Phunny Phobias
If you met someone who was afraid of paper or wax statues, wouldn't you tell them to stop being so ridiculous and get over it? Every Monday, Null editor Hayley hand-picks another bizarre phobia and tries to work out whether it's real or rubbish.
This week:
Lachanophobia: fear of vegetables
What's so scary about them?
If this was about tomatoes I could understand it - all those icky, gunky seeds spilling from something that is essentially a plant's ovary. (Yes, I know, tomatoes are, botanically speaking, fruits, but that doesn't seem to have stopped Arkansas naming the Pink Vine Ripe Tomato as its state fruit and vegetable).
What do the scientists say about it?
What's more interesting is what Krissie Palmer-Howarth says about them. Talking to the BBC last year, she expressed her earnest dislike for everything vegetable. "I don't like talking about them, or touching, or smelling them. I don't like it. I really don't like it. I'm being honest. I really don't like it." Sorry, did you say you don't like them? I didn't quite get that. Krissie, from Sussex in the UK, claims she has had a morbid fear of vegetables for 40 years. Amusingly named psychiatrist, Cosmo Hallstrom, reckons this could be something to do with Krissie spending too much time in her father's dirty veg shop.
Hayley says:
"I can't condone this vegetable bashing malarky - we should all be eating our greens. However, based on Cosmo's diagnosis, I'm willing to concede that lachanophobia is... Real."
So far: Real 8½ Rubbish 8½
Find phunny phobias from other weeks here.
Null's other regular features:
Tuesday: Nutty Nomenclature
Wednesday: Doctor Doctor
Thursday: Peculiar Periodicals
Friday: End of week timewasters
Erratically: The World in Brief
Image: Io Foto
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