Claustrophobia, Heights, and Water

So, I admit it, I have a few phobias.

Fist of all, I don't like closed in spaces. A few years back I had to have an MRI. I thought I was going to die being placed in that very narrow tube. They expected me to hold still for twenty minutes, listening to all those clicking noises. Well, I accomplished the task, but I didn't like it all.



Many many years ago, my sister Lori and I were leaving JC Penneys. I suggested we take the elevator to go down to our parking level. Little did I know Lori was scared of elevators. I convinced her that nothing would go wrong. Liar! We got in the elevator just as the five o'clock shift change was taking place so it was crowded. I don't know if we were all too heavy or if it was just an elevator malfunction, but sure enough, we got stuck. It is really bad when a claustrophobic gets stuck in an elevator with what seems like several hundred tall people towering over her. Needless to say, the escalator is now our choice of travel.



I also get claustrophobic in caves. This hasn't stopped me from visiting Carlsbad Caverns, Kartchner Caverns, or the Mount Timpanogos Caves. I just have to let the beauty of the underworld overwhelm me so I forget my insecurities.



I am also scared of heights. I remember going to Six Flags over Texas and riding "the elevator" up to the top of the 30 story high observation tower. Once at the top, looking over the edge and down was enough to make me dizzy. I suppose if I were ever to get the chance to go to the Eiffel Tower, I would still want to travel to the top, but I still get a little nervous being that high up. As a side note, this picture shows the tower, but also the double loop roller coaster, the Shock Wave. As a teen I loved this roller coaster. Once after having ridden it three times, I was next up for my fourth turn. The passengers in front of me got on and the cars took off. Right before the first loop, the coaster came to a screeching halt. The roller coaster had broken down. I watched as the passengers were ushered off the coaster and made to climb down some steps welded into the frame of the roller coaster. After that, I never road a roller coaster of that magnitude again. Also, when my father went on it, he asked the worker when getting off if they had seen his toupee on the ground. He claimed he lost it on the loop. That was so funny...he was just bald, no toupee. Leave it to my dad to be funny!



Ever since I was small I have been scared of the water. I will get on a boat, a cruise ship, or in a swimming pool, but I never want to think of my head going under the water. Not being able to breathe (i.e. like even at the dentist) gives me the shakes. I don't like anyone touching me when I am in the water. I think this fear came from my father dunking me or picking me up and throwing me in the pool. Even in my thirties, if my dad got in the pool, I got out. Silly me, like he would try to dunk me or throw me around as an adult. I remember having swimming lessons as a young child. While my entire class was jumping off the diving board into the DEEP end, I was sitting in the shallow end feeling like a failure. On a vacation to Lake Tahoe about 14 years ago, I decided to challenge myself. I dropped a penny in five feet deep water, spent a good fifteen minutes getting my courage up, and dove down and got it. Yay me! Stupid me!



A favorite combination for both my claustrophobia, my fear of heights, and water is the airplane. Every time I get in an airplane I still wonder how an object weighing 900,000 pounds manages to stay in the air. And there we all sit in this narrow confined space acting like it is completely normal. When flying out of Los Angeles, we always fly over the ocean to circle back around...yep, high, enclosed, and over water. With that being said, I have my passport and would travel from one end of the earth to the other given the chance. Good thing I know how to keep my fears in check!