I'm Scared of Machinery/Motors

Post Reply New Topic

I've always felt like this and wondered if anybody else does too?

I have to really pluck up the courage to use my washing machine as I'm really scared of anything motorised or electrical. If the machine is slightly off balance when spinning I have to run out of the room and my stomach goes over like driving over an unexpected bump. I also have to hold my hairdryer at arm's length to switch it on in case it fuses and bangs and I even have to close my eyes every time I switch on a light in case the bulb blows and it startles the hell out of me.

It's such a nuisance and I feel so stupid but I've always been like this. Even now if there's a sudden noise in the street I'll jump and let out a little scream (God, the stares from other people) I usually just laugh but it is embarrassing.

I've also got the worst door-slamming neighbours in London, I think they must be in training for a new Olympic event or something. I privately call them The Bulgarian Door Slamming Team, and I think they have a chance of winning

The other thing is the constant drilling that people do. My dad was like that when we were kids, he drilled holes in everything. I used to see the drill in his hand and run out of the room crying with my hands over my ears. Not to mention the electric shocks I got from putting my arm or elbow on bare wires when he'd left the room while 'in the middle of something' the something usually only fit for scrap afterwards. Things weren't quite the same in the fifties or sixties in England, you were allowed to semi-electrocute your kids without getting into bother.

I think I've just explained my fear of machinery... He's no longer with us so I can't say this in person but thanks, Dad and RIP

Tiffinity.

When I was a kid I was afraid of turning on the light, because I thought the lightbulb would explode or something, or that I would get a shock from the light switch. It didn't help that we lived in a house with poor wiring and inadequate fuses, which didn't blow out when there was a short circuit. There were a couple of incidents when the lights fizzed and sparked, and that made me afraid of even turning them on. I was also too afraid to light matches, and when I was in Catholic school (in the fifth grade) it was considered a special treat to light the candle in front of the Virgin Mary but I always refused.

When I was in college, I took welding (at art school) because I thought it would force me to be less afraid. While I was able to handle gas welding without being afraid that the tanks would blow up , I never could bring myself to use the arc welder.

Even now, these things make me a little nervous. Just a couple of weeks ago, there was water spewing out of the hot water heater because one of the pipes had come disconnected, and I was too afraid to go near it to shut off the water. I had to call my ex-bf to come over and do it.

I don't like power tools in general because they are loud and I tend to injure myself with them. I went through a phase when I wanted to learn to work with wood and make stuff. When I bought a table saw my dad came over and tried to get me to take it back.
"Son there are some people who should not use power tool and you are one of those people". I ,as always, did not listen and it is only by sheer luck that I still have my fingers and did not kill myself.

I tend to fear machinery I don't understand. I found the appliances in my house caused me much anxiety until I learned how they work. Then it eased up.

I don't mind small machinery ( I make small robots as a hobby). But larger things tend to make me uneasy.

I worked 9 years in a machine shop. When I first got the job it was through a temp service that sent me four sh***y jobs that I got booted from or outright quit. The machine shop job was the first job they sent me to that was clean and safe. I had great difficulty do to the vibrations and loud noises made by the machines. I was nervous, slow, and I over tightened the vices that held the parts so they were going to boot me from the job but on my last day the metal polisher quit so they decided to give me a shot at his job I because the bosses liked that I was never late. On my first try at doing metal polishing I hit a home run it turned out I was a natural at polishing. The metal polisher came back three days later wanting his job back but the bosses laughed at him.

After nine years on the job our contracts changed so we were no longer doing aluminum parts but titanium. When these parts come out of the machine they are are perfect not needing polishing or deburring. Because of this they laid me off because they knew I had difficulties with the machines. I have been without a job since October 2009.

I have always avoided machinery because (1) it's loud and noise makes me nervous; (2) the noise attracts attention and being observed makes me nervous; and (3) it's easy to make serious mistakes quickly and being mistaken makes me VERY nervous. I do a lot of things by hand for which other people use machines. It takes a little more time, but the feelings of comfort and control make it worthwhile, and I'm not sure that when you factor in the cost of acquiring, maintaining and storing the machines, there isn't an economic advantage also. I can't see shattering the peace of the neighborhood to clear leaves with a blower that could almost as easily be swept away by a broom.

Tiffinity, I loved "The Bulgarian Door Slamming Team" (apologies to any quiet and sensitive Bulgars out there). We must have the same kind of neighbors.

I've always been too interested in machinery to be afraid of it.