And thus, there is proof....

....that I'm not crazy after all. I don't think I ever really liked clowns, but the older I got, the more I really disliked them. Now, this bit of information isn't that popular amongst most other people because they can't understand why I don't like clowns. In addition, parents and co-workers (from the past) couldn't understand this either, especially since I've been a Children's Minister for a long time and work with kids. They were like: "How can you not like clowns, puppets and ventriloquists and you're a Children's Minister at the same time?" I don't know... all I do know is that I'm not fond of people in big, dress-up costumes, not a fan of Halloween costumes where your face is covered up, nor a fan of faces being painted in general either. Don't even get me started on how creepy ventriloquists are and I put up with most puppets cause for the most part, they're cute.. but I still don't like them that much. So, I came across the following article from Yahoo! News the other day and it proves that I'm apparently not the only one who feels this way about the so-called child-friendly, funny clowns.....

Don't send in the clowns

Wed Jan 16, 8:32 AM ET

Bad news for Coco and Blinko -- children don't like clowns and even older kids are scared of them.

The news that will no doubt have clowns shedding tears was revealed in a poll of youngsters by researchers from the University of Sheffield who were examining how to improve the decor of hospital children's wards.

The study, reported in the Nursing Standard magazine, found all the 250 patients aged between four and 16 they quizzed disliked the use of clowns, with even the older ones finding them scary.

"As adults we make assumptions about what works for children," said Penny Curtis, a senior lecturer in research at the university.

"We found that clowns are universally disliked by children. Some found them quite frightening and unknowable."

(Reporting by Michael Holden; Editing by Steve Addison)