Facing Your Reptilian Fears and Hunting The Weak

We all have our irrational fears. My sister goes into cardiac arrest at the sight of a daddy long leg. My mom's eyes bug out and she mutters under her breath whenever she sees a starling. My grandma fears anyone who isn't Caucasian. I stiffen with fear and anxiety when I hear the word "shopping" or "mall".

This last week, Sel organized an intervention to address the irrational fear of Paper Animal Maker(PAM). Pam is terrified of velociraptors.

(Pam being afraid of Velociraptors- I

am 2/15 velociraptor)

To help him overcome this disabling fear, Sel banded together some of his closest friends to support him (Caboodle and Kit along with magnificent others). We met in a building on campus after telling Pam we would all decide on a movie once everyone was there. Sel and I brought the expertly sculpted raptor cookies he made and the frosting Dwise helped me make for the event.

Once there, everyone took their seats and Pam was called to sit in the front of the room. Sel explained our deep love for him and desire for him to live a happy, fear free life.

We forced him to sit down amongst his supporters and started the treatment: "Jurassic Park". In one of the first scenes, Dr. Grant has a the following conversation with a young boy:

Dr. Alan Grant: Try to imagine yourself in the Cretaceous Period. You get your first look at this "six foot turkey" as you enter a clearing. He moves like a bird, lightly, bobbing his head. And you keep still because you think that maybe his visual acuity is based on movement like T-Rex - he'll lose you if you don't move. But no, not Velociraptor. You stare at him, and he just stares right back. And that's when the attack comes. Not from the front, but from the side,[makes 'whoshing' sound] from the other two 'raptors you didn't even know were there. Because Velociraptor's a pack hunter, you see, he uses coordinated attack patterns and he is out in force today. And he slashes at you with this... a six-inch retractable claw, like a razor, on the the middle toe. He doesn't bother to bite your jugular like a lion, say... no no. He slashes at you here... or here... or maybe across the belly, spilling your intestines. The point is... you are alive when they start to eat you. So you know... try to show a little respect.

After watching this scene, I better understand how and why Pam has accquired less than positive feelings toward these creatures.

Another recent happening. In my religion class, we discussed how Elder L. Tom Perry is enthusiastically friendly. He will sidle up to strangers and strike up a random, but genuine conversation with them. After discussing this fact, he challenged us to "look around you as you walk on campus today. Look for those people who look weak and sad. Follow them for a distance, slow your pace, then pay them a genuine compliment and start a conversation with them. Report back next class period." This is what I interpreted his wording as

"Find weak beings. Stalk them. Frighten them. Force them to be uncomfortable."

What I actually did was strike up conversations with anyone walking next to me instead of hunting down the weak ones. Here are the new friends I made

1. A boy in my Advanced Health class who actually coaches the BYU cross country team and runs quite a bit himself. He is married and doesn't think the new Harvard study about the "footy" shoes is ever going to be accepted by American society.

2. A girl I met in the hallway has a sweet boyfriend who paid his artistic friends to make the coolest shoes I have probably ever seen.

3. (Favorite) A retired Biology/Zoology professor on his way to measure the wing span of dead birds. He wishes he had waited four more years to retire so he didn't have to come back to campus all the time to finish up his research.

4. The subway cashier who was having a really long day, but was loving the pay he was getting.

5. A boy in my English class who loves to rap, blogs about his dating failures, and enjoys doing math and buying apple products.

I have decided to extend this project for the rest of the semester. I am going to adjust it a bit so I end up using a bow and arrow. The arrows will have post it notes with "Would You Rather?" questions attached to them. The victim I hit HAS to answer the question or his/her family will be kidnapped and dangled over hot lava until they answer.

L