Posted on 07/09/2014 10:41:34 AM PDT by nickcarraway
A chef has been forced to quit his job because of an uncontrollable fear of baked beans.
Rob Griffiths, 31, left his job as a pub chef in Milton Keynes because he felt faint every time he saw the food.
The ex-chef believes his rare fear - technically known as leguminophobia was a result of his brothers throwing beans at him as a child.
I get shaky and I just have to run if theyre anywhere near me, he said.
I was a pub chef and breakfast was hard.
Staff had to prepare the beans while I hid in the back.
Mr Griffiths, who now works as a window cleaner, said he cant even go near the beans which he calls orange devils when theyre in tins in the supermarket.
It is very distressing, he admitted.
Research using mice has suggested irrational fears may be passed down genetically.
An experience with a poisonous spider, for example, causes chemical changes in DNA that are then passed on to offspring in the form of a phobia.
Perhaps one of Mr Griffiths ancestors had a particularly nasty encounter with a baked bean
I’ve never understood the fascination that the Brits have with beans.Even if it *wasn’t* for the disgraceful *result* of eating them they’d *still* be disgusting.
Maybe it’s like Spam. During WWII & afterward, maybe beans & Spam were all the Brits could find.
Beans with breakfast? Original Spam ads used to feature “Spam and eggs” to start the day.
My brothers threw rocks at me when I was a kid.
Until Mom and Dad bought me The Junior Scientist Chemistry Kit.
“Go ahead, dear brothers, eat up. Don’t worry about why your bowl of Frosted Flakes is bubbling.”
So basically, he is angling for some kind of social welfare support for life...
Oh oh, I see some bogus disability-for-life scam here.
Let’s just hope that law enforcement is not in his neighborhood...
I don’t think I’d want this specimen anywhere near my food.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.