Does it ever pay to worry?

DOES IT EVER PAY TO WORRY?
BY Terri Andersen
 It seems every time I worry about something coming up in my life which sounds like possible disaster, it almost always turns out to be nothing that needed worrying about. Example, a trip my husband found on the internet which was what I really wanted but the price sounded too good to be true. When the company offering the trip called us to schedule our time with them, we gave them our name, address and credit card number and asked for a confirmation from them as soon as possible. What the person on the phone said was "I'll transfer you to my manager and he'll give you all that information.” Red flags went off in my head as soon as the manager quickly informed us that we'd be required to attend a 60-minute presentation soon after our arrival, and he stressed that there were no refunds or cancellations. When our confirmation finally came a few days before our departure, it stated that if we did not attend the presentation, or if our yearly income was under $50,000, an extra $150 would be charged to our credit card. I called the company immediately and told them we didn't earn that much, only to be told by whoever answered the phone, not to worry, we were already approved. When we went to attend the required presentation to avoid the extra charge, the first thing we had to do was fill out a questionnaire that included what category we were in financially. The person in charge took one look at our form and told us we couldn't attend the presentation because we didn't earn enough money. My first concern was if we would have to pay the extra $150. I let him know that I wrote for a newspaper and would be sure to expose their system to the public, then my husband and I left to spend a day at the beach which would have been wonderful if I didn't have to worry about how much extra they would charge us. Luckily, they didn't add anything to our bill, but I did learn a lesson, which is to read fine print carefully. If an ad says a customer must be over age 18 and a homeowner, be aware that it could very well be a hidden time-share operation. No sooner did that worry go away when I found something else to worry about. On a visit to my daughter in Florida I mentioned how hard it was to spot one's luggage on an airport carousel, since so many bags look alike, most being black canvas and hard to single out. My daughter, an excellent floral artist, painted a beautiful rose on my luggage, so that it would be easier for me to identify my bag. The bag is so beautiful now I'm afraid someone will steal it when it comes past them. My son-in-law said: “Is there anything you don't worry about?” I had to admit I couldn't think of anything. But I think it runs in my family. I had two sisters who worried so much they didn't think I worried at all in comparison. When anyone pointed out to my oldest sister that nothing she worried about actually happened, her answer was: "It didn't happen because I worried enough before time and already suffered enough.” My most recent worry had to do with getting an airline reservation. Rather than addressing a specific company online directly, I put in a Google search and landed up getting listings for a variety of airlines. When I finally decided on which line to travel, I landed up with a confirmation from a travel agency in Pennsylvania. Lesson learned: use the official address of the airline (Delta.com, AA.com, etc.) rather than a general search. I could have saved myself a lot of confusion and possibly even a few dollars. Oh well, live and learn.