# Odd little habits you have **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 9, 2000, 7:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-little-habits-you-have/36239 "2000-10-09T07:41:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Swampwolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8edcca/32.png) [@Swampwolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swampwolf)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2000, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-little-habits-you-have/36239/81 "2000-10-14T02:48:16Z")
By all the Gods of Olympus, you people make me feel normal and well-adjusted. STOP IT! I, too am a “counter.” I also try to fill the loo with bubbles when I pee (this irritates my SO “Bubbles” to no end! :D), and then I spit to pop the biggest ones. ---
**Author:** ![Sapphire\_Bullet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/96bed5/32.png) [@Sapphire\_Bullet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sapphire_Bullet)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2000, 7:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-little-habits-you-have/36239/82 "2000-10-14T07:33:18Z")
I absolutely cannot use plastic silverware. Not the stuff you get in fast food restaurants, but the kind that is metal, but has plastic (or it might be acrylic) on the handle. It has to be all metal. My mom thinks I am crazy. I told her I’m just a silverware purist. > [@](#): > > For instance, I always put my stuffed animals on my bed all crowded around me. I feel bad for them if they’re far away and leaning on the window. Everything must be together. I used to make my cabbage patch kids take turns sleeping with me. Once, though, I put everybody in my bed, along with the stuffed animals- I had tons. By the time I had gathered everyone, there wasn’t room for me, so I tucked them in and slept on the floor. What can I say, I’m a pleaser! 🙂 > [@](#): > > I also try to send all the loose ones together, because I feel bad that they were left out of the little groups, and this way they have someone to go on the trip with. I also do this before sending the clumpy ones. It’s > bad enough that they’re all alone in there, that I don’t think they need to wait until the end while the popular patties go first. thanks, mega, I haven’t laughed this hard in a loooong time. I feel like I am looking in a mirror. Well, all except the “man-pickle” stuff! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2000, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-little-habits-you-have/36239/83 "2000-10-14T12:40:05Z")
I eat everything at home with a little demitasse spoon I’ve had for ages. I also carry one in my purse for when I buy a pint of ice cream. I cannot stand those little wooden paddles people use to eat ice cream with. If someone else is using one, I’ll give them a spoon and tell them to use it. The idea of eating with wood grosses me out. I split muffins and eat the top last. ---
**Author:** ![Welfy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e56c9b/32.png) [@Welfy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Welfy)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2000, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-little-habits-you-have/36239/84 "2000-10-14T14:19:17Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by OrcaChow \* > \*\*When I approach doors, elevators, metal tables, metal racks or handrails, I rap them with a knuckle. It seems very odd to other people when they see it, but I’m prone to static-electricity buildups and I _hate_ getting zapped on the fingertips. A quick knock with a knuckle often allows me to discharge the static with less irritation. > \*\* I do this, too, or I just punch whatever it is. People think I’m odd when I punch chalkboard rails and car doors all the time, but I’d rather look silly than get shocked. One time a friend shocked me so hard I had a bruise on my arm! How is that possible? ---
**Author:** ![Welfy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e56c9b/32.png) [@Welfy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Welfy)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2000, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-little-habits-you-have/36239/85 "2000-10-14T14:32:11Z")
> [@](#): > > Tzel, Renton\_Ivr, for some reason the fact that you sit in the shower really disturbs me. Why do you do it?? You just sit on the floor of the tub while the water cascades on you from high abaove? That’s weird. That’s not strange. All the people who mentioned sitting in the shower seem to do it for logical reasons. I sit in the shower to shave also, and sometimes I get really sick in the morning from my medications taken the night before, so to keep from fainting I sit on the floor. I really don’t feel like blacking out only to have some people break into the bathroom and find me lying in the shower unconscious. Does anyone else get into stubborn moods and refuse to eat? I do that sometimes when I’m mad at the family. Mom kept out some ravioli on the stove in the hopes that I’d eat some later, but instead I crept out there and left with a bowl of plain lettuce, a granola bar, and a little bowl of Cocoa Pebbles. Mom probably feels like she’s dealing with a demented mischeivous monkey and not an 18-year old daughter. 😃 Mega, you seem too much like me. How odd but cool. ---
