SCAREDY CAT discussion

Dear fellow Scaredy Cats...

It looks like may be the lone skeptic around this place. Yes, I love scary books and movies. However, I do not believe ANYTHING at all about ghosts, demons, paranormal events, Santa Claus, or the Tooth Fairy.

I hope this doesn't disqualify me from membership/friendship here.

Oh, and if there are some closet Scaredy Cat skeptics out there, feel free to stop in here and talk about your healthy skepticism.

I'm off to gaze into my crystal ball for a while...

Eric, being skeptic is the way to be. Even though I do believe in ghosts, I too am a skeptic. The funny thing is that logic and ghosts/spirits don't mix sometimes. Have you ever seen a ghost/spirit?

Skeptics are cool Eric. They are what make us all stop and say, "Where's the proof?"

I think there is a little skeptic in us all. I go visit haunted places because I really have not had any experiences that I could not scientifically disprove. I guess I am just hoping, waiting for something to really scare the shit outta me!

Everyone should be skeptic until, or if ever, something happens to them personally. That goes for spirits, demons, UFO sightings whatever. If one day that happens to you,be prepared to get criticism unless you can document it. But on the bright side, we here at Scaredy Cats don't need no stink'en proof. We take each other's word for it, and we love hearing the spooky stories and tales even if it is mostly b**ls**t! Lol

Hahaha! I am always hearing all these stories from family an think to myself damnit why can't I just see something!

Well, I'll tell y'all a story...

When I was a wee lad, I used to visit my local main branch library here in Downtown Tampa, Florida. I went there instead of my little local neighborhood branch because the main branch had a section that was an entire 25' long by 8' high set of shelves numbered .001 in the Dewey Decimal System.

The .001 section was what is known as "transient events." In other words, the unexplained, the strange, the unusual, the Fortean - for those of you familiar with Charles Fort. It was the land of the very strange.

Over a period of years, when I either rode the bus there or mom took me there, I consumed this section of the library. I read everything on ghosts, ghouls, Gray Men, Project Blue Book, Oak Island, Flat Earth theories, Mole People, vamps, tramps, and plain weird scamps.

It was a lot of fun, but after all that, I realized that I had no convincing evidence of any of this. I'm a left-brained technician type person. My life is science and technology. As I said, I love reading about weird and scary stuff, but I have no beliefs in any of it.

In the interest of full disclosure, I'll also tell you all that I'm an atheist. Which means that I believe that we feed worms after out physical body stops functioning. We came from star dust (literally) and to star dust we will all return some day. I have no belief in a god or heaven; subsequently, I have no belief in demons or Hell.

So, all that being said... I enjoy being a Scaredy Cat, so let the scariness and creepiness continue. I promise to never judge any of you by the content of your post or your beliefs. I have respect for the beliefs and experiences of others. Just because I don't believe something could happen for real doesn't mean that it didn't really happen to the person telling the story.

Off I go...

Eric, thanks for your honesty. You ARE a scaredy cat and don't let anyone tell you different. ;)
All kidding aside, that's what I like about this group, we are all a little bit of everything. Starlight, star bright, star dust..yep all good.

Aileen wrote: "Starlight, star bright, star dust..yep all good. "

I am a believer in things like ghosts, but I think there's a lot of things that can be explained by non-supernatural ways too. My fiancé is an atheist and skeptic so we have a lot of good debates. :)

Yup. I've had a few of those discussions/debates with some of my ex-girlfriends. :)

I am also an atheist. I am open to the idea that there could indeed be spirits amongst us because I can not prove other peoples experiences did not happen. Some can be explained sure but not all. As for angels and demons well I don't buy that one. Add me to the list of skeptics when it pertains to aliens as well, sorry. Our bodies come from stardust sure but the real unanswerable questions are do we have souls? are we souls inside our bodies? I don't know.

I WISH it were all true!! But as I have never seen or felt anything myself then I am naturally skeptic about it all. I think there probably are some things like 'ghosts' etc. but we just don't have the technological abilities yet to measure them or understand them.

I forever live in the hope that something fantastical will happen and sweep me off into a world of ghost hunting and saving the world from imminent doom...

Do any of you do that thing where you listen to your music on the commute to work - and imagine it's the soundtrack in a movie and you are the star of the film....? Hahahahaha Jump off the train and stride purposely down the platform to Bon Jovi's 'Living on a Prayer'

Or is that just me...?

Sharleen, I've never done that before but I think I will try that today on my way to work. I will try a big musical score. Maybe even do a little dance move in the middle of the street. Hey they say life's a dance so I'm dancing today

We all have our fantasies. For years, I fantasized about being a survivor of some apocalyptic event. I have a love for dystopian fiction, also.

Eric wrote: "Dear fellow Scaredy Cats...

It looks like may be the lone skeptic around this place. Yes, I love scary books and movies. However, I do not believe ANYTHING at all about ghosts, demons, paranormal ..."


