I'm Afraid Of Spiders, But They Love Me

Everyone is afraid of something. Fear of heights, enclosed spaces, death, illness, public speaking, water, fire, the list goes on and on. Ask 99% of women what they are afraid of and among other things they might mention spiders. I happen to be one of them.

I’ve read up on the subject and some say that the fear of spiders is hereditary. Which is interesting really. So does that mean that our parents are responsible for our fears? If they had given us a spider as a pet, instead of a kitten, a puppy or a bunny, would we have grown to love spiders?

Personally, I can’t imagine such thing. Can you? Can you imagine sitting with a spider on your lap and cuddling it? Curling up with it in bed? Proudly sharing pictures of it on Facebook … I don’t think so.

I often wondered why spiders were created in the first place. Some might say that they play a valuable role in nature and I understand that, they probably do some good. What I don’t understand is why they have to be so ugly.

When spiders were created, why couldn’t they be made to look like hamsters, koala bears, pandas or even squirrels. I can’t think of a single person who is afraid of these creatures. For one reason or another they might not be fond of them because they are dangerous or carry diseases, but nobody goes running, screaming, when they see one.

And believe me, I’ve done my fair share of screaming. As afraid as I am of spiders, they seem to be very fond of me. My mom, dad, or brother never came across a spider, but if there was one in the house, I would be the one to find it.

When I was growing up, I regularly saw them. I saw them in the basement, in the hallway, in the bathroom, or their personal favorite, in my bedroom. Every night when I went to bed, I switched on the light of my bedroom and did a thorough inspection of the ceiling, walls and floor. If my folks heard a scream, mam would instruct dad to go upstairs, armed with a shoe.

The worst case ever was when I literally came face to face with a huge spider who was sitting next to the light switch on the wall. She had one of her eight legs on the light switch and another on the door frame. As I flipped on the light my nose was literally less than an inch away from the monster and in addition to an ear- piercing scream, I stopped breathing.

As I was told later, by the time my dad and brother came upstairs and found me on the landing, I was turning blue. My brother had to slap me out of it.

Since that time, I’ve encountered a number of family members of the spider, from babies to grandfathers, and they all give me the creeps.

Two years ago, I thought there was hope for me yet when I met Karen. She told me that she too had suffered from a severe case of arachnophobia until she decided to do something about it.

“And what did you do?” I asked her.

“Hypnosis or something?”

“I adopted a spider,” Karen said. “I bought a tarantula, I placed it in a glass case in the living room, and I observed it every day.”

Was the woman out of her mind! She was afraid of spiders and she invited a spider to live with her! A tarantula no less! Never, not even in my wildest dreams would I even consider living with a spider under one roof. No, no way, absolutely not!!!

Karen invited me for a visit, so I could observe the spider, how it ate, drank, washed itself and slept. I politely declined. Not a hair on my head even considered this.

When she offered to bring the spider to work, so we could all have a look, Brian strongly advised her not to do this.

“Why not?” Karen asked.

“Because I say so,” Brian told her. “If you do, I go straight to personnel and file a complaint against you. I’m not kidding. Don’t you dare bring that thing in here.”

Hmm, it would appear women are not the only ones who are squeamish about spiders, some men are too.