Feeling unsettled 3: Socks, bananas and revolving doors

Having spent a great weekend in Manchester I feel prompted to share a conversation I had with some new found friends. Encouraged to research more widely my current theme, I asked what things unsettled them. And from a young guy (we'll call him Bill), came a stream of stuff that on one level was amusing, on another, presumably quite debilitating.

Bill first said that, of doors, it was the revolving kind that made him feel anxious and a little distressed. He didn't like approaching them, the fact that they were in constant motion – automatic ones in particular because they sprang into motion seemingly at will. But these revolving doors were far surpassed on the unsettled-ometer with both bananas and socks!

Even the sound of the word SOCKS made him visibly cringe and though he realised that they were an unfortunate part of everyday life, of getting dressed every day, was a chore beyond the pale. It was to do with their fluffyness, the way they stretched, the way they looked when discarded or as pairs in the drawer. These are things Bill cannot bring himself to even look at, he has to close his eyes when putting them on.

But next came bananas – squidgy, plump fruit in their own 'unnatural' yellow skins. It wasn't just the taste of the banana that he didn't like, it was the contrast of the stiffer waxy outer skin and the soft pale creamy white inside. On fruit stands, in supermarkets or in fruit bowls, bananas also made Bill feel on edge and very unsettled.