Don't Worry, Be Happy
Dec. 14th, 2017 10:42 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lydyI was recently reminded of "Worry People." I think they were...kind of a thing in the 80s, maybe? I'm pretty sure the set I had came from Mexico. There was a little bag of brightly colored cloth, and inside were eight or ten stick figures in brightly colored clothes. There was a little piece of paper that came with them, attesting to this being an ancient tradition, or something. The instructions said that right before bed, one should assign each Worry Person a particular worry that you had, and then put it in the bag, then tie the bag shut. The Worry People would then worry for you while you slept.
I did try this. But as I tried to go to sleep, I worried -- you guessed it -- about the Worry People. Had I assigned the correct worries? Had I forgotten a worry to assign to one of the people? Were the Worry People worrying properly? Should I have assigned the worry about paying the rent to the chap in the blue trousers, rather than the girl in the red skirt? Would the Worry Person all dressed in yellow have been better at worrying about losing my job than the one in green? Did they like to worry? Were they ok? If I forgot to take them out of the bag in the morning, would they worry all day, as well? And if they did, and I also worried, was that more efficient, or was it somehow a bad thing? Was I abusing the Worry People if I forgot to tell them to take a break? Could they take breaks? Should I give them rotating days off? What if they rebelled, and started worrying about things they weren't assigned to worry about?
I stopped using the Worry People. And I have since lost them. Wherever they are, I hope they are ok, and not worried.
I did try this. But as I tried to go to sleep, I worried -- you guessed it -- about the Worry People. Had I assigned the correct worries? Had I forgotten a worry to assign to one of the people? Were the Worry People worrying properly? Should I have assigned the worry about paying the rent to the chap in the blue trousers, rather than the girl in the red skirt? Would the Worry Person all dressed in yellow have been better at worrying about losing my job than the one in green? Did they like to worry? Were they ok? If I forgot to take them out of the bag in the morning, would they worry all day, as well? And if they did, and I also worried, was that more efficient, or was it somehow a bad thing? Was I abusing the Worry People if I forgot to tell them to take a break? Could they take breaks? Should I give them rotating days off? What if they rebelled, and started worrying about things they weren't assigned to worry about?
I stopped using the Worry People. And I have since lost them. Wherever they are, I hope they are ok, and not worried.
