Thursday, October 18, 2012

The energy spent on worrying

I have elevated the way of worrying to an art. Want to talk about worry? I´m your expert.
I´m always several steps ahead, with long lists of things that could go wrong. I can worry months in advance. I am a master worrier.
Then sometimes things happen to go ... right. And as confusing as that might be for a worrier, it´s a valuable lesson.

Mati is going to Germany in a couple of months. I added a card to my dining room map with a list of things to do. Many things are a chain. Eg: his passport is in order but there is a new one available. If he were to get it (which he is not, just in case it takes too long <-- worry), he first needs his id renewed as he is 16 now. When we went to do that, I was told the birth certificate I had was not valid. Even if I had used it for EVERYTHING for 16 years, the employee would not take it as it was a certificate of the birth, not a copy of the births book. That meant getting a copy.

Things to worry about:
* I could get lost going to the San Isidro record office
* I would not find a place to park
* The limited numbers would be gone by the time I got there
* They´d ask for some weird document I did not have with me
* It would be expensive to get it done on the day
* It would take so long that I wouldn´t be able to get to school in time to pick Tati up

What really happened:
* I actually got lost on my way to San Isidro record office but found the place after that
* It took a lot of worry, frowning and agitation to go around the block to dicover PLENTY of free space to park.
* It took me almost 20 minutes of walking around zigzagging to find parking tokens. <-- more worry, I was running late.
* The queue was minimal and what I needed was simple.
* I discovered I was at the WRONG register office. Mati was born in San Isidro (about and hour drive from home) but was inscribed in Villa Ballester books (some four blocks from home!!!).
* Back to Ballester I went. It took less than 15 minutes, four blocks from home to get the copy of the birth certificate. Plus it was free!
* I was home by 9.30AM

In summary:
A) An hour from home, expensive document would take hours.
B) Four blocks from home free document took 15 minutes.

Lesson #1: read before you act.
Lesson #2: things can be sooooooo much easier than expected.
Back of document, stating it´s origin, uses and today´s date

4 comments:

GlorV1 said...

Hi Paula. Glad things worked out for you. I'm a worry wart too and you are right, it's best to read things first. Try not to worry so much, you'll get high blood pressure. Take care.

misteejay said...

Oh poor you - at least you got it sorted.

My Mum has always said that it'a a mum's job to worry even though we are all grown and have flown the nest LOL.

Toni xx

Sian said...

I love how you've told this story with a wry smile - I can almost imagine it on your face! I worry about parking too

Lynn Stevens said...

Oh no Paula. I'm glad you got everything worked out but what a pain along the way.
I'm a worry wort too. It keeps me up at night.

Thank you for your sweet comment on my being a new Grandma. I can't wait to hold him. (now I probably worry about dropping him.) LOL
hugs Lynn

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