AS WE GET older, we mature like a fine wine, and suddenly the things that were of grave concern to us as children seem like mere distractions.

Well, most things.  Because the fact of the matter is that there are some things that will always be scary, no matter how old you get.

Here are 15 of those things.

Delivery time at a pub

It’s always scary when you have to walk by that open hatch in the footpath.

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The child catcher in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

That face is permanently imprinted on our brains.

YouTube/netcore2k

Wasps

If they scare you, they scare you for life.

Flickr/quinet/Creative Commons

Your mother/father's angry voice

You might not hear it as frequently, but when you do...

YouTube/katwalsh191

The dentist

This one might not get everyone, but for many people the denist's office is a portal of fear.  Which is a shame really because lots of dentists are really nice.

What's not to like about this?  Flickr/Betsssssy/Creative Commons

Walking on a transparent floor

It's just unnatural.

We challenge you to stand on a pane of glass like that and not get the willies.  www.shutterstock.com

Champagne popping

You'd think we'd be over it after the Celtic Tiger.  We all partied after all.

However, there is something about that anticipatory moment before the cork pops that makes everyone tense with fear.

Strangely hypnotic, isn't it?  YouTube/Travellinksdirectory

Insects crawling in your ears while you sleep and setting up house in your brain

Scary because it actually happens to people.  Well the crawling in bit, not so much the setting up house.

Eeeeeeeew.  www.shutterstock.com

Clowns

Clowns are one of those things that you're either scared of or you're not.  If you're scared of them, you're scared of them forever.

Flickr/timlewisnm/Creative Commons

Rodents

Nasty little feckers.

We were hardly going to make you look at a photo of a rat, were we?  www.shutterstock.com

The puff of air opticians blow in your eye

You know it's coming, and you've probably experienced it before, but it's still scary every time.

Oh yeah, she's laughing now...  Flickr/kirinqueen/Creative Commons

The blood pressure cuff

...because what if it doesn't stop?  And it just keeps getting tighter and tighter and your arm pops off?  And then your arm sprays blood all over the doctor's office?  What happens then?!?

This man was clearly coerced into posing for this photograph.  www.shutterstock.com

Balloons popping

As a result, few places are more scary than someone's house the morning of their child's party.

Look at this man.  He's terrified.  www.shutterstock.com

Garda checkpoints/US immigration etc.

You know you haven't done anything wrong but...

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Walking on an icy path

The RTE man could have been any of us.

YouTube/greannmhar3

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