The most disturbing thing youve seen/experienced

[Mycanid]

Well, it may sound strange, but I would have to say the movie Jaws. I saw it when I was but a wee lad and it scared the ::AHEM!:: out of me!

To this day I am still afraid of large bodies of water and (of course the essence of the thing) what might be in that large body of water.... And yes, I know it is an "irrational" fear. Sigh.

Other than this ... I was with my grandfather (on my legal papa's side - the one who was most like a "grandfather") when he had the heart attack that eventually resulted in his death. I was the last to see him conscious. That REALLY shook me up. It happened in a humongous (sp?) mall - a mall so big it has it's own private zip code. I felt totally helpless and alone. I was numb for weeks afterward and it took me years to "get through it".

 

[MavrickWeirdo]

5 years ago today

 

[Harmon]

To this day, I cannot see the need nor want to have cigarettes in one's lives.

Agreed.

My step mom smokes. She watched her father die, day by day for years, smoking while he was on O2 and she still smokes.

 

[Nyaricus]

Well, it may sound strange, but I would have to say the movie Jaws. I saw it when I was but a wee lad and it scared the ::AHEM!:: out of me!

To this day I am still afraid of large bodies of water and (of course the essence of the thing) what might be in that large body of water.... And yes, I know it is an "irrational" fear. Sigh.

AH! You've just reminded me of MY irrational fear of water for the exact same reason

I think it was Jaws 2, where the giant banana is being pulled by a motorboat, and then JAWS himself leaps out of the water and rips the living crap outta that inflatable toy, killing some little girl on the end of it. Man, I hate going in the water alone thanks to that...

OTOH, I like to swim

 

[Darkness]

Most disturbing? Dunno. I've witnessed way too much messed-up crap to really care about rating it.

Leaving aside things that are really, really unsuitable for these boards, I'll just share a few random memories about:


Knowing a teenage girl (about the same age I was at the time - i.e., ca. 12-14) who had to carry her drunk mother back home from the bar a couple times a week.

Having to talk a seriously suicidal friend out of killing himself - out of the blue, on the phone, in the middle of the night.

Passing by the site of a traffic accident just before the police got around to covering up the body of the motorcyclist that had been hit by a (smallish) truck.

Helping somebody close to me move out of her abusive girlfriend's place; having to break up several fights - not all of them started by the same woman - before anyone got hurt.

Seeing the picture of a woman I knew in the newspaper. The context? She had traveled to Florida with her new boyfriend, the man who had just been revealed to be Austria's most infamous serial killer. (Fortunately, she wasn't hurt.)

Realizing (again through the newspaper, IIRC) that a guy I once had chatted with for a few minutes was the brother of a (domestic, political, dead) terrorist.

Witnessing my aunt waste away from grief.

 

[Captain Howdy]

5 years ago today

That's high on my list, too.

The other things really aren't suitable for these boards.

 

[Ranger REG]

Agreed.

My step mom smokes. She watched her father die, day by day for years, smoking while he was on O2 and she still smokes.

My cousins are struggling to quit.

 

[Morrus]

The most disturbing thing I've seen so far today is the title of a thread in General -- "What do you do with fairies?"

I shudder. What do you do with fairies?

 

[mythusmage]

In things you can post about here?

For me that would be heights. It's not just the fear, it's also the compulsion to jump off. Acrophobia is nasty stuff.

The really bad stuff? Let me put it this way... Give me a good sword and a room full of pedophiles and there's going to be blood on the ceiling. And I pray you never learn why.

 

[Turanil]

The most disturbing thing I witness more and more is the pace at which our contemporary civilization is destroying the world.