So at work it is fairly well-known that I am, by the fullest of definitions in my opinion, an arachnophobe. In looking for a cartoon picture of spiders (that did NOT look real) online, for example, I actually began to feel faint given the overwhelming amount of tarantula photographs that came up. Even in sample thumb-nails of said pictures I felt queasy almost instantly.
Every so often someone makes a joke regarding me and spiders. Ha ha, very funny. So occasionally when I hear entertaining stories regarding the eight-legged terrors I pass them along at the office. I was listening to a local radio station who has this amazing afternoon show. Every show they have a piece about really bizarre global/national/local tidbit of news. Yesterday it was this (which I then shared with my coworkers):
A man had itchy, red, watery eyes for weeks. He bought eye drops of every kind. Tried homeopathic remedies. Rinsed out his eyes with cool water, and even went to his doctor several times. Every morning he would wake up and the problem would still persist. After a couple more weeks, he had had enough. He went to an optometrist and declared that he will not take no for an answer- he WILL get an examination. Upon closer inspection (with use of a microscope) the doctor found small barbed hairs protruding out of the man's corneas. When he talked this out with the man, he discovered he owns something called a Chilean Rose Tarantula. Apparently this species, when startled or alarmed, will let out a fine mist of poisonous barbed hairs from it's own body- meant to hurt the attacker. In the end, the owner of this beast had to undergo surgery, where DOZENS of hairs were removed from his eyes individually. (Serves him right owning that thing!!)
After this story was all said and done, I received an email with the title of "Spider in Your Shoe." I was fully expecting another strange (terrible and gut-wrenching) story of a spider. In your shoe. However, when I opened said email, I was confronted with something beyond my worst nightmare.
Picture it. It's 1973 and you just saw someone walk by with a gold fish blinking out at you- from the inside of their plastic see-through platform heels. Creepy. Right? Wrong. What's creepy is when, instead of a goldfish in all it's cute and bubbly glory, you see a tarantula. Rearing up at you. Hissing. (Granted, this was just a picture. It couldn't possibly hiss. But I'll bet if it could have, it would have been.)
Naturally, I squealed and pressed delete as fast as I possibly could. Upon closer inspection by a coworker, I am told that it had flies in there as well for food. I will never know from first hand experience if this is true.
