Ah Balloons. Wonderful Right?

Wrong. I'm sure the majority of people love balloons. What's not to like? They come in a variety of shapes and colours and make so many children happy. They look beautiful when used to decorate for an event. Personally I am terrified of balloons. If I am at a party and children are playing with balloons, I have to sit there with my hands over my ears. This irrational fear developed when I was a child. I was at an outdoor festival and to begin the festivities a canon was shot off. The loud bang from the canon set me off and we had to go home because my parents couldn't calm me down. On another occasion my father and I were filling air into a bicycle tire. Well you can guess, the tire popped and again that was it for me. No more bike ride. More recently I had a huge party event at my home. We ordered 30 helium balloons. Well I was the one to pick the balloons up from the store. On the way home 5 of them burst in my car and I almost crashed. When I finally got home, more began popping in the house - and for no reason. This reinforced my fear and I actually cried and left the house. When a balloon pops it jolts my heart and I feel like I just lost another year off my life. This may seem like a ridiculous fear however I know someone that does not like clear straws. I'm glad I'm not her.