# What are some "scary things" to you?



## ANDME (Oct 27, 2022)

I am afraid of elevators, flying on planes, large bodies of water. and  heights.  Most people have no problem with these phobias, I just wonder why I do?  But what scares me the most is old age and not being able to do for myself.  The other phobias I could handle, but old age is the one I fear the most.  Do you think fear is helpful or harmful?  Why?  All people fear something.  What are some "scary thing" to you?


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## ohioboy (Oct 27, 2022)

My face!


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## Sassycakes (Oct 27, 2022)

I am afraid of being on a boat, flying on a plane, the condition of my country, and diseases. Of course, I am also afraid of getting older with health conditions.


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## squatting dog (Oct 27, 2022)

Having been shot at and cut during my time in Nam, not much scares me anymore. That said, I still want to avoid sharks, lightening and I'm real leery of train crossings. 
Thinking about this a bit more, I'll say that losing my wife would be the top of my list.


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## officerripley (Oct 27, 2022)

I too am afraid of old age...well, of being older than I already am, I should say.


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## Pepper (Oct 27, 2022)

I'm afraid of what just happened last night & again this morning:
My elevator button for my floor, 4th, is broken.  No signs of warning on the elevator doors.  Had to go to 5th, laden with packages, walk down.  This morning a neighbor assisted me.  Now I am marooned in my apt. till this gets fixed.  I've developed a fear of walking down stairs, not up.  Feel more likely to fall going down.

That and becoming more pathetic physically as I age.


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## DebraMae (Oct 27, 2022)

The only thing that scares me is becoming dependent on someone else.  I have handled a lot of scary things in my lifetime but being dependent is something I do not believe I could accept.


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## Paco Dennis (Oct 27, 2022)

I not fear old age because it is the part of the life cycle. Being a senior citizen is kind of an accomplishment. I don't fear a lot, but it is very challenging dealing with the loss of loved one's, and failing health. Difficult not frightening. I do not think that I like being paralyzed or so scarred I can not act. No I won't let it get that far.


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## Paco Dennis (Oct 27, 2022)

DebraMae said:


> The only thing that scares me is becoming dependent on someone else.  I have handled a lot of scary things in my lifetime but being dependent is something I do not believe I could accept.


  My Dad committed suicide because of failing health and eyesight. He also didn't want to be taken care of. Maybe there is some way that this too can be worked out in the future. I hope so.


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## Gary O' (Oct 27, 2022)

ANDME said:


> What are some "scary thing" to you?


snakes



wimin with good memories


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## win231 (Oct 27, 2022)

I fear nothing.  Everything fears me.
I make coffee by grinding the beans with my teeth & boiling the water with my rage.
I have a Grizzly Bear rug in my living room.  The bear isn't dead; it's just afraid to move.
Every morning, I do 100 pushups.  I don't lift myself up; I push the earth down.
I make onions cry.
I stared at a Rattlesnake & it wet itself.
Ghosts sit around a campfire, telling stories about me.
The lower urinal in men's bathrooms is not for children; it's for me.


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## RadishRose (Oct 27, 2022)

ANDME said:


> Do you think fear is helpful or harmful?


Fear is helpful as it keeps us safe.

Irrational fear is harmful as it makes part of life unnecessarily uncomfortable.

I have an irrational fear of spiders, worms and other creepy crawlies whether harmless or not. Maybe disgust is part of it. 

I also fear walking outside at night, and great heights. I am also afraid of the Statue of Liberty!


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## Alizerine (Oct 27, 2022)

a
All of the above plus dark money and conspiracy theories.


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## officerripley (Oct 27, 2022)

Paco Dennis said:


> My Dad committed suicide because of failing health and eyesight. He also didn't want to be taken care of. Maybe there is some way that this too can be worked out in the future. I hope so.


I also hope so but am pessimistic about it (too many religions being against it).


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## Alligatorob (Oct 27, 2022)

ANDME said:


> what scares me the most is old age and not being able to do for myself.


Yep, same here!  The other stuff, heights, snakes, etc. are minor.


RadishRose said:


> Fear is helpful as it keeps us safe.
> 
> Irrational fear is harmful as it makes part of life unnecessarily uncomfortable.


Well said!


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## Timewise 60+ (Oct 27, 2022)

The thought of having a heart attack or a stroke!


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## Timewise 60+ (Oct 27, 2022)

squatting dog said:


> Having been shot at and cut during my time in Nam, not much scares me anymore. That said, I still want to avoid sharks, lightening and I'm real leery of train crossings.
> Thinking about this a bit more, I'll say that losing my wife would be the top of my list.


Thank you for your service!  I have always had a special place in my heart for those who served!  God Bless....be happy


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## caroln (Oct 27, 2022)

Pepper said:


> I'm afraid of what just happened last night & again this morning:
> My elevator button for my floor, 4th, is broken.  No signs of warning on the elevator doors.  Had to go to 5th, laden with packages, walk down.  This morning a neighbor assisted me.  Now I am marooned in my apt. till this gets fixed.  I've developed a fear of walking down stairs, not up.  Feel more likely to fall going down.
> 
> That and becoming more pathetic physically as I age.


