Scaredy cat

It’s been a couple of weeks since I last posted. What can I say, I’ve been busy.
It’s been another of those varied weeks for me- I seem to have done a bit of everything. A couple of days ago I organised a visit for our children from the ‘Animal Man’, a rather eccentric man with the curliest moustache you have ever seen, and it got me thinking about phobias. The appearance of snakes and oversized spiders never seems to bother the children at all, in fact they usually can’t wait to hold them, but most of our teenage volunteers recoil in either fear or disgust. At what point do we gain these fears? I’m not in the least bit bothered by snakes, spiders, creepy crawlies (though I’m not keen on wasps), but put me in a room with a cat and I’m fairly anxious; I wouldn’t say I’m phobic, but I’m not comfortable. I don’t think I have any real phobias- there are things that I would rather avoid (great heights, maggots, large knives, public speaking, horses) but they are all things that I can do/ come into contact with if I have to. Where do the really irrational fears people have come from though? I had a work colleague who was phobic of milk and milk products- she couldn’t make someone a cup of tea with milk in it, couldn’t sit next to anyone eating yoghurt and would run out of the room if someone spilled milk; she was unable to give any reason for this phobia. I've also come across people with phobias of buttons and polystyrene!