Weird Fear # 4: sidewalk grates

Living in a city that's built on top of a burned out city leaves too much room in this neurotic's over-active imagination to dwell on...and I believe this is WHY I have a fear of walking on sidewalk grates...although I'm no professional...so I don't really know where this stems from. And besides that...the same fear follows me when I've traveled to other cities. You know the ones I'm talking about...the big metal sheets or grids that take up much of the sidewalk space. The grids are the worst because you can see part way into the underground, underneath the sidewalk.

Basically, I'm afraid I'll fall through like Alice tripping through the Rabbit's Hole! Except instead of finding a Hooka Smokin' Catapillar chillin' on top of a Shroomy Mushroom I'll be impaled by a bunch of rusted rebar!

To avoid catastrophe I step over or around the grates. If I cannot avoid them, part of my foot must still touch the grey of the sidewalk to be safe.