Fear and Motherly Solutions
By Harriet Brill Outlaw
Gulf Coast Media Contributor
Being afraid is nothing like being afeared, a wonderful Middle English word that we don’t hear frequently enough these days.
Lots of people are entertained by tales of terror, and perhaps today’s society is desensitized too horror tales as the movies have become increasingly more terrifying. The only scary movie I have ever seen was “Rosemary’s Baby,” and folks tell me that is nothing compared to others that even have groupie followings. Just hearing about “Misery,” “Nightmare on Elm Street” and “Jaws” gives me nightmares. I don’t know who Freddie Kruger or Hannibal are, and I don’t want to meet them. I must have a hard time separating fantasy from reality.
As a child, our fears were encouraged by the tales we somehow heard. but my mother was the genius protector. She told us that fear is simply not knowing how to handle a situation, so she always had a solution. I was afraid that there was a bear behind the door to my bedroom where the light button was located. Mother told me that if I would ram my fist down the bear’s throat, he could not clamp down his jaws and I would be safe. I never questioned what I was to do next, but my fear was relieved and to this day, I will ball up my fist when reaching behind a door in the dark.
I was afraid of walking across the linoleum flooring in my bedroom decorated with floral patterns that could turn into hands at night, grab your feet and pull you down into hell. Mother simply unrolled a length of butcher paper and put it over the linoleum, creating a safety path to the door.
Schools in the 1950s showed films that the state considered safety warnings, but all thay did was scare me to death. One film showed a baby suffocated with a cleaner’s plastic. When I cried to Mom about it, she simply asked me did I know anyone who even used a dry cleaner? But then she helped me write a letter to our congressman asking for a law to make manufacturers print warnings on the plastic. You see our results today.