Strange Things You Do

[CynicElle]

When I put on my rings, the hallmarks inside ("sterling silver" or "14K" and the like) have to be facing right side up.

However, my mom just gave me her wedding band from her wedding to my dad, and there are engraved words inside the band that face in both directions. I headed off a potential nervous breakdown by deciding that my parents' initials and wedding date should be facing up.

[KatieC]

Oh, you just reminded me of one. I absolutely hate it when I buy a paperback and my husband starts reading it before I'm done. I like the feel of a new book, the uncracked spine, etc. It drives me crazy that he'll pick it up and read it without saving my place. And, that when I want to read it he's got it and I get "5 more minutes, I want to finish this part...". Leave my book alone! You can have it when I'm done!

Nobody in my house will touch my book before I'm finished! They know what would happen!

I talk to my cats, strange dogs, the fish in the pond, say good morning to the morning glories -

When I say my prayers, I leave in all the people/animals I love who have died - it now appears I know more dead people than live.

[numbers123]

when I am stressed or frightened, I ask my guardian angels (my grandma, my daughter and a very good friend) to help protect me.

I organize my clothes by color and type - all jackets are here, all skirts are here, etc. And I get upset when they become jumbled.

[Ziggy]

I've got very mild OCD (not actually diagnosed but I wouldn't be surprised ) So everything ideally should be neat and organised and done in a certain way, etc.

I guess it's not really OCD because even though I always strive for things to be this way, I don't freak out (well only a little bit ) when it's not so.

[Jenya]

I organize my clothes by color and type - all jackets are here, all skirts are here, etc. And I get upset when they become jumbled.

I do that, too! My closet is color-coded in the order of the rainbow. My old roommate was amazed that I kept it in order, and she was always having me organize her. But I kept having to reorganize it, because she couldn't keep it in order.

All of the clocks in my apartment, my watch, and my car are set ten minutes fast.

[Holley Calmes]

when I am stressed or frightened, I ask my guardian angels (my grandma, my daughter and a very good friend) to help protect me.

And I'm sure they do so! That's so sweet! ((((hugs))))

In my own OCD way, after I take a shower, I have to throw the bath towel I dry off with over the shower rail so that any tags on the towels are on the inside on the shower facing in. Does that make sense? Sick, huh??? I also have "lucky nightgowns." And if I wear something new and have a bad day, that poor article of clothing might get put into the good will basket.

[KikiSashaFan]

If I have an itch on my right arm, for example, I have to scratch the same spot on the left as well to make it even.

I also organize my clothes by color within style.

[skatemommy]

My husband talks to other drivers as if they can hear him. I always ask the Dr. Phil, "How's that workin for ya?" The horn on his car is soooo wimpy (Mercedes) that when he tries to honk them out of the way I slink under the dashboard. It is SO embarassing but not like I know these people either.

[rjblue]

Is there anyway to catch a mild case of OCD, especially re organising ones clothing.

I have a pile of clean laundry next to my bed that is now as high as my mattress.

I can put an item on the stairway landing to be carried upstairs the next time I go up- and have it still be on the landing 2 weeks later.

[liv]

OH, reading this reminds me of other things i"m glad to find other people do:

I count the steps as I go up or down...especially when drunk, lol.

Certain foods cannot touch each other, particularly a hot and a cold. They MUST be separate.

I cannot eat food with a normal sized fork. I have to use a dessert fork.

I cannot touch a steering wheel of a car that was touched by another person unless I've cleaned it.

I don't like library books because other people have touched them so I always buy books, even though it's more expensive. I'm not yet at the stage where I use gloves, but I know some who do...

I remember my credit card numbers, bank card numbers, license plates, phone numbers from decades ago. And when nervous I count mini blinds, folds in curtains, seats in theatres etc.

[Veronika]

I have a thing about people eating my food without permission. I think it's a primal instinct.

Example: I will grab a bowl and put some snacks in it (chips, crackers, etc.) My husband will take a few out, even before I've had any. I tell him to get his own and stop eating mine!

My mother used to do that to me too. I only share when I want to.

[cruisin]

I've got very mild OCD (not actually diagnosed but I wouldn't be surprised ) So everything ideally should be neat and organised and done in a certain way, etc.

I guess it's not really OCD because even though I always strive for things to be this way, I don't freak out (well only a little bit ) when it's not so.

You can be OCD but not about everything. I am OCD about germs. But only germs in public places. I can barely walk into a public bathroom, but bathrooms in my house, family's house, friend's houses don't bother me. I am totally neurotic about counters and sinks in the kitchen and bathroom being clean. I am fastidious about hanging up clothes and perfectly folding them, but in general, I'm not overly neat. If I forget to take laundry out of the washing machine and put it into the dryer at night, I get up the next morning and will run it through the wash again. But, if I do the wash in the morning and forget to put it in the dryer until that night, I'll just throw it in the dryer. It might sit longer in the washer during the day, but for some reason it only bothers me if it's over night. I am very neurotic about raw meat, chicken, fish. But I've had bad food a few times, so I guess there's a good reason. When I cook meat I wash my hands at least twice and then bleach the sink. Anything the raw meat might have touched or my hands might have touched gets bleached too. Yet, I know restaurants are not that careful and I eat in them.