I can relate to the "down" stairs.  I have no trouble going on "up" escalators, but prefer an elevator when going "down".  If a store doesn't have an elevator, I'm pretty much a white knuckle rider when I go down.


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## fuzzybuddy (Oct 27, 2022)

I live alone. And it's the thought of going in my sleep and not being found for a while.


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## Chet (Oct 27, 2022)

Having a health emergency and not being able to get help.


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## oldpop (Oct 27, 2022)

Being in an aware vegetative state.


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## charry (Oct 27, 2022)

Paco Dennis said:


> I not fear old age because it is the part of the life cycle. Being a senior citizen is kind of an accomplishment. I don't fear a lot, but it is very challenging dealing with the loss of loved one's, and failing health. Difficult not frightening. I do not think that I like being paralyzed or so scarred I can not act. No I won't let it get that far.


I care for someone who is paralysed and cannot do anything for himself , he was once so active…….
you quote…..”no I won’t let it get that far “
there would be nothing you could do about it surely , !


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## charry (Oct 27, 2022)

Losing the few people, I really care about !!


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## NorthernLight (Oct 27, 2022)

I'm always afraid to answer this question, because I think it will be used against me. Seriously.

I do have a fear of winding mountain highways with a sheer dropoff on one side and a big, fast-moving vehicle behind me. I tell people about this because I want to avoid such roads if I can.

But they always say something like, "No, it's pretty flat from here on." Does this look pretty flat to you? I'm stuck here forever. No way am I driving this hill again.


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## Flarbalard (Oct 27, 2022)

Human nature.


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## C50 (Oct 27, 2022)

I am afraid of ending up in the hospital and going from there to a nursing home.  I want to end things on my terms, once medical people get involved you lose that option.


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## timoc (Oct 27, 2022)

What is "scary thing" to me?​A huge Amazon woman wearing a snearing face and a knuckle duster...... and walking towards me.


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## twinkles (Oct 27, 2022)

i am afraid of heights
mountain roads
falling and cant get up
bugs of all kinds


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## Trish (Oct 27, 2022)

timoc said:


> What is "scary thing" to me?​A huge Amazon woman wearing a snearing face and a knuckle duster...... and walking towards me.


Would it make a difference if she were clutching a bucket of ice cream in her knuckle dustered hands?


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## SeniorBen (Oct 27, 2022)

Stupid, irrational people in positions of power. Thank god I no longer have to deal with them at the workplace.

I'm also afraid of having to be admitted to a hospital and having to deal with people there. I love my solitude.


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## feywon (Oct 27, 2022)

squatting dog said:


> Having been shot at and cut during my time in Nam, not much scares me anymore. That said, I still want to avoid sharks, lightening and I'm real leery of train crossings.
> Thinking about this a bit more, I'll say that losing my wife would be the top of my list.


There is a difference between phobic fear, or even just slight anxiety producing fear of wild animals (land, sea or human) and having a healthy respect for the power of predatory critters, and natural catalysms (earthquakes, tornadoes, hurricanes).  Sounds to me like you're a pragmatic person who respects the realities of life.


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## Gardenlover (Oct 27, 2022)

Trolls under bridges


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## feywon (Oct 27, 2022)

Had issues with claustrophobia when younger. Rarely gave into it, and eventually got past it.  I have a healthy self preserving respect for the realities of aging. So i don't often go on my roof anymore. I'm clutzy enough on terra firma. But heights themselves not an issue for me (bridges, tall buildings, even cliffs)

The one thing that 'scares' me, because i have little confidence my ability to deal with it Is the idea of any of my children or my grandson predeceasing me.


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## hollydolly (Oct 27, 2022)

I have a horror/fear of Bugs like Cockroaches, ..  never seen them in this country but OMG they're in so many places abroad... *YuK* *YUK* 

I fear heights.. but not on a plane because I feel protected from the voices that tell me to JUMP whenever I'm on top of a height like a 20th floor Balcony.. etc...

.. but what keeps me awake if  I was to let it would be the fear that I will die in Pain... the fear that if I get a horrible life limiting painful disease and that I will be unable to end my own life...


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## Knight (Oct 27, 2022)

timoc said:


> What is "scary thing" to me?​A huge Amazon woman wearing a snearing face and a knuckle duster...... and walking towards me.


You could strip naked & smile.  Seeing you naked & smiling just might wipe the sneer off her face, cause her to drop the knuckle duster & try to grab you.  Then what would you fear?


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## Beezer (Oct 27, 2022)

Dentist...flying in an airplane...my mother-in-law's cooking.


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## Aunt Mavis (Oct 27, 2022)

Aunt Mavis.


