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Giant hairy spiders harshing commuter mellow at Wellington walkway

Bex inquired this morning about the walkway at the Orange Line station:

Who do I talk to about the spiders in the Wellington catwalk? because OH MY GOD I'VE NEVER RUN SO FAST.

When asked whether the issue was lots of regular spiders or just one mutant refugee from a nuclear experiment gone horribly awry, she replied:

BOTH! Millions of HUGE, hairy, scary spiders. Maybe they're just filming "Arachnaphobia 2" and no one told us?

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Comments

Seriously, what is the issue again? Oh, those things that eat mosquitoes, flies, ants, and other nasty things are crawling around and getting their business done?

They are called "wolf spiders". They won't bite you or harm you or even care about you. They are beneficial critters because they eat things that will bite you or harm you.

Horrors.

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Well, it sounds like she has a phobia (see: running as fast as she could). There's not much logic can do for an irrational fear.

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I have always thought that you take a lot of unneccesary grief on this site, but do you have to respond with a holier than thou attitude to every post? I don't like spiders either. You don't have any phobias? How lucky you are.

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Someone who emotes on twitter about OMG!!! GIANT SPIDERS etc. isn't looking for help with a phobia, IMHO.

I realize that people do have phobias (and, although my son thinks my deep fear of wildfire is early childhood trauma, it borders on a phobia) - but twitter isn't the place to dramatize them. The place to take them is to a mental health professional, especially since spiders are everywhere all the time whether or not you can see them, and learning to cope with ubiquitous arachnids is necessary to properly function in the world.

If I saw her cowering and freaking while walking through there, I would help escort her, shield her, and find someone to ask about the problem so she wouldn't have to go back in to take photos or point it out. Believe me, I would.

Tweeting about how horrible it was,etc? Seriously? That's needless drama. It doesn't solve her problem with spiders or any spider problem that exists in that walkway.

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I have failed to understand your point. even tho I read the whole paragraph long rant I still don't understand. but im not perfect like you

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There are big signs at each end that display the name of the property management company and ... (gasp) A PHONE NUMBER. These signs are there (presumably) to help people talk to the right people to get the job done.

That smartphone can do more than broadcast a fear of spiders to twitter - it can also dial a prominently displayed number to contact the people responsible for keeping the walkway clean and safe.

But, hey, so much more fun to whine at twitter about "who will fix this" than actually call a human who can fix it.

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I could like this infinity-plus-one times. Sums up my reaction to some of Swirly's posts to a T.

At least this time she didn't tell us how, when she lived/traveled in Europe, she saw spiders all over the place and they knew how to live with them so obviously we all suck. And also managed to keep bikes out of the discussion.

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bike riding spiders. Now there's a drive-in movie plot if I ever heard one.

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The film you describe probably already exists, and they would be on it!

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this is Houston - how do you copy?

On a Xerox - over.

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Why did you bring all these things up here if you dislike them being brought up?

Especially when you could have communicated your swirlyphobia to a much larger audience on twitter?

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I think the anonatrolls and certain posters often give you more grief than you deserve. HOWEVER, I also think it worthwhile to call you on your BS when it is appropriate. Your tendency to evoke a high-and-mighty attitude (and frequent, off-topic referencing of Europe and bikes) when it is entirely unnecessary needs to be pointed out.

I'll throw your argument right back at you-- if you dislike twitter ranting so much, why did you have to comment on this one? As we often say to the anonatrolls, no one MADE you click on the post, read it, and comment on it. So when you get reactions, don't be surprised.

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You have nothing to contribute to the conversation. Save the grievances for Festivus, please.

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My sister was trekking through Nepal and one night as she got ready for bed at a local's place, she saw a giant spider and yelped in alarm. The local woman came in and asked what was wrong, and my sister tried to pass it off as not a big deal, figuring that the woman saw these things all the time and was entirely inured to them. "Oh, I was just surprised by a big spider. Nothing to worry about." And she pointed the spider out.

The woman took a look at it, then took a sudden step back and said, "Ooh, very big spider," and my sister felt somewhat reassured. People all over the world get freaked out by spiders.

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Yes. And no anecdotal stories about her expertise on all things urban because she works in Boston.

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You poor dear.

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I suppose that means it's okay to release a swarm of spiders in a crowded theater.

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CITATIONS NEEDED!

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Wicked smaht!

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Someone freaking out about one normal-sized spider -- I'd say stop pestering the authorities.

Someone freaking out about hundreds of huge spiders -- I'd say thanks for letting the authorities know, so they can solve the problem before it affects someone else.

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I did. Super painful.

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is just a myth without photos!

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I'm half tempted to walk over and take a look.

Hey, if you hate seeing a lot of big bugs, do NOT go to a rest area along the Interstate in Texas at 3 a.m. The daylight-simulating overhead lights must attract every huge beetle within 10 miles. All I wanted to do was get a Coke from the vending machine. I avoided stepping on any, but I think a few were squashed when the bottle fell out of the machines hopper.

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I see what you did there with that headline. Clever.
"Don’t Harsh Our Mellow, Dude" June 3, 2014, New York Times, Opinion Pages, Maureen Dowd does her Hunter S. Thompson impression and fails.

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Spiders FREAK ME OUT and I stay as far away from them as I can. ESPECIALLY wolf spiders! If I had to pass under or near them I would take the long way around. But it's not something for which I need therapy because it doesn't interfere with my daily life. And I know how beneficial they are to the ecosystem but it don't mean I have to be near them.

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When I was a kid in the fifties, with my family on a camping vacation tour of Civil War Battlefields, and my sisters and I were in a tent in our campground in Maryland, I woke up in the night, looked up, and saw hundreds of spiders through the roof of the tent magnified by the campground lights.
I was so freaked out, I don’t know whether I screamed, started shaking the tent, or ran out and hid in the car all night. (I think the last)
But I do know I’ve never slept in a tent since (except one time but he was special); my oldest sister (who thinks she’s the boss) would insist that it never happened; and I think roughing it is no room service and no wifi. Cheers.

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Great song. ;-}

Our kids learned it alongside Eensy-weensy spider...

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