That’s one of those things that “everybody knows” that isn’t exactly true. I recently added a page to my “Spider Myths Site,” debunking this relatively new legend, here.
I know it’s not true for all situations. However, for the average person sitting in a room of a house (and I assume that Guin is sitting in her house if she’s posting on a Sunday afternoon) I think it’s probably a safe assumption.
You can’t help what you’re scared of, but it’s self-indulgent to expect anyone else to drop everything to help you slay the monster. I’m phobic about centipedes, but when I found three in the basement last week, I whimpered and stomped on them myself rather than crying for help. I don’t think coping makes me particularly heroic.
I am Chief Spider Remover in my house - husband is extremely phobic. Note though, I will only remove them, not kill them. Spiders are A Good Thing, to my mind, as they kill flies, and I have my own phobias about anything that spread disease - flies, rats, street pigeons (ICK ICK ICK!)
Should a pigeon ever get into our house, I would fully expect husband to deal with it, as I would not re-enter the building until it had been removed and the entire place hosed down with disinfectant.
The only time I ask someone else to kill a spider for me is if I can’t reach it. There was one the other other night crawling up the wall that I would have gotten, but it was too high up. So I had to ask my dad. I felt like a weenie having to do so – curse my stunted height!!!)