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## Lewkat (Oct 27, 2022)

Something happening to my son, my only blood relative that counts, and my only child.


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## IKE (Oct 27, 2022)

The thought of something happening to mama.


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## timoc (Oct 27, 2022)

Knight said:


> You could strip naked & smile.  Seeing you naked & smiling just might wipe the sneer off her face, cause her to drop the knuckle duster & try to grab you.  Then what would you fear?


I'd need to go and lie down.


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## Jamala (Oct 27, 2022)

It is "scary" to me when people jump on a bandwagon and take up the fight of their mate. Goodness knows what else they are capable of doing


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## timoc (Oct 27, 2022)

Trish said:


> Would it make a difference if she were clutching a bucket of ice cream in her knuckle dustered hands?


I hate it when I have to make hard decisions, perhaps I'd try to be brave and go for the ice cream.


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## MarkinPhx (Oct 27, 2022)

I used to have many irrational fears which did stagnate me at times but I have learned to overcome most of them. I do still get anxiety and have a great fear of being in a room with a lot of people who I do not know. Thankfully those situations are rare these days but I was always a wreck when I used to have to go to a convention or the yearly company meeting. 

On a different note, certain movies can scare the sheet out of me. Horror films which have children in them (Shinning, Orphans, etc) keep me spooked for a couple of days after watching the movie.


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## David777 (Oct 27, 2022)

Many things we might imagine can potentially or rarely scare us but the question ought not be about things we rarely experience. For example trying to walk on beams of a skyscraper under construction. Or crawling underneath a home with a dark basement crawl space where cockroaches, black widow spiders, mice, rats, live. Or being in a wind driven wildfire. I can imagine myriad situations like these but none are experiences I'm likely to encounter.

Over recent decades, little in my day to day life that has been scaring me, so low stress.  Most stressful frequent situation is high speed urban night time freeway driving.  An even worse white knuckle experience is being in my Forester with no leading vehicles in front of me on two lane high speed mountain highways during snow storms with many headlight blinding vehicles moving in the opposite direction. That is me in the Lake Tahoe basin during the winter ski season.  Over 5+ decades, I've never caused a accident but when younger was merely lucky.

During winter ski season, there are plenty of truly scary steep places with obstacles like boulders and tree trunks to ski that as a senior I tend to avoid challenging myself as been there done that decades ago, no longer interested.  Though what I do often ski, would scare a majority of skiers.

During summer out solo backpacking in Sierra Nevada wildernesses far from any other people inside a tent trying to sleep, black bears at night can be especially creepy that brings out an ancient primal fear all of we humans have for large dangerous wild carnivores.  Worst is a deep dark forest on a moonless breezeless night where the sounds of unknown creatures making subtle twig noises moving about carry long distances and might be a squirrel, deer, black bear, or worst a mountain lion.  Another scary situation out backpacking is being in electrically dangerous locations during massive thunderstorms with lightning.  The most dangerous situation is when such a storm moves in over dry landscapes because bolts may land anywhere until water with electrolytes covers surfaces.  Following excerpt of a story I have on the web elsewhere.

_At the same time thunderstorms to the south began moving towards RS Mountain and before long, I heard thunder and shortly after rain drops so rambled back to my gear. By time I reached the gear, hail began to fall so I then prepared for a fast escape with rain gear though did not waste time putting on my rain pants that would have required removing my boots. I was surprised the main storm that I could see to the south had suddenly began moving north so quickly and I was soon moving as fast as I (little me 138#) could carrying my heavy load (~60#) north on the trail as hail began falling harder amid frequent ground stroke lightning. Lightning tends to follow down the more conductive paths with heaviest hail and rain that I could sense behind where I was moving due to the loud sounds made advancing north on lake waters. It wasn't long before I realized I would not be able to reach the far end of the lake before the peak of the storm arrived so began looking for options sheltering under larger whitebark pine. Fortunately the ridge to my east above the lake was steep and high enough that it was more likely to take any lightning strikes.

I stopped trail side under a tree where it was soon evident I would soon be soaked if I didn't find something better. There was a tent spot about 200 yards back on the trail I considered fleeing back to, but setting up my Copper Spur HV UL1 tent in a gusty storm with heavy rain is not something that can be done quickly. I noticed a larger tree up the slope with a split trunk so climbed up to that, then scootched down against the V of the trunk and placed my ground sheet over the pack and me that reached down to my boots. I then endured the awkward position for over an hour as several periods of heavy hail and or rain moved through. If the sky had not lightened up some to the west with storming into the evening possible, I was prepared to move back to that tent spot and endure setting up in the rain that at least would allow survival from exposure despite getting a lot of gear wet in the process.

