I remember when I was 12 or 13, I was afraid to swim in my parents pool at night, even with the pool light on. I always thought there was a shark that would eat me. So when swimming with friends at night, I was always preoccupied with checking the area around me for sharks. I’d especially never leave my back to the deep end (6ft) at night.
Even to this day I have the same fear, despite the fact that I know there is no shark and that one couldn’t even survive in the pool. So I was thinking, is this delusional or just the product of an overactive imagination from when I was a child (though 12 or 13 should be more mature for this in my opinion.)
Thoughts?
When I was in cubs they took us to a swimming pool to have a good time.
I dove into the deep end and started swimming, but I was was swimming deeper and deeper under water.
Fortunately someone dove in a rescued me.
In my case the pool was the shark.
as children we have fears , as adult sz we find it hard to let go of these fears, irrational as they are.
take care
I still make every effort to keep my feet and hands from dangling over the side of my bed at all times because I still believe a monster from under the bed will come out and chew them off.
Did you ever watch the movie “Jaws” when you were a kid?
Never saw Jaws as a kid. Didn’t see it until after highschool.
I did. Me and my friends were all afraid to swim in the ocean after that movie. It caused total paranoia for months! It didn’t keep us from swimming in the ocean but it scared us good. Ironically I saw in the news yesterday that a lady in Hawaii was killed by a shark while swimming.
As far as the ocean goes, the sheer vastness and depth scared me. When my dad took me fishing, I always pictured the boat tipping over, spilling us into the bay. Then I would imagine the 100 or so feet below me and that just scared me for some reason. That and sharks of course, but that fear was more valid than the swimming pool shark.
Yes - I know a ton of people who tend to avoid all water and especially swimming in the ocean - due to that single movie.
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“The Exorcist” scared us even worse though. People don’t know what a big deal that was in 1973 or 1974. It almost caused mass hysteria in theaters where it was shown. People were fainting and screaming. Before that movie came out, I don’t think most people even knew what an exorcism was, but after that movie came out everybody was talking about it. And incidentally it made Linda Blair a household name.
i swam in the water on holiday, i wasnt scared of sharks just jelly fish, it was amazing chasing all the little fish under the surface,
i dont care about sharks unless i see one probably not very safety conscious lol but i saw a bit of jaws when i was younger and the new one was even scarier it was an underwater research facility and they had been doing something to the sharks which made them smarter so they were much smarter and much more deadly, luckily sharks are dumb so dont worry.
i think i heard that there are more attacks by hippos than sharks on humans so i guess its very rare.
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Yes, hippos are surprisingly dangerous. People make the sometimes fatal mistake of underestimating them. And yes, they will kill you.
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heres that film i was talking about, its called deep blue lol
My sis and I are swimmers and my sis and all my brothers are/ have been lifeguards. Even when they were all younger… Jaws scared then all for a few years.
She is a little more afraid of sharks then I am. So she won’t surf where there are no Orcas or seals or dolphins. If a shark is around the seals split. If there are Orcas around they usually win so the shark will split.
Every swimming pool will have something called “the floating movie” where you float in the water while the movie is projected on to a wall. It’s always a joke “Why not play JAWS”
Because many people even adults are afraid of the water enough because of that movie.
@SzAdmin … Same here. I also know a lot of people who won’t surf, scuba dive, or ocean swim due to that movie. It’s sad really. What a powerful movie that was to be in the psyche of so many.
I’ve read the book. I didn’t see the movie. I’m really glad I didn’t.
That must be why it didn’t come to our theater until 1978. My friends and I went to the special midnight showing and walked back home. I was 13 but my friends were 16, 17, and two 18 year olds. We walked down the center of all the streets, afraid of getting to close to the trees and bushes in case something popped out at us.
I’ve swam in the ocean many times, never gave too much thought about sharks. One time we were listening to whales and swimming out quite far, I turned around and saw this large thing coming right towards me, it was two huge sea turtles, one came so close to me I put my hand out to touch it and it glided under my hand allowing me to “pet” it. Once they were gone I looked down and realized I swam passed this drop off where I could no longer see the bottom of the ocean. I swam back to shore as fast as I could. Don’t know why but that scared the crap out of me even though I’m a good swimmer.
We saw “The Exorcist” at the Drive-in !!! My friends mom lent him the VW SuperBeetle and I got inside the trunk and I got in for free. As a matter of fact we saw “Jaws” at the drive-in too!!
Makes me sad there are very few drive-in’s, but I do like flea markets.
How in the heck did you fit in the trunk?
I was 13 or 14. It was a tight fit though. My other friend had a Ford Falcon (kind of like a Mustang) We used to sneak in all the time in it, sometimes one guy would be in the trunk and another guy would lay on the floor in the back. And we would sneak in a case of beer to tide us over.
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Hahaha…
Think the falcon would have been the better car to sneak in with. No room for the beer in the bug-right?