And if I wear something new and have a bad day, that poor article of clothing might get put into the good will basket.

I don't do that if it's only one bad thing. But I had two sweaters that every time I wore them something bad happened. I won't give them away because I don't want to give someone else the bad luck . So, they are in the basement. One time I was about to make pancakes and something very bad happened, I will never make or eat pancakes again . That's not a hardship though, because I don't like them much anyway.

liv, sounds like you have a little OCD going on, welcome !

I think most people have a little OCD. Any ritual behavior, phobia, or superstition has roots in OCD. It isn't until OCD takes over your life or makes your life unmanageable that you need to worry.

Oh, and any OCD things you do, try to laugh about them. It's no fun being a little crazy if you can't make a joke of it.

[Cyn]

I cannot eat food with a normal sized fork. I have to use a dessert fork.

Same here - I thought I was the only one who did that! If whatever I'm eating requires a fork, I absolutely cannot stand using a fork with long tines. No idea why, but I've been like that since I was a kid.

More strange things...

- I cannot stand walking around barefoot. At all. Even if I'm inside in our house, I have to have socks on my feet at all times and go into a nervous fit if my feet are naked ....The thought of walking barefooted outside gives me the willies to the point of having a mini panic attack . The only exception to the rule is when I'm at the beach and on wet sand - I have to wear sandals to walk from the house/hotel down to the beach or while walking on dry sand, but as soon as I hit wet sand, the sandals are ditched ASAP, and I must be barefooted.

- Before going to sleep at night, I have to make sure that every cabinet and closet door is securely shut. Many a night I've laid in bed with a nagging thought rattling in my head if I can't recall checking on a door to make sure it was closed. Unless I get out of bed and double-check on it, I wind up in a snit and cannot relax enough to fall alseep. That happens a lot more nowadays, since MiniCyn is apparently allergic to shutting cabinet and closet doors. Come to think of it, add drawers to the list - open drawers drive me bonkers at all hours of the day, which is something I got from my Mom, who was definitely OCD about keeping things in Spartan order.

- Going to sleep with any makeup on and/or not doing my nighttime skincare regimen. It doesn't matter how exhausted I may be - if I have on any makeup, even if it's just a few dabs of concealer or a dusting of powder, I can't go to sleep wit any of it on my face, and if I don't cleanse, tone, and apply my serums and moisturizers, the guilt gnaws at me until I take care of it.

- Keeping my shoes organized. I'm no Imelda Marcos, but my shoes have to always be matched up and either hanging on the wire rack on the back of my door, lined up in order on the floor of my closet, or in their correct boxes and shelved neatly. If they're not, I feel completely miscombobulated.

- Making my bed in the morning. This HAS to be done, usually right after I get out of bed. If not, I feel completely disorganized and out of sorts for the entire day.

- Keeping my bathroom organized and clean. The rest of the house can look like it was ransacked by the Gestapo, but my sink, vanity, and commode have to be clean and neat, otherwise I feel like a shlubby mess.

- Milk. I'm the same way about milk as alcoholics are when it comes to booze. If we run out, I damn near panic. I've gone to the market at 3 in the morning (more times than I'd like to admit) if we run out at night.

*****

A lot of people posted about talking to their pets. This is JMO, but I don't think there's anything strange about that at all. I always talk to our cats throughout the day, asking them questions even though I know I'm not going to get an answer (a glare? Sure, sometimes), but they keep me company when I'm here by myself, and they seem to enjoy it .

[BigB08822]

I'm nearly 28 and I still have a blanket.

I definitely talk to my cat, that isn't so odd, at least not here on FSU.

I prefer to go see movies alone.

I hardly use the toilet without first pulling back the shower curtain to make sure no one is hiding in there.

I can't stand for cabinets to be open and doors have to be all the way open or all the way closed, no in between what-so-ever!

My idea of a perfect weekend is spending it in bed and at home the entire time. I like to sleep more than anything else. If I have a lot of "fun" things to do over the weekend, I feel like I wasted my weekend because I didn't get to sleep as much as I wanted or lounge around as much. Most people are the exact opposite.

[SoNaoWat?]

Let's see...

I like to air-dry after a shower. I'll use a towel and dry off a little bit, but then I'll flop down on my bed and let the ceiling fan dry me. While doing this, I clean my ears with at least 3 or 4 cotton swabs.

I don't wear open-toe shoes because I think my feet are ugly and I have nail fungus on one foot. (sorry, gross, I know.) I wear socks when around anyone except my immediate family. If I'm hanging around the house barefoot and the doorbell rings, I'll put shoes or socks on before opening it.

