You ever noticed it's much, much easier to be brave if you're the only one who is going to be. Riding into the equation comes the issue of spiders. Cue annecdote:
Some time ago I was watching a movie in the dark round Joe's. The only light was from the TV flickering with each scene occasionally illuminating the floor. I could see something scuttering around in the dark near my feet. I ignored it, I assumed it was a little spider. I say it in the order of my eye a few times, then perhaps 20 minutes later there was a prolonged "bright" scene, acording a clearer view of the room.
So I get a clear look at the spider. And it's pretty fucking big.
I announced this fact, much to the immediate dismay of Nicki, who stood on the sofa throughout the proceeding scene. We turned on the light, and my suspicions were confirmed, it was big. One of the bigger spiders I've seen in England. It was quick too, one of those kinda stop-start scuttering spiders.
I should say at this point I'm not afraid of spiders, but I am not their biggest fan. And that's kinda the point. If that room had been full of arachnophobics (like Nicki), I could have gotten that spider, I could have picked it up and gotten rid of it.
But it wasn't a room of arachnophobics. Joe and Tom, especially Tom, were not remotely afraid of it, and for some reason that made me slightly more afraid of it.
I don't know if this is a common occurance. Are we braver when we have to be?
Certainly from my experience playing basketball I can tell you that I am a lot more confident on the ball, and more likely to dribble and drive if I feel like one of the better players. I don't know. Maybe it's just me.
By the way, apparently, between 50-60% of women in England suffer from arachnophobia, and between 10-20% of men. Now why is that? Seems strange.
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