Re: Phobics, which experiences made you fear balloon pops?
Relatable. As a young phobic you get to learn where all the helium tanks are, especially in unexpected places, so you can give them a wide berth. Walking through the mall when I was a kid, there was a children's shoes store that had one of those scary-looking clown-mouthed helium tanks... and there was the dentist's office where the tank was hidden away around a hallway corner... and the buffet restaurant which didn't have a tank but somehow would just give away these mega-tight air-filled 12"s, not even on a stick or anything, so you can guess how long those lasted after they left the restaurant
In the US anyway, things are very different now, 20-30 years later... far fewer family-owned and independent shops and restaurants now, our shopping malls are becoming ghost towns with a few meganational chain stores still hanging on. Helium balloon giveaways are almost completely nonexistent, and there are only a couple chain stores now that hand out air-filled balloons on sticks: a burger joint here, a waterpark there. Really, mostly it seems like people don't spend much time just hanging out and shopping and eating in one place like they used to.
Relatable. As a young phobic you get to learn where all the helium tanks are, especially in unexpected places, so you can give them a wide berth. Walking through the mall when I was a kid, there was a children's shoes store that had one of those scary-looking clown-mouthed helium tanks... and there was the dentist's office where the tank was hidden away around a hallway corner... and the buffet restaurant which didn't have a tank but somehow would just give away these mega-tight air-filled 12"s, not even on a stick or anything, so you can guess how long those lasted after they left the restaurant
In the US anyway, things are very different now, 20-30 years later... far fewer family-owned and independent shops and restaurants now, our shopping malls are becoming ghost towns with a few meganational chain stores still hanging on. Helium balloon giveaways are almost completely nonexistent, and there are only a couple chain stores now that hand out air-filled balloons on sticks: a burger joint here, a waterpark there. Really, mostly it seems like people don't spend much time just hanging out and shopping and eating in one place like they used to.
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