Major Tom
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Just last night, I dreamt of being in a final exam. Only 3 students including myself, and the prof. I finished my work early, but did not want to turn it in yet. I used the remaining time to dump out my backpack and re-organize its content.
When it was the end of the period and time to turn in the work, I could not find my sheets of paper. I got in a panic, and dumped out the content of the backpack to look for it. Nowhere to be found. At that point I woke up sweating.
And I finished grad school 42 years ago.
Funny you should say that. I still, from time to time, wake up in the middle of the night in a panic, convinced that I'm going to fail my finals. They were the last exams I ever took - 36 years ago!
My other recurring bad dream is a flashback to my days as a DJ/radio presenter. I get into a tizzy, worrying that I won't find the next song to play in time, and there will be dead air. I haven't worked in that field for 13 years now - and besides, it's such a silly thing to worry about. The worst that could happen is that a song runs out, and there is silence. I love silence! It's not as if what I did for a living was vitally important to humanity. Being an aerospace engineer, and worrying that an incorrect calculation could jeopardize the safety of passengers? That's a legitimate worry. Heaven knows why I thought that keeping the music playing was such a life or death pursuit. Beats me - but I still have the occasional bad dream about it.
Many of us worry about things that are not worth worrying about though. To put it all in perspective, in a few decades, give or take, all of our worries will be very inconsequential indeed.