As the storm waned to sprinkles, I dropped down to the trail and rambled quickly north. I soon had more regrets for not putting on my rain pants as the trail often routed through areas of now wet willow that had overgrown the trail and readily soaked into my Levi 505 cotton jeans. By time I'd covered the mile to the far end of the lake, the drama was over and noticed 3 groups of others that had endured the storm as the white surfaces of hail on landscapes quickly melted away. Not trusting the skies, I then set up my tent and was prepared to spend the night there._


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## RandomName (Oct 27, 2022)

I fear encounters with neighbors about zoning issues. I fear losing face, and also fear making them feel the same way. As though someone has to be humiliated, hopefully not me. Often I just do nothing and hope the situation goes away. It takes courage for me to tell other people what I want when it might make them mad. Usually the continued, unending anxiety I endure as I procrastinate becomes so exhausting, that addressing the issue is a relief, and doesn't require courage.  

Used to fear public speaking. And attractive women. 

I have a lot of shyness and general anxiety, that I might construe as fear, also.


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## Manatee (Oct 30, 2022)

I could never understand jumping out of an airplane that is still flying and not on fire.


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## MountainRa (Oct 30, 2022)

I’m afraid I’ll be traveling out of state when a bomb is dropped on the US, destroying most of the infrastructure, and I can’t get back home.
I read too many dystopian novels.


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## Marie5656 (Oct 30, 2022)

Living alone, I fear becoming seriously ill at home, or worse, passing on, and not being found for a while. I mean, living in an apartment, I doubt that will happen, but the thought is still there.  That is why I try to remember to keep my "button" close by


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## PamfromTx (Oct 30, 2022)

Bodies of water.   Reason ~ near drowning.

Illness, i.e.  specifically the returning of Cancer.

Losing my husband.


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## Teacher Terry (Oct 30, 2022)

*Heights, losing one of my kids and being stuck in a nursing home. *


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## win231 (Oct 31, 2022)

Manatee said:


> I could never understand jumping out of an airplane that is still flying and not on fire.


Years ago, I heard a psychologist say, _"Some people don't feel alive unless they're risking death."_


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## win231 (Oct 31, 2022)

My ex wife being resurrected.


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## RandomName (Oct 31, 2022)

Anxiety about my new girl friend, and the future of the relationship. We like each other, and she is OK with me seeing other women. She can see other men. 

My anxiety is that I feel like I would be cheating on her to date other women. Though in my mind I know I have to, in order to make sure she is the one I like the best. 

I told her this, and she is still OK with it. 

But I haven't asked any other women out. And the clock is ticking toward the 'moment of no return' when we will be 'stuck with each other'. 

Anyone understand this ?


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## katlupe (Oct 31, 2022)

Being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Such as the people who were gunned down in the Tops grocery store in Buffalo, NY.


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## Raddragn (Oct 31, 2022)

I can't say that I'm afraid specifically of any particular thing, but I'm certainly wary of a number of things - e.g. getting to close to a poisonous snake, swimming in the ocean (after "Jaws" I vowed to never swim in the ocean again).  I'm a bit of an adrenaline junkie, so I always took calculated chances.
Other issues, I've kind of come to the viewpoint that I'm not going to waste any of my precious time I have left worrying in advance about them. I'll deal with them when and if they happen. This, of course, doesn't mean I haven't taken any measures to cope with them if they occur. I definitely have.


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## Pepper (Oct 31, 2022)

My grandson insists I like sp-sp-sp-spiders!


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## Geezer Garage (Oct 31, 2022)

Not afraid of much, but I do find stupid people in large numbers pretty damn scary.


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## charry (Oct 31, 2022)

Geezer Garage said:


> Not afraid of much, but I do find stupid people in large numbers pretty damn scary.


Lol ditto geezer


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## charry (Oct 31, 2022)

Pepper said:


> My grandson insists I like sp-sp-sp-spiders!


Yuk yuk and more yuk…..hate em


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## charry (Oct 31, 2022)

I’m not scared of much ……but I would hate to be surrounded by snakes .‍‍‍


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## PamfromTx (Oct 31, 2022)

charry said:


> I’m not scared of much ……but I would hate to be surrounded by snakes .‍‍‍


After hearing/reading of the python that swallowed that poor 55 year old woman... I am always looking around me when I go for a walk.  Not that a python will be looming around here.... but just a snake in general terrify me.


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## charry (Oct 31, 2022)

PamfromTx said:


> After hearing/reading of the python that swallowed that poor 55 year old woman... I am always looking around me when I go for a walk.  Not that a python will be looming around here.... but just a snake in general terrify me.


My hubby is worse than me Pam…..he also hates lizards……


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## timoc (Oct 31, 2022)

What are some "scary things" to you?​
Running out of ice cream at 10.00pm when all the shops are closed.


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## DebraMae (Oct 31, 2022)

MarkinPhx said:


> On a different note, certain movies can scare the sheet out of me. Horror films which have children in them (Shinning, Orphans, etc) keep me spooked for a couple of days after watching the movie.


I read the book, "The Exorcist".  It scared me so badly to this day I have never watched the movie.


