Lepidopteraphobia
*Background: I took an entymology class in college to fulfill my science requirement. It was a large lecture of about 400 students. It was also pretty interesting, the 2-3 times I actually went. I don't remember much, other than the trauma of showing up randomly one day and finding out that I'm supposed to take the midterm exam. I got a 45%. Luckily I grovelled to my professor, and indeed, I told her the truth--that I am a bad person and a horrible student--and she let me retake the exam. Anyways, the only other thing I remember is the scientific genus of beetles (coleoptera) and butterflies (lepidoptera).
The butterflies in particular stand out to me because I happen to be deathly afraid of them. It's apparently not very common, since most people seem to find butterflies "beautiful" and "attractive". I especially find their brightly colored wings loathsome. It's a fear I don't really feel the need to confront, because the fact of the matter is, it's pretty easy to avoid running into a butterfly--don't go to butterfly gardens, don't hang out extensively in dense flora, and don't wear bright floral clothing. Simple.
Now, the embarrassing part is when I actually do encounter a butterfly, and I am in a public place--you know, like the capital sqaure. Today I was walking downtown to run some errands around 10am, and as I turned the corner I noticed the undeniable markings of a large and terrifying monarch butterfly--the worst of them all. There weren't too many other people around, maybe a government employee here or there, taking a break, or making a delivery. I put on my "everything's totally normal" face and kept on walking, sure that if I remained calm the butterfly would eventually flutter somewhere far away from me. WRONG. The thing was following me--I know, because I could see not a foot in front of me the shadow cast by it's disgusting wings. So I did what any person with an unreasonable phobia would. I hit the ground, slowly mind you, a sort of "crouch-walk" followed by a brisk jog. And wouldn't you know, the damn thing kept fluttering right above my ahead for another half a block before it sped off in search of another victim. Needless to say, I'm pretty sure I looked like a lunatic.
Stupid phobias.
The butterflies in particular stand out to me because I happen to be deathly afraid of them. It's apparently not very common, since most people seem to find butterflies "beautiful" and "attractive". I especially find their brightly colored wings loathsome. It's a fear I don't really feel the need to confront, because the fact of the matter is, it's pretty easy to avoid running into a butterfly--don't go to butterfly gardens, don't hang out extensively in dense flora, and don't wear bright floral clothing. Simple.
Now, the embarrassing part is when I actually do encounter a butterfly, and I am in a public place--you know, like the capital sqaure. Today I was walking downtown to run some errands around 10am, and as I turned the corner I noticed the undeniable markings of a large and terrifying monarch butterfly--the worst of them all. There weren't too many other people around, maybe a government employee here or there, taking a break, or making a delivery. I put on my "everything's totally normal" face and kept on walking, sure that if I remained calm the butterfly would eventually flutter somewhere far away from me. WRONG. The thing was following me--I know, because I could see not a foot in front of me the shadow cast by it's disgusting wings. So I did what any person with an unreasonable phobia would. I hit the ground, slowly mind you, a sort of "crouch-walk" followed by a brisk jog. And wouldn't you know, the damn thing kept fluttering right above my ahead for another half a block before it sped off in search of another victim. Needless to say, I'm pretty sure I looked like a lunatic.
Stupid phobias.
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