1.02.2005


So, a recent post over at heyskinny.com really got me thinking about vomiting, or "emesis," its scientific name, which i just learned. I ended an outstanding 11 vomit-free years last December when I ate a platter of chicken fingers and washed it down with three Spanish coffees. If you know me well, you know that this was a monumental event. I would rather give a donkey a blow job than puke. In the past five or six years, I've gotten a lot better, but you could definitely say that during my youth, it was a full-blown phobia. i would perform all sorts of rituals to ensure that there would be no barfing in my near future, including forcing my mother to promise me every night that I would not throw up. I haven't thought about that fun little aspect of my childhood in a long time, but it was a nice walk down memory lane. I was curious about the word "emesis," so I looked it up on Google, and discovered some wonderful websites! Too bad the internet didn't exist during my phobia's heyday, because apparently I'm not the only one with what they call "emetophobia." check out emetophobia.org; it's a really interesting read. i think all phobias are interesting to learn about; it's also fun to read or see things about the phobias you don't have. then you can be all high and mighty; "Why in the world is that person afraid of spiders? Ha!" It's so strange, people's fears. These days, i can watch puking on the small screen with minimal cringing, but if you recommend a film still in theaters, don't be surprised if i ask you the eternal question, "is there barfing?" and if there is, I might have to rent it on video.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Hi Polly! I just had to comment on how strange it is that just a few days ago I also stumbled onto an "emetophobia" site, purely by accident. I also have a weird thing about barf and I was amazed to find there is a name for it...and some people are a lot worse off than me. I was enthralled reading some of their stories, phobias really are the strangest thing.

Anyway, just thought that was funny. If you want to start a petition to ban barfing on tv I'll be the first one to sign it!

~Sarah Hischier