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## Gaer (Oct 31, 2022)

ignorance in action,
cruelty
hatred in people's souls
loss of freedoms


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## CarolfromTX (Nov 1, 2022)

Going into a “home.”  Outliving my money.


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## Paco Dennis (Nov 1, 2022)

Sometimes while starting to fall asleep, I don't like and am afraid of how my mind invents weird stuff that I have trouble understanding. It creates scenarios that are very foreign to "who" I think I am (at least my identity/s through the day.) I tense up and have to try to relax. It doesn't last long, because I fall asleep. Strange...no?


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## Michael Z (Nov 1, 2022)

Dementia.
Ending up in a nursing home.


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## StillLearning (Nov 2, 2022)

DebraMae said:


> I read the book, "The Exorcist".  It scared me so badly to this day I have never watched the movie.


Good Call!! I drove my old beat up car in the 70’s to watch in theater with my brothers girlfriend who lived about 20 miles away. That drive home alone on those dark windy back roads home were one of the scariest in my life. Lol Kept looking in the back seat. Good thing that old car didn’t break down. Lol


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## Pepper (Nov 2, 2022)

Being hit on the head with a hammer.


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## RandomName (Nov 2, 2022)

I fear hurting people emotionally, and being hurt myself. I don't think I have much 'emotional intelligence'. Plus I am not very brave dealing with my emotions.  Seems like some people know just what to do. Not me.


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## Lawrence (Nov 2, 2022)

I have a fear of trashy women and girls, it stems from having too many bad experiences with them in the past.


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## brenda (Nov 2, 2022)

Not too much scares me since I was a child and afraid of the dark.  I had a small scare the other day with a driver in a pick-up truck.  People have no problem passing a slow driver on our rural roads.  One just waves the other around....no problems.  I was stopped on the roadside trying to identify a shrub with ripening berries when this pick-up came speeding around me nearly taking my drivers door.  Then the fool put his truck in reverse and I waited until he was even with my car and I slowly drove forward. He then stepped on the gas and again passed me, nearly hitting my drivers door again.  He sped away and I admit I was a little shaken given crazy things people are doing these days.


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## Pappy (Nov 2, 2022)

My balance has deteriorated a lot over the past year, so falling is a fear. In fact, I fell outside Monday working on my golf cart. Soft landing and no damage.


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## Remy (Nov 10, 2022)

Working is getting scarier and scarier and harder and harder on me. We have no boss. We had one, she quit, got one in as she left, she lasted a week, blamed the staff for her departure. Now one of my co-workers stated we have a corporate piece of nasty in the building filling in and she's got "pet peeves."


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## Kika (Nov 10, 2022)

Pappy said:


> My balance has deteriorated a lot over the past year, so falling is a fear. In fact, I fell outside Monday working on my golf cart. Soft landing and no damage.


Please try to see your doctor and explain the balance issues, and most importantly, the fall.  Your doctor can then prescribe physical therapy paid by your insurance.  Basically, strength exercises for your legs and using arms to maintain balance. Some are individual and some in groups. 

My husband had Parkinson's and was really unbalanced and afraid of falling.  He went to Physical Therapy "Before the Fall" classes and loved it.  After not too long he was walking around with confidence.

He had "homework" of practicing 15 minutes a day.  And he was sorry when it ended.  He had some dementia, but knew enough to tell the doctor he was "afraid he might fall" which got him another stint of PT.  Pretty slick.


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## Jaiden (Nov 10, 2022)

DebraMae said:


> The only thing that scares me is becoming dependent on someone else.  I have handled a lot of scary things in my lifetime but being dependent is something I do not believe I could accept.


I feel exactly the same way.  I hesitated before moving in with my son's family for just that reason, but they started listing all the ways I could contribute, so I felt better about it.  As long as I can pull my own weight and help out, it will be OK.


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## Pappy (Nov 10, 2022)

Kika said:


> Please try to see your doctor and explain the balance issues, and most importantly, the fall.  Your doctor can then prescribe physical therapy paid by your insurance.  Basically, strength exercises for your legs and using arms to maintain balance. Some are individual and some in groups.
> 
> My husband had Parkinson's and was really unbalanced and afraid of falling.  He went to Physical Therapy "Before the Fall" classes and loved it.  After not too long he was walking around with confidence.
> 
> He had "homework" of practicing 15 minutes a day.  And he was sorry when it ended.  He had some dementia, but knew enough to tell the doctor he was "afraid he might fall" which got him another stint of PT.  Pretty slick.


Kika:  I have a walker I’ll use when needed. Also doing some balance exercises.


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## Kika (Nov 10, 2022)

Pappy said:


> Kika: I have a walker I’ll use when needed. Also doing some balance exercises.


That's great.  The exercises really do help, as well as the walker.


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## DGM (Nov 10, 2022)

My mother once told me "there are things I fear a lot more than dying".  At this age I agree with her:  I fear my wife dying.  I fear being disabled and not being able to care for myself.


