Everyone is afraid of something. It’s impossible to be completely fearless; there’s got to be something that creeps/freaks/grosses you out. But when do these fears become irrational?
Joey: “Ugly naked guy looks awfully still..”
Phoebe: “My God, I killed another one!”
Poor Phoebe has a toothache that prevents her from eating Rachel’s delicious brownies. She is advised by Chandler, Ross, and Rachel to go to the dentist. Phoebe is astonished that they would suggest such a terrible thing. She claims that there a curse on her which makes someone she knows die every time she goes to the dentist therefore she’s scared to make an appointment. Later at Central Perk, Phoebe tries to eat an apple and when she can’t she decides she’ll just have to take her chances and go to the dentist. After her appointment, she rushes to Monica and Rachel’s to find that they are both still alive. She then proceeds to use Monica’s phone to call everyone she knows and make sure they’re still alive. After all the calls are made, Phoebe does a little happy dance because no one was dead… or so she thought. Joey stares out the window at ugly naked guy and realizes he isn’t moving. Phoebe freaks out thinking she killed him. Joey notices the window is open and hatches a plan to create a poking device so that they can find out if he really is dead. The friends use a bunch of take-out chopsticks and create a pole that just reaches in ugly naked guy’s window. They start poking and luckily a few seconds later ugly naked guy starts swatting at the stick. The curse was lifted!
Sure, like I said we’re all afraid of something. Whether that something be spiders, the dark, dying, skydiving, or whatever doesn’t matter. There’s fear in everyone, but sometimes we can get caught up in fear that shouldn’t really exist. By this I mean, most of us have that one fear of something that we would would never happen or would never be true but we’re scared anyway. Take for example a zombie apocalypse, the end of the world, Phoebe’s fear of the dentist, my fear of haunted houses- all of these can be considered irrational. We know that the world won’t end any time soon, that zombies aren’t real, that going to the dentist won’t kill someone you know, and that haunted houses aren’t really haunted and no those people in costumes aren’t going to eat you. Yet even though we know all these truths and see the holes in our fears, we’re still afraid. You may not agree with my definition of an irrational fear and that’s fine- these are just my ideas. Even though these fears are irrational, I think they contribute to our personalities and that they aren’t necessarily bad to have. I’ve always had the fear of someone coming in my room at night and killing me. Every day I wake up still alive. I consider this to be my irrational fear because even though I know there is a very slim chance of me being murdered in my sleep, I’m still scared it could. I don’t think this irrational fear is bad. Sure it makes me paranoid, but my paranoia is good in my opinion because it means I’m cautious of myself and my surroundings. Phoebe’s fear is irrational as well but it’s a part of her quirky and compassionate personality. She loves everyone she knows and doesn’t wish death upon any of them. So in the end, irrational fears may not be the scariest thing in the world because that honor goes to ugly naked guy.