Am I Still Afraid of Men In Masks

Or any mascots for that matter.

When I was a child, I feared people in masks or anyone dressed up in a full suit costume, like a mascot.

Be it the Ronald McDonald clown, the A&W bear mascots, the guys who dressed up as Chinese mythical lions as part of the lion dances along with those who wore the costumes of the Chinese God of prosperity during the yearly Chinese new year celebrations.

Apparently, the rule was, that if I could not see their faces, it will scare me.

It was worse when I was a kid.

I would physically distance myself from them, turning to run away or quickly walk another path to avoid any contact or proximity to these ‘creatures’.

Thinking about it now, I reasoned that it was the inability for me to distinguish if they were real persons underneath their coverings, or not. I had a wild imagination as a kid.

This was because I could stomach face painting on people, as they still appeared very much human-like. If they covered their whole head with a full face mask, that would draw the line for me.

The thing is, I have grown up now.

An adult, who is way past the years of illogical fears.

I am not sure if the unease I feel when I am near people in mascots and masks is because I genuinely carried this fear over the years, or am I just actualizing the fear due to me reminding myself that I am afraid of these masked persons.

It’s like my mind will tell me ‘Remember Becca, you are afraid of these things, so start feeling uneasy’.

I have put it into my arsenal of things to be afraid of, when I may actually have the ability to remove it from myself now.

What do you think?

The only way to know for sure, may literally be to make myself stay for a long time next to these fully suited up persons and evaluate how I feel.

Will I be able to logically process away my feelings of fear?

Or will I still feel afraid and want to go away from ‘them’ immediately?

Well, this is something I do not wish to try out, not yet at least.

Until the day comes that I have to face this fear once and for all, most probably when my kids make me bring them to Disneyland, I will continue walking away from these mascots and clowns that happen to come across my path.