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## Trish (Nov 10, 2022)

Heights!  I could never jump out of a helicopter or anything like that - even fairground things which go up in the air!  Actually, I don't like fairground rides at all.


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## jujube (Nov 10, 2022)

I've never liked spiders.  Another thing that  makes me sweat just thinking about it is getting stuck in small places, specifically crawling into a place I can't get out of.  On the other hand, I'm not claustrophobic per se, just in certain cases.

Other than that, not much scares me.  Except politics.  Definitely politics.


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## senior chef (Nov 10, 2022)

I am afraid of cruise liners. I hate the very idea of being trapped on an over crowded ship. Even if I won a free trip on a cruise liner, I'd turn it down.


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## DGM (Nov 11, 2022)

senior chef said:


> I am afraid of cruise liners. I hate the very idea of being trapped on an over crowded ship. Even if I won a free trip on a cruise liner, I'd turn it down.


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## helenbacque (Nov 11, 2022)

My greatest fear is running out of money before I run out of life.


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## Kika (Nov 11, 2022)

Bugs of any kind inside my apartment. Could be a fly, an ant, spider, 
and *especially *a waterbug....eeewwww


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## Aunt Mavis (Nov 11, 2022)

senior chef said:


> I am afraid of cruise liners. I hate the very idea of being trapped on an over crowded ship. Even if I won a free trip on a cruise liner, I'd turn it down.


Good for you, evil monsters they are.


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## Pepper (Nov 11, 2022)

Kika said:


> Bugs of any kind inside my apartment. Could be a fly, an ant, spider,
> and *especially *a waterbug....eeewwww


You forgot to say 'cockroach'........ even typing it makes me sick.  Waterbugs, the worst.

What floor do you live on?


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## Kika (Nov 11, 2022)

Pepper said:


> You forgot to say 'cockroach'........ even typing it makes me sick. Waterbugs, the worst.
> 
> What floor do you live on?


I live on 7.  Thankfully the last time I saw a cockroach in anyplace I lived at was in the 60s.

Every few years, when it is hot and humid one will appear.  I have had fine mesh screens placed over the vents in the kitchen and bathroom and plugged the overfill holes in the tub and bathroom sink.  

I have not seen any since I did that.


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## Pepper (Nov 11, 2022)

@Kika 
The apartment below me was recently totally renovated.  Now I have a roach problem (which I haven't in decades!) and the neighbors 2 floors below me do too.  I use Combat, which always worked incredibly well in the past, and now is working, but I still have them, though less than before.  I keep the kitchen light on from sundown till I go to bed.  It has made me sick, not kidding, sick to my stomach.

I will have to involve the bldg's exterminator, which I loathe to do, because of the smell and worries about my cat.  In the past, Combat has always worked better than the exterminator.

I'm so grossed out.


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## Right Now (Nov 11, 2022)

senior chef said:


> I am afraid of cruise liners. I hate the very idea of being trapped on an over crowded ship. Even if I won a free trip on a cruise liner, I'd turn it down.


While I'm not afraid of them, it's certainly not my idea of a fun trip!  Too confining, don't wish to be at sea, I'd rather smell earth, dirt beneath my feet.  Then I can go wherever and whenever I want to.


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## Kika (Nov 11, 2022)

@Pepper   sent you a private message.


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## RadishRose (Nov 11, 2022)

DebraMae said:


> I read the book, "The Exorcist".  It scared me so badly to this day I have never watched the movie.


Don't watch the movie, @DebraMae. If the book scared you that much, you might never get over the movie. 

I haven't. I don't even want to think about it. Now here I am, thinking about it....


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## win231 (Nov 11, 2022)

senior chef said:


> I am afraid of cruise liners. I hate the very idea of being trapped on an over crowded ship. Even if I won a free trip on a cruise liner, I'd turn it down.


I had no fear of cruise ships........UNTIL I heard about that one where the plumbing quit working & all the floors were ankle deep in............stuff.
At that point, the bottom of the ocean would look really good to me.


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## down2earth (Nov 19, 2022)

Edgar Allen Poe and I both fear being buried alive. I told my children to poke me several times with a needle to make sure.  I'm also afraid of eating the wrong mushroom in a forest....going into paralysis....and being unable to scream for help.  Wait. What good would screaming for help do in a forest anyway?


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## MissRJ (Nov 20, 2022)

ANDME said:


> I am afraid of elevators, flying on planes, large bodies of water. and  heights.  Most people have no problem with these phobias, I just wonder why I do?  But what scares me the most is old age and not being able to do for myself.  The other phobias I could handle, but old age is the one I fear the most.  Do you think fear is helpful or harmful?  Why?  All people fear something.  What are some "scary thing" to you?


I am concerned with the effects/affects that aging will have on me.


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## win231 (Nov 20, 2022)

MissRJ said:


> I am concerned with the effects/affects that aging will have on me.


We all are.  We just don't all admit it.