Me neither! At least not during the day....at night,





I'm a little more open-minded ;]

Eric wrote: "We all have our fantasies. For years, I fantasized about being a survivor of some apocalyptic event. I have a love for dystopian fiction, also."

Well, that must have been on a busy day at work! ("I swear, I could be just fine if other people didn't exist!")

When I was a kid, strangely enough, I was fascinated with stories like The Boxcar Children. Loved my parents, but was intrigued by the idea..

I love people. People are wonderful as long as they know when to go home. ;)

Eric wrote: "I love people. People are wonderful as long as they know when to go home. ;)"

When my job went more administrative for three years, I actually felt glad to live alone, so that I could come home and not deal with people any more! The first year, for example, Xmas was the only day I didn´t have something to do-somewhere to be (though New Year´s was my fault, as I´d volunteered for a penguin plunge). I get it.

You volunteered for a penguin plunge, which I'm assuming has something to do with diving into some body of water in the dead or winter?

You northern folks really know how to live. ;)

Eric wrote: "You volunteered for a penguin plunge, which I'm assuming has something to do with diving into some body of water in the dead or winter?

You northern folks really know how to live. ;)"

Haha! I volunteered to work it, not go in! :)
It was to benefit a homeless shelter, and my volunteer group posted it as an option.
Actual fact, I wound up wishing I´d taken my suit: once we´d registered everyone, we were welcome to participate. The temps were in the 50s that day. I might have gone in. A couple of mad bastards surprised me, though, because even after they got out of the water, they continued to hang out inside the restaurant in their swim trucks. And one of them had about 5% body fat, so don´t know what he was trying to prove!
There is one down the street from me; the one that takes place where I live is at the beach that´s located four blocks from my house....could think about. Not with last year´s temps, tho! And I leave on the 2nd, so might not want to tempt fate this year. Maybe next year.

Ah... well, that's different, then. ;)

I've yet to do one. I feel like doing one here is for wussies, considering that I lived in Madison WI for ten years-now THOSE people are to be admired! Air temperature: below freezing. Water: freezing or frozen. Out here, temps are positive numbers even if water is often cold.

With the temps this "winter" so far in Tampa, I would love to do a penguin plunge. I've never in my entire life had to run ACs in December here. I just might this next couple days, though. Temps in the low 80s with 95-100% humidity. I hate it. :(

Eric wrote: "With the temps this "winter" so far in Tampa, I would love to do a penguin plunge. I've never in my entire life had to run ACs in December here. I just might this next couple days, though. Temps in..."

boo hoo....we're trying to feel sorry for you up here! :D
It's been in the 60's here. Tonight, 50's, and the fog horns are going. All the mansions are shrouded in mist. Great atmosphere!

I think you northern folks, particularly those far-north Canadian folks, have been hoarding the coolness again this fall/winter. We'd like to have a little bit of it down here... please! ;)

only if we get a little quid pro quo! :D

If I could bottle up the sunshine and warmth and ship it to you guys, I surely would. :)

I'll take a two liter bottle, pls! :D

If I could actually patent that process, I wouldn't have to worry about winning that Florida lottery jackpot anymore. ;)

There is a little bit of a skeptic in me. but my mom was a medium (held seances, conjured spirits, and read taro cards). I've never actually seen a spirit, but I have seen things move, fall, and a clock hands move backwards by themselves, and even tho I'm a christian, I < do believe there are spirits, angels, and ghosts all around us. What makes me skeptical is that I've never seen one ....yet. Who knows what is actually out there?

I believe a healthy dose of skepticism is important, it is never beneficial to be closed-minded to any possibility – whether for or against the presence of paranormal entities. One should not state as a matter of fact that every little thing is the work of a paranormal entity as much as one should not state as a matter of fact that there are no such things as ghosts and spirits.

Robert wrote: "Everyone should be skeptic until, or if ever, something happens to them personally. That goes for spirits, demons, UFO sightings whatev..."

Words of wisdom right there. Having worked in hospitals and nursing homes where hundreds and thousands of people have died, I come out on the side of the believer.
Working in an old psychiatric hospital every night, all night, for years you see and hear somethings you just cannot explain.

Riley wrote: "Robert wrote: "Everyone should be skeptic until, or if ever, something happens to them personally. That goes for spirits, demons, UFO sightings whatev..."

Words of wisdom right there. Having worke..."

working in an old psychiatric hospital must have been so creepy. You must have quite a few stories from that place.

I just stumbled onto this topic, but it's a fun one and so I thought to chime in. I too am skeptical about quite a few things, but I have also had an experience wherein I walked into a house and felt as though I were being squeezed (lungs, muscles, joints, demons anyone?). The woman who lived in that house was a nutjob who shared the house with her sick, spooky mother, so I'm a firm believer that some wild shiz-nits was going on. Haunted house? Maybe, maybe not, but I didn't stick around to find out.

Do you want to hear the most scariest thing I saw the other day? Not for the faint of heart; brace yourselves. I saw the kitchen after my husband made me dinner. I have never seen anything like that before in my life. Almost gave me a heart attack.