What was your most irrational fear as a child?

[Sciencewoman]

Originally Posted by GammaGirl1908

*The big one: escalators, especially very fast ones. I was convinced the teeth would eat me.

I have heard that escalators result in a significant number of injuries every year, so I don't think your fear was irrational. My sister got her sneaker "eaten" by an escalator at a Hyatt Regency in Florida. She was with her first husband (an attorney) and my parents. There was a bent piece of metal at the bottom of the escalator, creating a small space that was just big enough to trap the tip of her shoe between the bottom platform and the stair teeth. Her foot was trapped and her husband had to work to rip her shoe off, while the escalator was still running and people were coming to help. My mom told me the story and I thought she was exaggerating, until I saw the shoe. The sole was sliced completely through...this shoe was mangled! I could not believe she wasn't injured. The hotel paid for a new pair of shoes.