...even though I definitely do not, repeat, do NOT have OCD (obsessive-compulsive disorder), at least I have never been diagnosed with OCD nor has anyone ever suggested that I have OCD even though he or she may have thought it in the privacy of his or her own home. After doing a great deal of reading in preparation for this post I may or may not have OCPD (obsessive-compulsive personality disorder), which is a different kettle of fish altogether. Here's my list:
When emptying the dishwasher, I silently count the number of dinner plates, salad plates, saucers, glasses, cups, each type of silverware (knives, dinner forks, salad forks, teaspoons, tablespoons). Furthermore, I take each category one at a time, counting as I go, and always remove them and put them away in the same sequence.
Because doesn't everybody?
When picking up the mail, I count the number of steps from the front door to the curbside mailbox, and back. When carrying out the trash, I count the number of steps from the back door to the trash bins, and back. I do not count steps when walking Abby, though, because she walks erratically, wandering here and there as she likes. Instead of walking in a straight line she stops abruptly to sniff or listen or stare, goes to the right or to the left, circles back again, darts after a rabbit, rolls in the grass, and does other things the members of the canine world find fascinating.
When taking men's shirts from the dryer and putting them on hangers, I button buttons 1, 3, 5, and 7 only. I leave buttons 2, 4, and 6 unbuttoned.
At the risk of repeating myself, doesn't everybody?
Were you even aware that men's shirts have seven buttons? Here's a news flash: women's shirts do not.
When I still worked in an office, I would arrange pens and pencils in parallel at a jaunty angle on my desk.
When I read blogs, I read them in alphabetic order.
I'm sure I could think of other things I do, but you probably think I am strange enough already.
What OCD-type quirks do you have that are suitable for sharing on a G-rated blog?
I cannot stand the light switches the wrong way round. They have to be pressed in at the top for Off. I'm referring to the ones where one light is controlled by two switches, and if you switch it On at one and Off at the other they are both the wrong way round.
ReplyDeleteTasker, the two light switches at either end of our laundry room drive me crazy too! Ours are up-and-down, not in-and-out, but they are the bane of my existence. I suppose it is a definite first-world problem....
DeleteWe are having a summer to remember. I am recycling shirts to save the planet. I wear one for a day, hang it in the breeze for a day and it's perfectly fine a day later.
ReplyDeleteI'm going to adopt this strategy for my knickers as well. It will save the planet.
Adrian, that is not so much an OCD quirk as it is a helpful household hint.
DeleteIt's well known that some people are counters and some are not. Some people count steps.
ReplyDeleteRed, but is it a sign of OCD or not?
DeleteMmm... I was going to say that I have no OCD traits but when I think about it, I cannot bear my fingers to be sticky with anything really - from marmalade and honey to glue and dumpling mix. I feel my blood pressure rising whenever my fingers are sticky. Get it off! Now!
ReplyDeleteNeil, some people wash their hands 20 times a day.
DeletePatterns! I hate flowered wallpaper because I will find the pattern and then stare at it forever. I look for patterns in bathroom floor tiles (and ceiling tiles). There usually are none but I look anyway. I watch the direction that corn rows are placed in a field (all other crops too). You would think this would drive me crazy. I think I was crazy to begin with.
ReplyDeleteEmma, how about when stripes on shirts or men's suits don't line up? I think it's a matter of price and good tailoring mainly and you get what you pay for. But I take notice when they don't match across the sleeves and torso. And pockets. We must not forget pockets.
DeleteYes. I see all that.
Deleteso you would be the first person to notice a pattern. This is really interesting.
ReplyDeleteBack when i worked in a factory we put bottles into crates, always the same size bottle and the same size crate so the same number fitted in each time but can you believe, I counted them every time?
Until my boss (an habitual counter) said there was always 32 bottles per crate.
After that i did the maths so I knew the totals for up to 7 crates.
There's not an orderly anything in me
kylie, I line up the cans of Abby's dog food just so in the pantry. Does that count?
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