# Does anyone else count as they do chores like filling a kettle? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 23, 2005, 9:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-count-as-they-do-chores-like-filling-a-kettle/305065 "2005-05-23T09:20:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![monster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@monster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monster)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2005, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-count-as-they-do-chores-like-filling-a-kettle/305065/41 "2005-05-24T20:45:01Z")
We eat lots of fresh veggies and fruits. I always count the number of pieces they get sliced into. For example, the cucumber I sliced last night was 15 pieces. If I’m mincing garlic in the chopper, I count the number of times I hit it until the garlic is properly minced. Does that make me a looney? ---
**Author:** ![Telperien](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/65b543/32.png) [@Telperien](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telperien)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2005, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-count-as-they-do-chores-like-filling-a-kettle/305065/42 "2005-05-24T21:07:43Z")
I count for all three of **roger thornhill’s** listed reasons, but I already knew I was a loony. I generally count by threes, fours, or fives. I count the laundry as I fold it, and when I fold my towels, I either say or think, “Half, half, one, two, three,” because I fold each towel in half twice and then in thirds. I count letters in words, especially names. My full name has twenty letters. I count pieces of candy or chips; in fact, I like to eat them in servings as suggested on the bag–five caramel cubes, sixteen Pringles. I count when I brush my teeth. I count when I’m bored or nervous. ---
**Author:** ![Secret\_Seth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cab0a1/32.png) [@Secret\_Seth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Secret_Seth)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2005, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-count-as-they-do-chores-like-filling-a-kettle/305065/43 "2005-05-24T21:40:23Z")
I count, but in beats. I’ll usually be moving at a certain speed (if I’m in my “Stupid Chores I’ve Put Off But Now Have To Face” zone) and I’ll count to the beat of my imaginary housework waltz. 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 Sometimes I’ll end up dancing around a bit and maybe add a half-beat in there somewhere. 1 2 3 and 4 1 2 3 and-ah 4 (I know, I’m not much of a musician, so I don’t usually go out of 4/4. Maybe 3/4 if I’m feeling especially elegant) ---
**Author:** ![Nic2004](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/4491bb/32.png) [@Nic2004](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nic2004)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2005, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-count-as-they-do-chores-like-filling-a-kettle/305065/44 "2005-05-24T23:02:25Z")
> [@Leroy Brown](#): > > I count dashed lines on the road, especially on my way to work in the morning before I’ve had my coffee. I know it’s dangeous to focus on the lines disappearing under my hood, but I can’t help it. It’s a stupid annoying habit I hate, but the lines JUST KEEP COMING!!! It’s kinda like Tetris, especially at high speed with short lines. Man, I’m such a wierdo, but I am good at counting things rapidly. A slight aside: As a retired Traffic Engineer let me add to this trait. Those dashed lines are ten feet long and thirty feet between (in the US) for a fourty foot cycle. Now you can “Fourty, Eighty, One-twenty,…” Sorry. This probably hasn’t helped ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2005, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-count-as-they-do-chores-like-filling-a-kettle/305065/45 "2005-05-25T01:22:48Z")
> [@Kevbo](#): > > First job was a paperboy. Had to collect from each house. Gave them 20 seconds to answer first knock, then knocked harder, 20 seconds later, knocked harder yet. > > People get all bent if I knocked hard to start with. Got irritated if I knocked again while they were on the way to answer. > > 30+ years later I still start counting when I knock on a door, or ring the bell. Oh my gosh; I know I’m a freak, but at least now I know I’m not alone. I knock, wait 25 seconds; knock again, wait 20 seconds; knock a third time, wait 15 seconds and leave. (I’m not a paper boy, tho) So yes, I’m also a counter. Most notably: I count when I pee. And brush my teeth (65 seconds, three times a day). Another freakish thing I do: shake my hand like a Parkinson’s patient when I do math in my head. I never noticed it until my dad pointed it out one day. Happy, not Autistic, possibly a bit OCD [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-count-as-they-do-chores-like-filling-a-kettle/305065.md?page=2)