Cause and Effect

You know how everyone has that one thing that terrifies them? Maybe it’s spiders, or clowns, or heights. Joe Joman is afraid of earth-bound projectiles. He is afraid of something falling on his head. He can’t explain it. It is not a rational fear unless the object that strikes him happens to be large enough to severely injure him. Then again, many fears are not rational, for example being afraid of long words, or the monster under your bed. Joe knows his fear is illogical, but that does not keep him from pausing underneath the large oak tree at the edge of the park. There are dangerous airborne projectiles everywhere at the park. Joe decides to take the long way home, avoiding the danger zone. He is about to turn around when suddenly an acorn falls from above and strikes him one the very top of his bald head. Joe is stunned, and scared silly. The acorn falls to the ground. Instead of realizing that this experience wasn’t so bad, and being cured of his irrational fear, Joe sprints all the way back home to his apartment where he locks himself in and swears to never leave the safety of his roof again as long as he lives. To this day Joe only emerges from his apartment every third Friday to venture across the street to the grocery store with a protective metal bowl on his head.