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## win231 (Nov 20, 2022)

RadishRose said:


> Don't watch the movie, @DebraMae. If the book scared you that much, you might never get over the movie.
> 
> I haven't. I don't even want to think about it. Now here I am, thinking about it....


I was laughing & making Pea Soup jokes during that movie.  Later, my friends & I had fun quoting some of the dirtier lines.........


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## senior chef (Nov 20, 2022)

MissRJ said:


> I am concerned with the effects/affects that aging will have on me.


You and me, both. I live alone and if I had a stroke, or some other immobiling disease, I'd likely lie flat out until someone found my dead body.


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## MissRJ (Nov 20, 2022)

senior chef said:


> You and me, both. I live alone and if I had a stroke, or some other immobiling disease, I'd likely lie flat out until someone found my dead body.


After my grandfather passed away,my grandmother lived alone for twenty years before passing away.
My father was there for her.


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## Paladin1950 (Nov 21, 2022)

Large waves like tidal & rogue waves, and tsunamis give me nightmares. Or at least they used to. But they still scare the hell out me, at least if I see them. Which I don't on dry land. I think at some point, we all are scared of heights. Spiders, I have never feared. In fact, whether at home or work, if I see a spider, I just throw it outside, I never kill it. I consider it one of the "good" insects. Every so often, once a month, or every other month,  a snake or two manages to slither into my dreams. I never think about them. But I did get bit by a rattlesnake in Florida, the day before my 13th birthday.


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## katlupe (Nov 21, 2022)

Kika said:


> Bugs of any kind inside my apartment. Could be a fly, an ant, spider,
> and *especially *a waterbug....eeewwww


Bedbugs too!


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## katlupe (Nov 21, 2022)

DebraMae said:


> I read the book, "The Exorcist".  It scared me so badly to this day I have never watched the movie.


Salem's Lot, by Stephen King scared me so bad that I burned the book! I didn't even finish it. I couldn't sleep for weeks.


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## Kika (Nov 21, 2022)

katlupe said:


> Bedbugs too!


OMG yes!!!


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## Pepper (Nov 21, 2022)

katlupe said:


> Salem's Lot, by Stephen King scared me so bad that I burned the book! I didn't even finish it. I couldn't sleep for weeks.


I thought this was the scariest of all his books, one of his first, and on the 'thin' side compared to his later tomes.  Brevity is another thing making this book so fantastically scary!


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## Lewkat (Nov 21, 2022)

Loss of freedom.


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## JaniceM (Dec 13, 2022)

Being sick when there's nobody to turn to and not knowing what to do..  call an ambulance = they get mad if it's nothing serious, and also I'd have no way to get home, or do nothing and risk it getting to the point of being too sick to call for help...


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## Nemo2 (Dec 13, 2022)

Trish said:


> Heights!  I could never jump out of a helicopter or anything like that - even fairground things which go up in the air!  Actually, I don't like fairground rides at all.


In 1978 I did my one, and only, parachute jump....didn't help with the heights thing but the fiasco made for another tale to tell.


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## SeniorBen (Dec 13, 2022)

DGM said:


>


Bill Maher grates on me any more. I'd go on a cruise if I enjoyed being around people and liked to drink and overeat and gamble.


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## Nemo2 (Dec 13, 2022)

SeniorBen said:


> liked to drink and overeat and gamble.


You might be confusing general ship travel with short duration Caribbean boozefests?


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## Packerjohn (Dec 13, 2022)

I'm not afraid of anything really.  Living on the 8th floor I am above all the mess below.  Maybe I'm afraid for the young generation that stands around starring at their phones.  One day, they are going to get a pretty rude awakening.


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## Pepper (Dec 13, 2022)

SeniorBen said:


> Bill Maher grates on me any more.


I feel the same way.  He's acting like a whiny little bitch


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## Farrah Nuff (Dec 13, 2022)

Fanatics


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## Paco Dennis (Dec 13, 2022)

My grand children's future.


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## Disgustedman (Dec 13, 2022)

I know one day I'll have to give up my van. I went to another safe living area, but the things that bothered me (having to cook outside in tent. Not being near my only personal transportation, not being near my possession(s), hoping no one stole my food.

I take risks at a gambling table. I'm not wanting to risk others getting into my stuff, or vehicle and destroying it and them. 

And big spiders. That's why I won't go to Australia......


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## RandomName (Dec 14, 2022)

I fear having to rely on other people to do important things that I am not allowed to do myself. 

Like getting some financial transaction done properly. I usually have to be all over them to do it right the first time, so I don't get stuck fixing it later.  It's a PITA and I don't like to harass the clerks,  but I have to, apparently, lol.


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## Trish (Dec 15, 2022)

Nemo2 said:


> In 1978 I did my one, and only, parachute jump....didn't help with the heights thing but the fiasco made for another tale to tell.


