Ask anybody

on the street what motivates their behavior and they'll probably tell

you to back off and get out of their way.

What they're

not telling you is that fear motivates their behavior. Why are they not

telling you this? Possibly because they are afraid of telling you, but

it is more likely that they do not know that their fears make them behave

the way they do.

These people

are called phobics, or in layman's terms, nut cases. They are called phobics

because of the word phobia, which means a persistent or irrational fear

of a specific object, activity or situation. The word phobia is of Greek

origin, which makes sense because the Greeks have a persistent and irrational

fear of specfic objects. I had a neighbor who was from Greece and his

house had no furniture or appliances.

There are many

phobias out there, including the commonly known claustrophobia, which

is fear of enclosed spaces, and agoraphobia, which is the fear of open

spaces. People who have arachnophobia are of afraid of spiders and those

who suffer from alektorophobia are afraid of chickens. There are also

many people out there, including someone at this publication, who are

coulrophobic, which means they are afraid of clowns.

You may not

know it but chances are you know someone who is arachibutyrophobic, which

is the fear of peanut butter sticking to the roof of your mouth. In fact

your children may be didaskaleinophobic, which is the fear of school.

Hopefully, they are not sophobic, which would mean they are afraid of

learning. I am neither of those things, now that I have graduated from

school, but for a while I was metrophobic, which means I had an irrational

fear of poetry. Sometimes just the thought of Emily Dickinson caused me

to break out in cold sweats.

Though this

column is often known for taking what would be considered a not-so-serious

tone, phobias can harm people. Logizomechanophobia may sound funny, but

that fear of computers might have been what caused the Unabomber to go

on his deadly mailing spree. Ablutophobics are afraid of washing or bathing.

Sure, they may not fall down the drain while taking a shower, but they

won't wash off that salmonella after a hard day at the chicken plant either.

Those who suffer from chaetophobia, a fear of hair, may appear harmless

until they attempt to shave your head while you're sleeping.

So, while many

of these phobias may cause you to chuckle, it is important to treat these

poor human beings with compassion. If you run into an eremophobic, a person

who is afraid of him or herself, steer them away from mirrors. If you

know someone who suffers from Francophobia, which is the fear of all things

French, do not take them to France or to any fast food restaurants that

serve those fried potato sticks.

I have faced

my phobias, including my plutophobia, which is fear of wealth, although

you'd never know it, and my scoptophobia, which is the fear of being seen,

and you'd never know that either, from what I'm told.

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