There was never a point in my life growing up that I remember actually believing in Santa Claus. It seems like everyone has this really traumatic story of the moment they found out Santa Claus wasn’t real, but I remember my parents telling me that Santa is an idea, and we all hope he’s real, but he may not be. My parents were really into setting realistic expectations. I guess that’s good- I never had any unnecessary let downs that everyone else seemed to get.

I did have some pretty irrational beliefs that no one else seemed to have, though. Until I was in high school, I thought it was possible to set a car on fire with a cigarette. You know how people throw their lit butts out the window? I thought  the butts would get sucked under my car and set the thing on fire.  Once I was in high school, I realized that it was irrational and I let it go. Until my dad heard about it. Like most of my problems, I blame my parents.

My dad was teaching me to drive, and I told him about it, my car fire fear, and we had a laugh. He said, “Oh, Barb, that really CAN happen! That’s what’s going on every time you see a car on fire on the side of the road!” Please remember, I lived in suburban Augusta, GA, and we NEVER saw cars on fire on the side of the road.

A few years later, I went to college in Atlanta. Within the first few months, I was riding on the downtown connector in the hot hot heat, traffic at a standstill, and there was a car on fire on the side of the road. It was probably due to a cigarette being thrown out of a window somewhere

I also have an irrational fear having to do with a big hairy hand and public restrooms, but that’s another blog altogether. What are your irrational fears?