AROUND THE HOUSE
Richard Fagerlund
The Bug Man
San Francisco Chronicle Saturday, March 15, 2003 Page E4
Serpent discourages strangers from hanging around front door.
Q:
We are studying phobias in school, and I am trying to determine something
we learn from our parents. You mentioned in a previous column that your
daughter is deathly afraid of bugs, but you never mentioned any other members
of your family. What about your wife or other children?
A: The short answer is no. My wife was not afraid of anything, nor was my son,
Bryon. My daughter, Sara, is the only one in the family who is afraid of any small
creature.
When my wife and I lived in Houston about 25 years ago, we kept a lot of snakes
around the house in terrariums, Sandy was also fearless when it came to reptiles. One
afternoon she was holding a small garter snake when the doorbell rang. Rather than
put the snake back in its cage, she decided to slip it into her blouse and answer the
doorbell.
I was sitting on the couch and saw a couple of Jehovah’s Witnesses on the porch.
When my wife opened the door (she wasn’t wearing a bra), the snake, for some
reason, bit her on the nipple. She immediately let out a scream, tore off her blouse and
started jumping up and down with the snake attacked to her breast.
The Jehovah’s Witnesses dropped their tracts and ran yelling down the driveway. I
imagine they are still talking about the devil woman who breast feeds snakes.
I was laughing so hard I almost go sick. I finally go up and removed the snake from
my wife’s breast and put it away. Sandy was fine except for a bunch of little tooth
marks.
Sandy never hesitated to handle snakes again, and she and I often told that story to
friends. It is absolutely true.
To answer your question, I have to idea why my daughter is afraid of bugs. Too much
television I assume, but she didn’t inherit her fear of bugs from her mother or me.