Many years ago, my then boyfriend persuaded me to go on the big dipper (OMG! that sounds smutty ). I screamed so loudly that there was a crowd of kids waiting for us to disembark seemingly just to stare at the person responsible for such a racket   Even the tea cup rides made me nauseous and don't even mention clowns!  Clowns are scary!!!


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## Nemo2 (Dec 15, 2022)

Here's my parachute story:

1978...Southern Ontario.

Do not like heights....so said "OK let's jump out of a plane"

-  Regular procedure, they give you the basics in the morning and you jump with a static line in the afternoon.

-  Wind blows up in the afternoon.....regs are that novices can't jump if wind is above a certain velocity.....come back next week.

-  Following week, windy....sit all morning...watch one of the 'semi-pros' overshoot and land on top of a van in the parking lot.  See another, whose main 'chute didn't open, switch to the reserve and land (unharmed) in a bush.

-  Afternoon....wind drops..."Lock & Load"
   I have the shortest line, so I'm to be first out.  Another plane in the area, so we have to circle for 5 minutes....newbies all kneeling so as not to accidently open chutes.

-  OK..out on the strut....throw yourself backwards and GO!

-  So...attached to the harness is a one way radio in order that the ground instructor can communicate.  I'm jumper #1

-  Floating down....ground instructor's voice says "OK #2, if you're not going to listen to me, you're on your own".....(I'm thinking "Um, what about #1?????")

-  Voice from a CB radio says "Hey Charlie I've got a case of beer in the back of the truck, head over to my place"   -  What? Who are you, and who the **** is Charlie?

-  OK...self determination time....recalling the guy who overshot, and not wanting to repeat that, I start 'crabbing' to slow the trajectory.

-  Did a great job of crabbing, land in an adjacent, freshly plowed, farmer's field, and pull a tendon in my leg.  Wind's pulling the chute, I'm trying to limp after it and haul it in.  Buddy runs over to help.  I ask did the ground instructor (whom he was sitting near) say anything?  He replies "Oh yeah, he said you're doing great #1".

-  One & done.


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## 1955 (Dec 15, 2022)

Public Speaking 

At work the VP of our division wanted me to give a seminar about my progress solving some of the technical challenges we faced. So being the *INTP* I am my life long fear is public speaking. I almost didn’t get through college just because of English composition class.

Anyway, being the typical introverted engineer I am this was a nightmare to spend a whole day at the podium speaking. There were maybe 50 – 60 people in attendance and I don’t even remember what the hell I said but got through it.

Maybe I should taken my buddies advice to join *ToastMasters*.


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## Indiana Joe (Dec 15, 2022)

ANDME said:


> I am afraid of elevators, flying on planes, large bodies of water. and  heights.  Most people have no problem with these phobias, I just wonder why I do?  But what scares me the most is old age and not being able to do for myself.  The other phobias I could handle, but old age is the one I fear the most.  Do you think fear is helpful or harmful?  Why?  All people fear something.  What are some "scary thing" to you?


When I was in my early teens I used to deliberately walk down a dark alley in Chicago where I lived at that time. I would force myself to walk down the unlit stairs which led to the basement door of some apartment building.  I would look all about into the darkness when at the bottom, showing myself there were no Frankenstein or Wolfman waiting for me in the dark.  

Further down the alley, I wold force myself to walk down a darkened sidewalk leading from someone's garage to their backyard.  It didn't take too many of these trips down those dark alleys to convince something in the back of my head that I was safe.

However, I would not recommend doing such today because of the homeless druggies who infest our cities and our lives.


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## NorthernLight (Dec 15, 2022)

1955 said:


> Public Speaking
> 
> At work the VP of our division wanted me to give a seminar about my progress solving some of the technical challenges we faced. So being the *INTP* I am my life long fear is public speaking. I almost didn’t get through college just because of English composition class.
> 
> ...


I'm INTP too! Nice to meet you.

In university I had to give "presentations." I was quite miffed. "Hey, I'm paying you! You don't get to torture me." 

I did belong to Toastmasters in my 40s. It was fun. I also took two selling courses, to challenge myself. It's only now that I'm getting over myself though.


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## fatboy (Dec 15, 2022)

tornado's !


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## DaveA (Dec 15, 2022)

Pepper said:


> I'm afraid of what just happened last night & again this morning:
> My elevator button for my floor, 4th, is broken.  No signs of warning on the elevator doors.  Had to go to 5th, laden with packages, walk down.  This morning a neighbor assisted me.  Now I am marooned in my apt. till this gets fixed.  I've developed a fear of walking down stairs, not up.  Feel more likely to fall going down.
> 
> That and becoming more pathetic physically as I age.


same here, Pepper.  Much more comfortable walking upstairs than down.


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## win231 (Dec 15, 2022)

Gary O' said:


> snakes
> 
> View attachment 246898
> 
> ...


So, I guess it's safe to say you wouldn't pet this one?


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## Skyking (Dec 21, 2022)

Fire, because as a dear departed friend once said, "fire can make a dead man run".  (He should know, he was a fireman.)


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