I have always been fascinated by a story about a military tank commander during World War II who, whenever possible, would ride outside of his tank, sitting on top of it. When asked why he chose to ride that way, he replied, “I have always suffered from claustrophobia, a fear of confined places.”
It made me wonder how many other people ended up doing what they feared. Kind of like a librarian being afraid of books, a mailman afraid of stamps, a barber afraid of hair or a UPS driver afraid of the color brown.
Of course we all have a fear of some kind. For example I suffer from ophidiophobia, a fear of snakes. It’s not debilitating as long as I stay away from swamps and tall grass. The only time this fear cause me any trouble was in my college days. I was on a date with a pretty coed, strolling hand in hand beside a bubbling stream in one of central New York’s beautiful state parks, when I caught sight of a big garter snake sunning himself beside our path. In a sudden reflex action I let go of her hand and darted ahead in an effort get as far from that snake as possible. When I finally stopped running and went back to see if she was alright, I had a lot of explaining to do. That was one time when a fear almost got me in trouble, but she married me anyway.
At least it’s not as bad as escalaphobia, a fear of riding on an escalator. That would limit ones visit to most airports or any large department store.
Most farmers have a phobia of some kind that interferes with their jobs. For me it’s acrophobia, an irrational fear of heights. That is one fear that has gotten me out of a lot of work. When it comes to climbing up the outside of a tall silo, painting the barn roof or any job that requires an extension ladder, I’m as helpless as a dog on ice. My wife helped me face this fear by requiring me to climb an extension ladder to put up, and later take down, seven large 3×6 foot storm windows each year. After struggling with these for a few years I finally faced my fear of heights directly by convincing her of all the advantages of aluminum combination storms and screens.
I ponder how many other people have squarely faced their fears and still are able to perform all the tasks required of their profession. With that in mind, there must be jockeys who initially were afraid of horses, shepherds afraid of sheep, plumbers afraid of pipes or bookkeepers afraid of numbers. In spite of their fears, they continue to perform their daily tasks, or like me, find creative ways to avoid doing them altogether.
Joe Peck, a Saratoga County dairy farmer, storyteller and humorous speaker, is author of “A Tractor in the House & Other Smashing Farm Stories” and “A Cow in the Pool & Udder Humorous Farm Stories” which you may order at www.joepeckonline.com or call (518) 584-4129.
