White sand, soft and warm. Beautiful blue water, clear as glass. Wind, gently blowing the salty fragrance. Sunshine, lightly bathing the skin in Vitamin D. These words bring up lovely images for people who are fond of the ocean. Being raised in Hawai’i, I’m sure you all naturally assume I must feel the same.
You would be wrong.
Beaches conjure up images from the most iconic movie of my youth. Watched well before my tiny brain was developmentally capable of distinguishing fact from fiction, Jaws marked the ocean as a deathtrap just waiting for me to jump in. I have a healthy respect for the dinosaurs that are still swimming in the ocean and refuse to barge into their home and make myself comfortable.
Despite all of my friends and family attempting to convince me otherwise, my toes do not touch the ocean. I also shun the use of boats because Jaws managed to sink several of them throughout his movie career.
What proof do we really have that Titanic was sunk by an iceberg?!
No, thank you. I will happily sit on the sand, awaiting the screams of terror that will prompt me to call for emergency help. Should you make it back out alive, I’ll hand you a dry towel.
This is my newest Zazzle design. His name is Gustave and he hails from France – you may spot him wearing a beret when he is trying to blend in. Gustave is available in my store right now. Click right here to check him out!
Check out my Facebook page @ShankYouHeather and @ShankYouDesigns
I also tweet like a bird on Twitter @HeatherKeet
You can also find me on Instagram @ShankYouHeather and @ShankYouDesigns
Lola and I opened a store so we can sell our funniest blog sayings on cool stuff. Check it out at Shank You Very Much
Have you asked anyone if there are actually sharks in the ocean where you are seasiding? You probably wouldn’t believe them, though, huh?
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I did ask once, when I was in junior high school. They told me there were no sharks there. So I got on my boogie board and ended up having a mommy hammerhead shark circling underneath me… They were liars! That was the last time I ever went in the ocean, I was 13 years old.
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Bloody hell!! Now I understand!!
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It was the worst!
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I hear you. I too am wary of the beast that is the sea 🌊 You just don’t know who is hanging out there waiting…. I am a bit in love with Gustave btw especially as my kids always sing his tune despite never having even heard of ‘that’ movie
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That song is just in the soul of every human. You hear the tune and you know…
My Zazzle store ships to the UK if you decide you want kids shirts!
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Heather you are so funny! I’m sure most beaches are fine. Although having said that – I’ve never seen jaws!
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I really should have watched that movie a few years later in life!
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Ok … stand clear of the beach, Heather. #anythinggoes
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there was actually a fatal shark attack not too far from me recently. makes me love my pool even more! #anythinggoes
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The Cape Cod guy? I saw it on the news, it was so sad.
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Oh Heather I am right there with you about Jaws. My mom stupidly brought me to the movie theater to watch Jaws 2. IN 3D! I was 5 years old and had nightmares about sharks for years. While I still swam in lakes and pools, the beaches always scared me. Took me a long time to get over that damn shark! I remember when I was little, right after watching that movie I was afraid to take baths because I was convinced that Jaws was going to break through and eat me lol! #anythinggoes
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The movie may look cheesy as an adult, but it is terrifying to kids! Even Jurassic Park is less terrifying, because you can rationalize that dinosaurs are extinct. But sharks are real, and it’s hard to rationalize that as a child.
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Yeah that’s exactly right! Sharks are very real and very scary
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The theme tune for Doctor Who still reminds me of hiding behind a cushion when I was a child #, ixituplinky@_karendennis
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It’s amazing what sticks with us!
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Never mind Jaws, what about those stinging jelly fish? I love the ocean, but you wouldn’t catch me swimming in it. I do think I’m more scared of tidal pulls than sharks though, I have experience of that which I never want to repeat. Lovely T design 🙂
#mixitup
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I’ve met some jellyfish, they do hurt really bad. Riptides are definitely no joke, I’m a strong swimmer and they overwhelm very quickly!
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The tshirt looks very friendly tho…#Dreamteam
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I decided to deal with my nightmare by making a happy shark.
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Loving Gustave. And think my little one would love him too! #DreamTeam
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He’s just so happy!
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Sand I can hack….but I will never ever ever swim in the sea! Only it’s not big scary sharks with sharp teeth I’m scared of …it’s fish!!Even the teeny tiny ones! #dreamteam
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Even the teeny tiny ones can take a bite out of you! I feel your pain!
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LOL! I was scared to go in the ocean once. After my husband pleaded with me for hours, I agreed. Ten minutes later, stung by a stingray. It took me a long time to agree to go back in the ocean over my knees!
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Bravo to you for getting back in, I never could.
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I only go to my knees. lol. I don’t like the big waves or the unknown sea creatures. My husband, however, will swim out so far, it freaks me out!! I’ll take the sand with a good book! #dreamteam
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I even skip the sand, you can find me in the snack bar!
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Love the sea possibly above all things and also very much like Jaws and loved sharing it with my son last year. But we are all different and that is a very good thing #DreamTeam
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I’ve had friends who have watched Jaws while sitting in a raft in the water. It is so impressive and I just cannot make my brain stop stressing when I am in the water.
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I do love the pool!
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Sorry, Gustave. You are too adorable to be scary!
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I was trying to get over my fear of sharks by making an adorable one. He is adorable, but I’m still terrified of sharks.
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aw, sorry to hear you don’t like the ocean – as a sea kayaker I’m quite fond of the ocean and so far can’t report on any scary encounters 🙂
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I grew up in Hawai’i, and I had more scary encounters than I care to rethink on. I did go in the ocean for a few years after jaws, but each event made it harder and harder until eventually I couldn’t do it at all.
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Yea, that film could freak anyone out about the ocean! #DreamTeam
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The music is truly terrifying. But so iconic!
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Crikey the close up of the shark has given me shudders X #dreamteam
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Yeah, I scared myself!
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I differ here, I adore the sea, but I wasn’t raised in Hawaii. #DreamTeam
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Well at least Gustave came out of your fear of the ocean. 😊 #DreamTeam
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Isn’t it funny how things from early childhood shape our fears well into adulthood? On TV when I was small there was a British soap and a plane crashed onto the small village during the night. Now, if I hear a plane flying overhead at night I panic that the same will happen to us. Crazy
#DreamTeam
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It is shocking, sometimes even innocent seeming things can stick!
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The reality is that the great white sharks frequent our shorelines here in Cape Town so I don’t swim in the sea but there are those crazy people surf and swim and a few people were attacked already. So I prefer sun bathing on the shore, swim in a tidal pool or swim in the pool at home #dreamteam
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Stay on the shore!
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Give me a swimming pool any day. The sea is lovely to look at, but that is where it ends. I wouldn’t go walking where there are lions so why swim where there are sharks?! #DreamTeam
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I feel the same way!
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We live by the beach but I don’t swim in the sea because I’m scared of it! A plastic bag in the water is enough to send me running away screaming! #DreamTeam
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Haha! That picture of the giant shark leaping out of the sea 😂 I totally get where you are coming from as after seeing Jaws, I too picture the sea monsters a bit like this. Gustave seems to look friendlier. Thanks for being a super #dreamteam host xx
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I was hoping a friendly shark would make me a little bit more brave when it came to the ocean… it didn’t! But he is so cute.
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Just these images alone have traumatised me. Watched most of these aged 9 and have never taken to the sea since then. In fact I had issues with swimming pools, bath and the toilet for a few years after that 😱 I will not be letting my children see these films until there old enough to own their own home 😆. I was also born near the sea in Devon and learn’t to swim in it! I totally relate to this, as do most of my friends of the same age! #dreamteam
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I’m so glad I am not alone!
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