One of the jobs I tried on in my late teens was a laborer in a boilermakers. One of the jobs they put me on was cleaning the weld slag from the inside of a 20’ long boiler. In order to access the interior I had to squeeze myself through a porthole-sized hole. I managed to do it but discovered what claustrophobia was once inside. They fired me when I refused to go in again.
I accepted the dismissal with a big smile!
Yipes! Awful assignment.
I have known since I was a child that I was claustrophobic — although I did not know the name for it. But it was not until I went for an MRI several years ago that I realized just how awful it was.
I did manage to stay in for almost the whole thing by keeping my eyes closed and praying the entire time. Started at my feet and I was able to withstand the panic until it got up to my head. Just could not bear it any more.
The clanging was just unbearable, and the stupid music they played to “drown out the noise” was useless. Some horrible new age junk with the sound of voices just making melodic sounds. I was thinking,”Great! They have put me in a coffin, and now I am hearing the angels!”
Anyway, when it got to me I said, “I have to get out of here now”, and nobody answered me. I started wiggling my feet and planning to escape by shinnying down toward the feet end. That finally got the technician’s attention.
“You have to be still.”
“No, let me out of here!”
The panic was rising, and it seemed like half an hour before they got me out, but I am sure it did not take that long.
The next MRI I got was a so-called open MRI. They let me go feet first, and I did not have to go farther than chest high, but it was still very scary for me, mainly because of the previous experience.
Bad, bad memories. It seriously ranks in the top 5 most horrible experiences.