Things you would never admit to IRL because they'd think you were weird!

[HiddenBooks]

This is a topic that's been going round in my head lately as a thought popped into my mind a few weeks back and is becoming the itch that can't be scratched!

As I was driving home one day, I saw a random lorry with a place name on the side that I didn't recognise, and I thought "I wonder where I'd end up if I just followed that lorry?"

This has now become a regular topic of thought, wondering how long I'd drive for before I gave up following someone and just went home. Or wondering if they might see me driving behind them and realise I'm following them (that would be an awkward convo with the police - "why are you following that vehicle", "Well, officer, I was a bit bored and just wondered where they were going and thought I'd tag along"!)

In my head I've even gone so far as to thinking that if I were single it could be a nice day out! Pack an overnight bag, hop on the motorway and choose a vehicle to follow to see where I end up. Eventually give up and find a hotel for the night (or give myself enough time to drive home again if I couldn't find anything).

So... I realise I am weird for thinking this, but MN is a "safe space" where we can all admit our oddities without being outed, so what are yours?!

I also do this. I always do an extra check and pay extra attention to my surroundings to make sure I’m not on autopilot and having a wee in the middle of the office or something!! I think it’s a very natural fear!

@househelpneeded24 Same! I used to have a fear I was really on my desk at work. So glad I'm not the only person that has this
@Downunderduchess I do this too, not just at work, but when I'm travelling on the train, at a party or anywhere there's lots of people. I belong to a facebook group that posts 'old' (pre-1990s) photos of the area I grew up in and currently live in, and when I see people in the photos, I wonder what they were doing the day the photo was taken, where they were going to etc. Eg was the couple in the 1983 photo happy? or were they having affairs? or were they the affair? Where was that man driving to, a job he hated, the hospital to say goodbye to someone, a home he loved?

My thing is that I often wonder how many of the people that were alive the moment I was born are still alive?

I sometimes hope my Dementia rude narcissstic abusive father will crash the car when he is alone as he refuses to stop driving and I am scared for my mum and everyone else on the road. all would be better if he was gone. but can't admit it to anyone

You are not alone. It's shocking isn't it.

Button phobia is koumpounophobia.

Wanting to push people onto the tracks is the Imo of the Perverse.

I was once at Waterloo (like any time I get the train to London,) and I suddenly felt overwhelmed by all those people being there, all with their own families, homes, experiences. Apparently it's called sonder, but I'd never felt it like that before - I often wonder where someone might be going, if they're meeting someone, going hone or off on holiday etc, but it was just this overwhelming sense of so many people and connections to the rest of the world.

I do this too!

@Mistralli I'm another one with a private fantasy world - always had one and often wondered how many others do too.

Well this has taken off while I was sleeping last night! Lunchtime reading at the ready!

This is not a bad plan to have. My parents have a dog and have found a man hanging before!

Also - take notice of your dog. My DP's dog refused to walk any further along the path and blocked it until my Dad forced him to keep on walking, then they discovered the man. The dog knew something wasn't right!

And when I’m not going on the run with a neglected baby, I sometimes do the opposite and focus on the tiny minutiae of life and how things are made.

so I look around at something nearby, eg. a book on the coffee table, and wonder how it got here. The number of people involved in writing, editing, publishing, printing it. The factory where the paper is made. Was there a board meeting just to select the font?

Drill down further - who designed the cover art? Who chose the colours?

and even further, how were those colours made? Do the ingredients include some kind of natural mineral… was it mined somewhere? Now I’m thinking about a mine in a 3rd world country where they labour to dig out some mineral.

If I’m in deep, I then start thinking about the tool the miner uses, and how that is made.

all just to make a book that the person who made the miners tool will never read.

Oh goodness - you've just unlocked a new thought process. I'd never considered what I'd do if they ended up at an airport!

We live near an airport, but in my mind, all my plans have been headed away from it, wondering what other part of the country I might find that I've never been to before. If I stayed in a hotel at the end of my first day, what would I do on the second? Choose a vehicle going back the other way and head in the direction of home, or just keep going choosing another vehicle heading further away from home?!

