Worry Chic.

I remembered this article from 21 1/2 years ago from The New York Times, and I happened to be able to find it online.

For whatever reason, it's helped me this afternoon.

Published: Thursday, January 7, 1988

Don't relax. There's always something to worry about. Herpes, crack and nuclear holocaust have not gone away but have become passe worries. A trendy era obeys fashion even in its fretting. Here are some worries that have already infected 1988.

There may be urethane in the wine.

There may be parasites in the sushi.

Radon, an insidious, invisible, radioactive gas, could be seeping into your basement.

There is too much ozone in the air you breathe, which damages the lungs.

There is too little ozone in the stratosphere, which lets in ultraviolet rays that burn the skin.

The world may get too warm, because sunlight is being trapped, as in a greenhouse, by the growing veil of gases spewed out by burning coal.

The world will get too cold if the next ice age arrives before the greenhouse effect does.

The dollar may make a strong recovery, ruinously reversing improvements in the balance of trade.

You may suffer a heart attack if you exercise too little.

You may suffer a heart attack if you exercise too much.

Even if the wine has no urethane, it probably contains sulfites. Or the beer may. And in any case, both are laden with a more pernicious chemical -alcohol.

Does all this mean that modern life is burdening Americans with more and more worries? No -just different ones. Worries grow stale and need to be changed. It's the disposition to worry that endures.