he he
Coby: yay!
G: I hope your hubby is better!
V: Show me the pics!
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