Will I ever grow out of this??

So, people who know me well know that I have a bit of a tendency to have to figure things out the hard way. I've been like that since I was a child and nothing has really changed. You'd THINK I'd have figured out it's not the ideal way of doing things but no, I haven't.

EVERY SINGLE TIME I pull a tray out of the oven I sit it carefully on the bench using a tea towell to protect me from burning myself. I go do something else for like less than a minute and then I wander back to the tray and think "I wonder if that has cooled down yet?" and promptly burn myself poking it with my finger. No kidding...every time I cook. It reached a point where I'd swear in the kitchen and David would yell out "did you burn yourself checking how hot the tray was again?", and I'd be like "No I certainly did not!" while I ran my finger under the cold water tap.

If someone hands me a hot cup of tea and says "be careful that's really hot" I feel like they are challenging me. What you don't think I can handle it? Just watch me drink it I think to myself and burn my tongue. Then I proclaim "Ow that's really hot!" and look at them like, what did you do that for??

When I was 15 years old I actually put my finger directly onto a car cigarette lighter just to see how hot it was. For the record - it was VERY VERY hot. I still have impaired sensation in that finger tip.

Or like when I was in Melbourne with a girlfriend and we had all our luggage and asked some woman where a particular hotel was and asked "could we walk there?" and she said "no way, not with those bags, it's way too far" and I looked at my friend and said "whatever, we can SO walk it".....30 minutes later I found myself wondering if perhaps that woman had been correct.

Or in a recipe when it says "simmer over a gentle heat for 30 minutes" and I'll think....stuff that, if I just boil it rapidly for 5 minutes that'll save me 25 minutes!! And when it all turns out horribly wrong I wonder if I should have followed the directions more carefully?

Warnings on products or equipment I also tend to test. Like if a paint or something says on it "avoid direct contact with skin" I wonder why it says that? I find myself applying some directly to my skin to see what happens. Often it is hugely dissapointing and nothing happens and I think "ha I knew it". Or if something DOES happen I think "wow fancy that!".

Buttons that say "do not press" really really grate on my nerves. I have this overwhelming desire to press it to see what happens. I find it difficult to concentrate on anything other than that button.

So basically I have learnt nothing since I was a child who when told "don't touch that it's hot!" would glare at the person defiantly and slam my hand on the hot surface. I can't explain it, I'm not deliberatly that dense, it's just something I can't help but do.

Judging a person by their shoes...

Ever done it?

Look I'm the first to admit I'm not the trendiest person on the planet. And to be truthful, my favourite foot attire is generally haviana thongs so really I probably should not be pointing the finger here but something just needs to be said about it.

I'm sitting on the bench outside school waiting to pick my darlings up, doing the gossiping school Mum thing and this lady (who I don't really know so it makes it easier to mock her) is standing in front of us talking about immunisations/vaccinations - specifically influenza and H1N1 and whether or not people should get their children done. Regardless of the fact my opinions differed from hers on the topic (for the record she was pro and I am anti)....I sat there totally distracted by most of what was coming out of her mouth and came very close to saying "Look lady, I cannot take a word you are saying seriously when you wear the most ridiculous looking foot wear I think I've ever seen!".

I mean....I don't know if they are a new thing, or whether I've been blissfully unaware of these hideous things for quite sometime now but whoever invented them has some serious explaining to do......am I right?? :

Irrational fears...

I have a few irrational fears that came up in a discussion on night shift the other night. It started because we were looking at rentals online (dodgy people ha ha - thank you Doctors for your login and password!) and I refused to even consider a house that was otherwise really quite nice because of the bathroom. Firstly it was a bit skanky but mostly it was becase it had A SHOWER CURTAIN. I don't do shower curtains. The girls at work thought it highly amusing that I was terrified of having a shower in a shower with one on because I'd spend the whole time in a frenzied rush with heart palpitations and sweats and all, expecting a stalker to stab me through it at any moment (as per most horror movies I have seen). Irrational yes, but feels very real to me. Mock away, it won't change the fact I would rather stink than subject myself to that sort of terror everyday. And that says a lot because I am normally a 2 showers a day kind of girl - I don't take personal hygiene lightly I have to say.

So that got us into a discussion on irrational fears we all have. I seemed to have the most. I will NOT close my eyes when I wash my face...whether that be at the bathroom sink, or in the shower. Once again, a result of horror flicks. I've seen too many where the person washes their face and when they open their eyes there is a stalker/axe murderer in the reflection of the mirror behind them or standing on the other side of the glass shower door. It stings my eyes like nothing else, but it's a sacrifice I am willing to make rather than risking my life by closing them. One of the girls thought this fear was very justified and seemed suddenly alarmed that all these years she had unwittingly closed her eyes while washing her face and vowed she would never do it again. I like to share my fears and educate people on life enhancing survival skills such as this.

Another one I have is when I am unlocking a door at night I always feel like I have to do it AS FAST AS POSSIBLE, like there is someone stalking me and waiting to jump out and grab me if I'm not fast enough. My heart pounds inside my chest and sometimes my hands even shake a bit. Yes, really. Of course, the urgency is even more intense if I happen to drop the keys or something - it only reinforces the feeling of having to rush because then I almost feel like I am on the set of a horror movie because that always frikkin happens in the movies doesn't it? They drop their keys as someone comes running to grab them. Like in the lift...when the doors are closing and someone is coming and you wonder if the doors will close in time? Wow I hadn't considered that one....will be extra careful when I next arrive at work and step into one.

Of course, some people would tell me my fear of spiders is irrational but thats ridiculous. It is a perfectly normal human reaction to scream and flap your arms around and get the sweats and chills and jump onto the nearest high object when you see a big disgusting hairy spider. HOWEVER I do have an irrational fear of praying mantis's (sp?). Those things are the creepiest creature I think I've ever encountered. If one is stuck to my screen door...I will not use that door. Argh they are foul. The way they rock backwards and forwards and the way they can suddenly fly around and then their sticky little legs .....eewwww...seriously, I have goosebumps right now thinking about them. Evil little things.

So....before I have you all thinking I am the most disturbed person on the planet...I would like you to tell me what your irrational fears are?? I'm sure someone must have worse ones than mine right??

Just so you know...if you DON'T reply then in my mind I think your irrational fears are SO ridiculous you are too scared to share them.