Not necessarily “more personal” as in “TMI”, although that’'s OK too, but “more” in the sense that I’m sure this has been done before.
I eat lunch at a local sandwich shop frequently, and I always get potato chips with my sandwich (BBQ Baked Lays, for the enquiring minds). So far, not so peculiar. Once I open the chips and dump them next to the sandwich, the peculiarity starts. I will sort the chips before eating them - one pile for whole chips, another for broken chips and crumbs. I eat the broken pile first, saving the whole chips for last. I don’t know why. If I at chips directly from the bag there is no size sorting, if I dump the chips out first the urge to sort kicks in.
I once knew a programmer who always wore a shirt with a pocket. When he bought his daily pack of M&M’s from the snack machine he would open it and put one in his shirt pocket. When asked, he said it was so he wouldn’t get so involved with his work that he ate the last one without knowing it.
My food oddity is that I tend to take sandwiches apart. Like a burger, I’ll take off the top bun and eat that with most of the veggies and whatever condiment, then I’ll eat the bottom half. Pizza I often pick off the toppings and cheese, then sprinkle parm over the crust and eat it.
I can not drink liquid to the end of the cup. It must be refilled half way or left half way if I am no longer thirsty. My mother does this too. I don’t know why.
I eat all of one thing on my plate before moving on to the next thing. So, for example at Thanksgiving I will eat all my stuffing before eating all my green beans before all my turkey, etc.
Some have misinterpreted this as me not wanting my food to touch, but that’s not it. My food can touch, it’s just that if I’m eating carrots, I want to* fully be* in the carrot experience, ya know?
I have to eat my yogurt in a round, wide-mouth container. I’ve saved some, and when I buy yogurt that comes in a squarish container with a narrower mouth, I transfer it into one of the old containers before eating it.
I save and reuse straws. I generally use a straw 20-30 times before I toss it.
I recognize some of the behavior as OCD (obsessive/compulsive disorder). I know because I am subject to a bit of OCD myself. So far, it’s relatively harmless.
I almost always leave a bite or two of food on my plate, at home or in a restaurant. However, I think maybe it’s because as a small child we were very poor and occasionally I didn’t get enough to eat, so now I leave a little to “prove” that I have plenty. Or something.
I live alone with my 7-yr old Maltese/Yorkie mix breed dog named Bailey. Every single night, as I’m getting ready for bed and just after I’ve finished brushing my teeth (it’s always immediately after brushing), in a big, loud falsetto I yell/sing out “It’s bedtime Bailey!!”. We’ve been doing this routine for so long now that as soon as he hears me brushing my teeth, he goes and sits right around the corner of the bathroom door. That way, when I yell out for him, he comes casually slinking in like he was on his way in anyway. It’s awfully fucking cute.
I have “home” clothes and “Not home” clothes. I have specific shorts and t-shirts that I wear at home and shorts and t-shirts that I wear not at home. A common scenario is I’ll get up on a weekend and change from my pajamas into “home” shorts and t-shirt and then about 10 AM I’ll change into “not home” shorts and t-shirt and then go to the store and then when I get back home I change back into “home” shorts and t-shirt.
“Home” clothes just make me feel more homey and comfortable.
I am exactly the opposite. There has to be a little of each item on the plate within each mouthful (though I will make an exception for very similar items such as peas and beans, or light and dark turkey meat). I want maximum gustatory variety within each mouthful.
My husband is the precise opposite. He grew up with significant financial problems in the household, and as he tells it, there often was not enough for him to eat. He literally cannot bear for anyone in the family to leave food on their plate and will eat the leftovers of each person at the table until every plate is clean.
