Fear

In the last week or two I have seen/read two separate pieces about the part of the brain that registers fear. I am pretty sure one of the sources was a National Geographic special or some kind of unquestionable authority, and the other was a Pearls before Swine cartoon.
I learned, surprise surprise, that there is a part of the brain that registers fear. I also learned that some people's brain-fear-registrars don't work right and they don't have fear.
I think that this could be a cool thing in some cases. You could impress people and be a champion at Chicken.
Perhaps though, it is fortunate that my brain-fear functions are unfazed (MOM READ THIS SENTENCE AND NO FURTHER PLEASE) because life is fragile and I have responsibilities and I recognize that thrills are not the most important things in life. The end.



(OTHERS PLEASE CONTINUE HERE)
Perhaps though, it is fortunate that my brain-fear functions are unfazed because I have this bad habit sometimes of testing myself. I got in BIG trouble when Anna and I first married because I told her about this. Sometimes when I was driving on a straight and empty street I would close my eyes for two or three seconds. Then I would have to do it for four, then five. Eventually I would have some sort of a close call and laugh and not have to do it any more. I am the kind of person that can't stand near a ledge without wanting to get closer, do a jumping jack, make myself dizzy, and calculate how far the fall would be (9.8 m/s/s) by dropping a rock.
If you couldn't register fear, then perhaps none of this would be thrilling. Maybe I would be dead. But maybe I wouldn't care because if it wasn't thrilling then there would be no reason to do it. Maybe I would sit and watch Poirot reruns every night because there would be nothing else to do.

As it turns out, I think I outgrew most of that thrill stage anyways. Sitting at home watching Poirot every night sounds awesome. So perhaps my dream came true and I am fearless.

Ha! That's not true. I get scared everyday at work. I get so flustered I mix up my greetings and responses. I have caught myself saying each one of the following at least once.:
"You're problem"
"No welcome"
"How's it doing?"
"How you going?"
"I'm not doing too much"
"UmHelcome"

The truth is, I am a very jittery guy. I jump everytime I pick up the phone and the caller is yelling at a dog or kid (remember, I deal with classy people on a daily basis) and give my greeting loudly and too quickly:
"D-word it Marty! Get off that counter! I will not repeat myse..."
"AAAh! LancastercountycoRRECTIONS!"

Maybe I should go watch that show again.