I refuse to wear anything that shows my upper arms because they're flappy. I call them my "chicken wangs" and my sisters call them "hello-goodbye arms" because when you're waving hello, your arm-fat is waving goodbye.

I sing to myself in the shower and in the car and daydream about performing for an audience.

I have to hit the automatic lock button on my car at least 2 or 3 times before I can shut the door.

I like to read when I eat at home or at work.

I'd love to go to a Weird Al concert.

I don't know where I rank on the Strange Scale, but I don't think I'm particularly freaky.

[Rob]

I grow all kinds of peppers and herbs that I hardly use. Would be cheaper to buy some peppers/herbs at the Asian market and dry them than buy the plants. I just like having them outside in the garden.

I always swear I am going to bed at 10 or 10:30 and the next thing I know its 1 am and I need to be at work at 8.

Weekends, I drive 2 1/2 hours to the beach, go to happy hour Friday night, get up at 7 Saturday to get to the beach by 8, run home and fix dinner for a group of 6-8 or go to a dinner party, go to bed late, clean and garden Sunday, drive 2 1/2 hours back, and Sunday night I am exhausted.

I hate having dirty laundry in the basket, but always I have stacks of clean laundry on top of the dryer. I hate ironing.

I love shoe shopping, but I hate wearing shoes.

[screech]

I was pulling weeds in our vegetable garden this afternoon (my very first garden, so I'm rather protective of it ). When I was yanking/digging one particularly stubborn one out, I caught myself taunting the remaining weeds in the ground by telling them, "You see what's happening to your little friend here? *This* is what's going to happen to you and all the rest of your little buddies if you don't take your damn roots and get the F out of here!"

I do the same thing when I'm frustrated. I'll yell at appliances, my TV, windows, laundry, etc. If inanimate objects (or plants or insects) don't cooperate with me they get a thorough tongue lashing. I like it because they don't argue with me so I can continue live with my knowledge that I'm always right.

I blame my dad for this... Whenever I park my car, I put it in park and use the emergency brake.

I am also anal about the reading a book series from first to last. I get pissed if I happen to pick up the 2nd or 4th or something. It MUST go in order!!

I alphabetize my DVD collection.

Ditto on all fronts. Even when I'm re-reading a book series I have to do it in order. Like recently I was re-reading the Southern Vampire Mysteries series (the books True Blood is based on) and couldn't re-read the 9th book right away (as a refresher) before buying the new 10th one without reading books 1-8 again first, even though I've read them all multiple times in the past.

I organize my clothes by color and type - all jackets are here, all skirts are here, etc.

I do the same, but kind of weirdly. My pants/shorts/skirts that don't require hangers are kind of thrown together, but with shirts, it's separated by type (sweater vs summery) and colour. And the items in my closet aren't organized by colour but are by type by order of use (most commonly used items are most easily accessable. Jackets are in the hardest to reach place).

Another one of mine is kind of an OCD - I check my purse about 5 times (literally) before leaving the house to make sure I have my wallet, bus pass, phone and keys. I then check a few times to make sure my door is locked.

Another thing if mine is that I require some form of background noise at all time. Even if I'm on the computer I need to have the TV or iTunes on, otherwise I kind of go a bit crazy. I was the same when I was in school and doing assignments or studying - I could never do it if it were too quiet.

[IceAlisa]

After Mini Ice was born, I became a very light sleeper and remain one to this day. Now I have this really annoying (to others) white noise machine that I take with me everywhere when I travel. I also have to have a pillow under AND over my head to further drown out noise.

And I have super thick blinds and curtains on my bedroom windows to keep the sunlight out in the morning since it wakes me up too. I am a bat! May be I should live in a sensory deprivation tank.

And one more thing: when I am too lazy to go to my Zumba class, I put on a movie on youtube which lately has been the Russian Sherlock Holmes with Vasily Livanov and dance away in front of the computer for the duration of the movie. I don't even know what to call this workout method.

[Cyn]

I do the same thing when I'm frustrated. I'll yell at appliances, my TV, windows, laundry, etc. If inanimate objects (or plants or insects) don't cooperate with me they get a thorough tongue lashing. I like it because they don't argue with me so I can continue live with my knowledge that I'm always right.

If you're a member of FaceBook, I have the perfect page for you to join:

Yelling At Inanimate Objects

I joined it a while back, and it didn't hit me until after finding that page just how often I yell at things - my computer, mobile phone, the TV, other cars on the road, my toaster oven, the zipper on my pants, and so on.....

[Japanfan]

My idea of a perfect weekend is spending it in bed and at home the entire time. I like to sleep more than anything else. If I have a lot of "fun" things to do over the weekend, I feel like I wasted my weekend because I didn't get to sleep as much as I wanted or lounge around as much. Most people are the exact opposite.

I'm exactly the same. Going on a holiday leaves me feeling sleep-deprived.

I have a great deal of trouble getting to sleep and am at my most happiest when I finally get there.

I don't get the concept of 'too much sleep' at all.