Tl:dr Discovered I have a phobia for sleight-of-hand magicians and it ruined the most romantic opportunity of my life.
I booked an expensive, bougie hotel room for me and my (at the time) boyfriend, and we were planning on a wild night. He asked me to leave the room for an hour for him to prepare, so I went to the hotel bar for a drink. A guy approached me to bum a cig and began doing random magic tricks - pulling cards out of nowhere, making things appear in my pocket, and making ashes appear in my palm. I’m not sure why, but I absolutely panicked - it felt so violating to think that he was in my pockets and making things happen to my body without my knowledge or consent.
I ended up in a full blown panic attack and rushed back to the room. My partner was fully ready for an amazing romantic encounter, with rose petals and champagne and everything. I ended up just hyperventilating and ranting about scary magicians then fell asleep. I felt so bad that I ruined the night. I still get anxiety when I see magic tricks.
Huh. I’ve never seen much slight of hand magic in person, and until now I wouldn’t have thought that would be my reaction. But I can totally see a 1-on-1 close up performance like that feeling very invasive.
Tl:dr Discovered I have a phobia for sleight-of-hand magicians and it ruined the most romantic opportunity of my life.
I booked an expensive, bougie hotel room for me and my (at the time) boyfriend, and we were planning on a wild night. He asked me to leave the room for an hour for him to prepare, so I went to the hotel bar for a drink. A guy approached me to bum a cig and began doing random magic tricks - pulling cards out of nowhere, making things appear in my pocket, and making ashes appear in my palm. I’m not sure why, but I absolutely panicked - it felt so violating to think that he was in my pockets and making things happen to my body without my knowledge or consent.
I ended up in a full blown panic attack and rushed back to the room. My partner was fully ready for an amazing romantic encounter, with rose petals and champagne and everything. I ended up just hyperventilating and ranting about scary magicians then fell asleep. I felt so bad that I ruined the night. I still get anxiety when I see magic tricks.
Huh. I’ve never seen much slight of hand magic in person, and until now I wouldn’t have thought that would be my reaction. But I can totally see a 1-on-1 close up performance like that feeling very invasive.
That’s fascinating. I can totally understand your phobia (not that I feel it but it makes complete sense).