When I was 5 years old, I used to have a babysitter who would take me and some of the other kids she watched to a private community pool. We were usually the only ones there. One day she decided to terrorize me... I would get into the pool, step by step down the stairs... and whenever I would get chest-height in the water, the babysitter would scream at the top of her lungs over and over "SHAAARRRKK!!!!! Nick get out, he's coming to eat you!!!!!"
I am 25 years old and I have not been able to get into a pool alone ever since. I figure if two people are in the pool and I'm one of them, I have a 50% chance of being eaten by a shark, but if I were alone, a 100% chance is something I'd never roll the dice on.
The weirdest thing about all this is that I'm a surfer. I stopped surfing about a year ago when my wife had our first child, but before that I would surf almost weekly. I've even seen sea lions and dolphins when I've been surfing and I wasn't afraid at all... in fact it was awesome.
I'm not afraid of sharks in the ocean and I'm not even afraid of lakes... but the second I see a swimming pool, the hair still stands up on the back of my neck... there's a shark in there, and he's going to eat me if he gets the chance.
I need counseling.