Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Woman Worrier

So, Death Case Scenario: it's where normal people look at glass of water filled to the halfway point and say, "it's half-full'" or, "It's half empty." People like me look at it and say, "I'm going to pick up the glass to take a drink, it's going to slip out of my hand, and I'll fall and bash my head off of the corner of the counter while trying to save it."


Just to further illustrate Death Case Scenario in action, I put together a little list of irrational fears. Usually the minute I think of them, I laugh at the absurdity, but it is the way I think.

Irrational Fears: Home Edition
  • Do you know how sometimes there are worms in old, cloth books? Or that there are pantry bugs that can get into your flour, sugar or whatever? I sometimes worry that at some point between manufacture and sitting in my cabinet, my tampons could harbor an infestation that I'll unknowingly insert.
  • I worry that while running with my dog, she'll dart to the side quickly and I'll step on one of her legs, breaking it.
  • I've worried that my sweat will cause me to be electrocuted by my iPod.
  • I've wondered if the glaze on my coffee mug could be tainted with lead.
  • I've wondered the same of the vitamin I take to be healthy.
  • If my knitting is next to the bed, I have to move it before I go to sleep because I fear that I'll fall out of bed in the night and be impaled on one of the needles.

Any one else do this from time to time? What's your worry?

8 comments:

Levi said...

I worry about being lonely.
That's it.
I don't worry about cancer, arm breaking, dying.
I worry about being alone and lonely. Though I love being alone, I don't like the feeling of loneliness.

I read a book about survivors of random events and one woman stabbed herself accidently near the heart with a knitting needle. She walked into her knitting group and they saw a bit of blood and she had to hold VERY still while the paramedics were called in.

P/F said...

I remember you writing about that book on your blog, and the writer was on NPR a month or so later. I know that I picked up something valuable from the interview, and almost wrote to you about it, but it escapes me now. :P

Danielle said...

I just choked reading the electrocution from your ipod. I sometimes tuck it into the top of my sportsbra when I row, and I imagine the same thing... I don't think it runs on electricity though, but being who I am I haven't found out.

I am deathly afraid of being made fun of because of my weight. Or judged because of it. I overcompensate by perfectionism.

I am afraid of creepy things in the dark, but mostly of being startled in the dark.

Spiders, snakes.

Loved ones committing suicide (that was pretty depressing), and being abandoned.

Good topic. I am glad I found your blog!

P/F said...

Losing Waist!, thanks for stopping by!

I do the iPod between sportsbras too, mainly because I hate how the armband rubs my arm raw.

I can identify with the worry about loved ones; and now that I have kids I worry that they'll inherit the family brain chemistry so I worry about them too.

katieo said...

Ok, the electrocution by iPod + sweat made me laugh.

I worry mostly about my kids. In fact, I'm more afraid of leaving my kids motherless than the thing that would actually kill me.

Although when I'm pregnant I have all sorts of irrational fears mostly to do with poisoning, kidnapping, and gun accidents. (we don't even own a gun.)

P/F said...

hey Katieo! I know what you mean about kids. I have a whole list of irrational fears related to my kids.

Thanks for stopping by, and good job on working out so soon after having the baby. I gained 25 lbs. in the six months AFTER my last son was born. When people say it was baby weight, I usually tell them that I wish I could say that. It was because I hadn't planned for the change in activity I had after the baby was born - AND because I felt it was necessary to learn how to make the perfect buttercream. My one tip for postpartum weight loss: do not learn to make the perfect buttercream. :)

Mrs Furious said...

I'm afraid of knives, scissors, screwdrivers, drills... I'm sure if you leave one sitting on a counter that the dog or kids will be trying to get something down off the counter and the knife (screwdriver, etc) will fall on them and stab them. I can't leave the house with a knife ANYWHERE on the counter for fear that the dog will get himself impaled.

Also can't leave dishtowels or potholders next to the stove for fear that they'll accidentally get lit on fire... even if the stove is off.

MR F won't let the kids run around in socks cause he's convinced they'll slip and bash their heads open... he's actually got a lot more bizarre injury fears than I do. He's afraid the kids will get papercuts in their eyes if they handle mail!

P/F said...

Mrs. F,
check

check

check (actually have lots of area rugs to mitigate sock disaster potential - 3yo falls weekly from running in the kitchen)