Guscio: Fear not; knowing is half the battle

I was reading an article about phobias the other day and came upon some that were fitting for me and several people I know.

There is one I know none of my family has, "Ailurophobia," a fear of cats. We all have so many cats, feral and tame, I can't keep track of them.

Don never liked cats at all until one evening we found one in the bushes at Jim 'N Nick's BBQ on U.S. 278 and took him home. We called him Snicket, sort of a play on Jim 'N Nick.

At my store we have two strays at the moment, sometimes more we feed and tend to.

My mother always accused me of having "Kathisophobia," a fear of sitting down. I don't like sitting too long because it can lead to danger. Danger of saying the wrong thing or being stuck in an unpleasant situation.

I remember an old hymn that goes "Won't you sit down ... Lord I can't sit down ... I just got to heaven got to look around. ..." or something like that.

My father called it being wise.

Another one that stands out is "Aichmophobia," a fear of a pointed object like a needle or a pointed finger. Did you ever go to school without doing your homework and the teacher looked at you and pointed her finger saying, "Stay after school and do it!" Yikes, I still have that fear when I smell erasers and pencils.

If you have "Amathophobia" you should probably wear gloves if you come to my store. It is a fear of dust. The town maintenance men come by once a week or so with a giant blower, and you can imagine what happens. My store is rather like a sieve so dust gets everywhere. I have asked for them not to come near me but to no avail.

Alas I can't blame the dust in my house on them. Oh well.

Do not get married or have children if you have "Hypengyophobia," which is the fear of responsibility. We know that is not a good thing for anyone.

In fact you should probably not have pets either. Maybe a "pet rock" would be OK.

Christmas shopping should be removed from your to-do list if you have "Ochlophobia" a fear of crowds.

Babbie Guscio is the social columnist for The Bluffton Packet. She can be reached at The Store on Calhoun Street.

This story was originally published December 2, 2015 at 11:16 AM with the headline "Guscio: Fear not; knowing is half the battle."