I'm more about following the vehicle, rather than the person though, so I could end up in a long term car park for 2 weeks! 😂 Though I guess they could end up on a ferry too... hmmm!

I really wish I'd come up with this thought process when I still lived alone and was single! I could have done it easily without ever having to admit it to anyone!

Like another PP that has planned a life in a different part of the country, I will occasionally look at nice spa hotels and plan myself a mid-week trip away under the guise of "work". i.e. tell my DH that I've got to go away with work, then book time off work, and just disappear to a luxury hotel for a night or two, hunker down in a dressing gown after a nice massage with a glass of wine and a good book.

I'm sure DH wouldn't even have an issue with me doing it, but it's the idea of doing it in secrecy that's the most tempting!

But then I'd probably get found out and he'd think I was having an affair or something!

I do love my DH, honestly! I'm not just thinking of ways to escape him! 😂

I do this too! Not just influencers, but celebrities that share aspects of their lives online. I even managed to track down the house of a relatively minor YouTuber.

My Mum is known for her detective skills too (she used to try and find non-payers for her previous employer), so I suspect a lot of my quirks come from her!

I’ve shared this one before, I think… I can’t quite get my head around the idea that life only happens once. Somewhere at the back of my mind, when something goes wrong, I’m thinking “I won’t make that mistake next time”. Of course I know on a practical level that there IS no next time, but my wider consciousness somehow hasn’t quite accepted it.

There are two types of people in this world. Those who think about being pushed on to train tracks, and those who think about doing the pushing 😂

I wonder what my past life was.

I do a lot of motorway driving. I often taken the 3 letters from a number plate and produce an insult - has to be the first thing that comes to mind. This morning I had:

PHY - pointy headed yob
HBB - hairy ball bag
OCF - old crabby fucker

I spend a considerable amount of time wondering where a lot of my old clothes are now. Most of the garments I outgrew or got rid of went to charity shops, the clothing bank or got passed on to friends but I wonder what happened to them after that. When I was a child I had a pretty red dress with ladybirds all over it and I wonder what happened after we gave it away. Where is it now? Folded away in someone's drawer? In landfill? In storage somewhere? Doesn't even exist anymore? What are my chances of ever reuniting with it?

@Laiste
I can't really explain it other than to say the look of them just repulsed me. Worst of all are ones that are not attached to anything or have fallen off. I am actually gagging writing this it affects me so much. I won't go near my husband if he has a shirt on it is that bad.
I am aware it sounds mad but I really can't help it .

Same! I pop in on them from time to time too 🤣

DH had a girl friend who has the same phobia. He discovered this after they were in town one day and he nipped into a haberdashery without her registering where they were going. She was suddenly faced with a wall of buttons and had a blue fit!

Me too!

I do this too!

Yes, in Cardiff. The car crashed, and they were undiscovered for several days. I think 3 died and and 2 survived. Tragic.

As well as the present wrapping thing I mentioned above, there's an imagination game my family loved when I was a child, which I have persuaded my partner to play sometimes.

One person is the storyteller, and the other is blindfolded, and listens. When you can't see, it's amazing how your imagination fills the gaps. The storyteller spins the listener round, and takes them to a magical place, and describes it in detail; such as fairyland, a treasure island, and gives them things to feel that relate to where they are, such as putting their hand in water to feel the sea. Sound effects can be played as well (much easier now than it was when I was a child!). The listener can "explore" their imaginary world: they can walk around with the storyteller to guide them, they can talk about where they want to go, saying "I want to go through that door". I really loved this game as a child: when I was small enough, my parents used to lift my chair up (with me in it), and tell me I was flying: it really felt like it! When I was older I used to do the storytelling as well, although I much preferred being blindfolded and listening.

Any time I'm on a car or train journey and I see a little deserted-looking hut or outbuilding (like the ones they use to house electrical equipment) I imagine how you could make the space inside really lovely and relax in there on a stormy night and it gives me the cosiest feeling ever. The more tiny and remote it is the better.