Living in Fear

[BrianSoddingBoru4]

I live in fear that someone, somewhere on the web is taking Drich seriously.

Boru

[tackattack]

@BrianSoddingBoru4  I agree it was bigoted and very trope-ish as Rev said, and for the offense I do apologize. I didn't even know you were from NI or that you had lost an eye. I hope you can excuse my ignorance, and regardless it was out of place. Now back to the impact if you don't mind sharing a little more You said " I got over that feeling after a few years in New Zealand - people here just don’t seem particularly interested in killing each other." so it's lessened but not gone? I would assume that the impact of your wounds from the Poppy Day Massacre (thanks for the research and I'm sorry that you were a victim of a deplorable situation) would cause you considerable fear in going outside. Is it something that affects you regularly in an emotional or social sense?

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I've had occasions when I've feared for my life, but never because of my social identity. It was always a matter of circumstance and as such it doesn't follow me around.

Perks of being a straight cis white man who lives in a Dem-dominated area like Chicago: I'm not too much of an outlier in most of the normal "protected class" sort of ways. Except maybe for my autism, but by the time I started being open about my autism, people were at least understanding. The only person who ever made Raymond Babbit jokes in my presence was me. The closest quality that I think could have been a liability is that I have a foot fetish (because for some reason, to many women, the phrase "you have pretty feet" is something akin to "I have a weapon and I want to rape you.") Even coming out as an atheist in a Catholic high school didn't put much of a target on my back.

Then again, being an extreme introvert who probably does more socialization on this forum in one day than I do with people in the flesh world (outside my dad and my therapist) in an entire year, even those deviations don't often come out.

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Does your extreme introversion come from a direct fear like agoraphobia or is it more of a social choice?


@AFTT47 I think my mother had a fear of guns from when I was young I was playing with a rifle and it went off. I was hit by another car 3 different occasions (the other person was at fault or it was a mechanical failure) and for a few weeks after I was very afraid of getting in a vehicle. Seemed that necessity of having to go places forced that and lessened the fears.

[Rev. Rye]

More of a social choice. Born with autism, so I’m already predisposed to introversion, my experiences being bullied in grade school left me afraid, but a better experience in high school just left me cold to most human interaction.

[Mermaid]

I do fear for my life more than a person should. I have been abducted and sexually assaulted, and managed to escape with my life, although I had serious doubts about that at the time. More recently, I was involved in a shooting incident while I was at the beach just trying to have a relaxing day. Some 19 year old kid wrote a manifesto of hate (we all know this story well) and killed someone and himself in front of everyone. Everyone around me carries a gun everywhere they are allowed, and probably a lot of places where they aren't. There was a firearms incident at a neighbor's house and I had to get out of my own house. So yeah, I am not all that happy to be out and about and I don't even feel safe at home anymore.

[BrianSoddingBoru4]

@BrianSoddingBoru4  I agree it was bigoted and very trope-ish as Rev said, and for the offense I do apologize. I didn't even know you were from NI or that you had lost an eye. I hope you can excuse my ignorance, and regardless it was out of place. Now back to the impact if you don't mind sharing a little more You said " I got over that feeling after a few years in New Zealand - people here just don’t seem particularly interested in killing each other." so it's lessened but not gone? I would assume that the impact of your wounds from the Poppy Day Massacre (thanks for the research and I'm sorry that you were a victim of a deplorable situation) would cause you considerable fear in going outside. Is it something that affects you regularly in an emotional or social sense?

I was never in fear for my life, more of an awareness that it was a possibility that one simply accepted (hence my comment about NI fatalism).

I don’t see how you could not know I’m from Northern Ireland, since my first post in this thread started out, ‘When I lived in Northern Ireland…’

Awareness of my own mortality is constant, I just don’t fret about it. I simply feel that when it comes to car bombs, shootings, and being beaten to death by Protestants, my odds of avoiding the things have increased significantly.

My injuries don’t make me fear going outside (I spend more time out of doors than I do in the house). The chief problem with being one-eyed is that, when I wink at a pretty girl, she thinks I’m falling asleep.

I excuse your ignorance. I do not accept your apology.

Boru

[tackattack]

@Mermaid Those are very good reasons to have a heightened fear. Definitely very reasonable. Sorry that happened to you, and I'm glad you're still around. When that fear kicks in do you have flashbacks, is it more of just unknowing reaction? I'm trying to get at is your aversion a bias that is intentional or subconscious?

@BrianSoddingBoru4 - Fair. If you were to guess how you'd die, do you think it'll be peaceful or something else?

[BrianSoddingBoru4]

@BrianSoddingBoru4 - Fair. If you were to guess how you'd die, do you think it'll be peaceful or something else?

I’ve honestly never thought about it.

Boru

[arewethereyet]

@BrianSoddingBoru4  I agree it was bigoted and very trope-ish as Rev said, and for the offense I do apologize. I didn't even know you were from NI or that you had lost an eye. I hope you can excuse my ignorance, and regardless it was out of place. Now back to the impact if you don't mind sharing a little more You said " I got over that feeling after a few years in New Zealand - people here just don’t seem particularly interested in killing each other." so it's lessened but not gone? I would assume that the impact of your wounds from the Poppy Day Massacre (thanks for the research and I'm sorry that you were a victim of a deplorable situation) would cause you considerable fear in going outside. Is it something that affects you regularly in an emotional or social sense?

I'm going to assume you have been lucky enough not to have experienced extreme trauma.  It's not something that just goes away.  You can learn to live with it but it becomes a part of your being at some level or another.

[Mister Agenda]

I'm not sure I have a normal fear response, I'm kinda like a deer, once the immediate danger is past, I go back to grazing. When I've been in dangerous situations I haven't felt especially afraid, more like on high alert. I've gotten held up at maybe gunpoint, had close calls driving, and had major heart surgery. I'm more likely to be kept awake by knowing I have to fire someone the next day, but that's not fear, I just hate when it comes to that.

[Nay_Sayer]

With the good lord FSM by my side, I fear nothing.