On the Bobby Bones Show today, the conversation turned to something everyone experiences but not everyone talks about: FOFO — the Fear of Finding Out. It’s the lesser-known cousin of FOMO, and while Fear of Missing Out gets all the attention, FOFO often shapes our decisions more than we realize. It all started when the group joked with Eddie, asking if he knew what FOFO meant. After a few guesses, he landed close, but not quite. FOFO stands for Fear of Finding Out, and once it was said out loud, the stories came pouring out.
Bobby shared that his earliest memory of FOFO went all the way back to childhood. He remembered being around 11 or 12, seeing dramatic commercials on TV about AIDS, and somehow convincing himself he had it, despite being a kid who hadn’t even come close to doing anything that would put him at risk. The commercials made it sound like someone in your friend group probably had it, and young Bobby, who didn’t even really have a friend group yet, assumed it must be him. That fear stuck with him for years, making him afraid to even get tested.
As an adult, FOFO looks a little different. Recently, after ankle surgery, he’s been getting around on a medical scooter. One wrong turn sent him crashing, sending a spike of pain through his foot like needles. Now he’s avoiding the doctor because he doesn’t want to find out if he messed something up. “I have FOFO,” he admitted. “Fear of finding out.” While Bobby tends to avoid bad news, Amy is the opposite. She’d rather know everything as early as possible. Mammograms, cancer checks, full-body scans, she’s all for it. “It’s scary to get it done,” she said, “but it’s scarier to find out later when it’s too late.” Early detection, she reminded everyone, is everything.
Eddie has FOFO too, though for a different reason. His comes from hoping his body will just handle things on its own. If his stomach hurts for a month, he convinces himself it will probably go away next month. Everyone agreed that wasn’t the best strategy. Then there’s Lunchbox, whose issue isn’t fear of finding out, it’s frustration from trying to find out. He’s been to doctor after doctor for various concerns, and instead of answers, he keeps hearing: “I don’t know.” The crew laughed imagining doctors throwing their hands in the air the moment he walked in, but Bobby pointed out that in his experience, when a doctor doesn’t know, they refer you to a specialist, not send you home with YouTube stretches.
Before wrapping up, Bobby showed off one fun part of his recovery: a walking boot with a pump on the side, like old Reebok Pumps. It tightens around his foot to take pressure off when he walks. He joked that he can’t wait to dunk again once he heals, a goal everyone agreed was optimistic at best, but still entertaining.