**Author:** ![Homer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/df788c/32.png) [@Homer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Homer)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2000, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-little-habits-you-have/36239/86 "2000-10-15T00:43:36Z")
No one’s mentioned this flavor of perversion yet. All my key’s teeth must face the same way. I don’t know what I’d do if I had a double sided key. They all go on ONE keychain, too. No fucking key fobs or trinkets or stuff for me. Sapphire Bullet, are you made of pure love? –Tim ---
**Author:** ![tubagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b77776/32.png) [@tubagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tubagirl)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2000, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-little-habits-you-have/36239/87 "2000-10-15T01:03:43Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by andygirl \* > \*\*I’m hearing impaired, but I don’t use sign language. However, I do always sign “thank you” and a few other words. I don’t even realize that I do it… and it took me a while to figure out why some people looked at me in funny ways. \*\* I do that too… I’m slightly hearing impaired and it was worse when I was younger (surgury is wonderful:)) I always find that I finger spell things with my hand by my side. It looks like a nervous tick to some people. but whenever my mother is around, she yells at me about it. I also sign many common words like “thank you” and “what?” I also finger scales the same way for my tuba playing. I guess it started in Middle school, trying to memorize scales. My fingers start flying when I’m bored. ---
**Author:** ![mega\_the\_roo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3da27b/32.png) [@mega\_the\_roo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mega_the_roo)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2000, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-little-habits-you-have/36239/88 "2000-10-15T02:45:12Z")
Oy. Yesterday my boss told me that if I keep on saving the man-pickles, he’s going to write me up for wasting food. ---
**Author:** ![honkytonkwillie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3da27b/32.png) [@honkytonkwillie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/honkytonkwillie)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2000, 9:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-little-habits-you-have/36239/89 "2000-10-15T09:50:05Z")
Now I know I’m weird. The teeth on my keychin must face the same way just like Homer. I eat food one item at a time. I have to carry my wallet in my right hip pocket, but money only goes in the front-left, to foil would-be thieves. And Copenhagen in the left hip pocket to maintain alignment in my spine when I sit down. I have to read something - anything - while taking a dump. Mainly to distract myself from thinking about taking a dump, 'cuz thinking about it makes it impossible. I pre-emptively smack metal objects so the static doesn’t take me by surprise. When ordinary light bulbs are used in lamps that can take three-way bulbs (50/75/100 watt bulbs), I always do a double -click when turning the switch; so that the next time I use it, it goes off(or on) followed by a satisfying confirmatory click. When I buy a new CD I listen to every song all the way through several times before starting to skip tracks. But most CDs I own are played all the way through from start to finish in the order the tracks are laid down. Random play is absolutely forbidden. I shift gears at exactly 15/30/45/60 mph no matter what car I’m driving. And I habitually skip gears when down shifting; i.e., 5th to 3rd, or 4th to 2nd. And now all the electrical outlets are yelling at me. ---
**Author:** ![Mousseduck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecc23a/32.png) [@Mousseduck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mousseduck)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2000, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-little-habits-you-have/36239/90 "2000-10-15T12:05:24Z")
I talk to inanimate objects and give them sexes. My kettle is male, my toaster is female and my stove is male. I’m very protective of my personal space, to a point where a friend of mine once said I need a fence around me. I count things as I walk, like fences, certain types of trees etc. The weirdest thing I do is get hyperactive when I’m nervous, and do dive rolls and stand on my head. I have tried so hard to just become a nail-biter, but no luck so far. I think I’ll just continue to consider myself relatively normal, with a few quirks. Until those inanimate objects start to reply, that is… ---
**Author:** ![wevets](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9a140/32.png) [@wevets](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wevets)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2000, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-little-habits-you-have/36239/91 "2000-10-15T16:50:05Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by mega the roo \* > Oy. Yesterday my boss told me that if I keep on saving the man-pickles, he’s going to write me up for wasting food. I know this sounds serious, but I just can’t stop laughing! Mmmmph…mmm… “man-pickles”… bwah hah hah ha! ---
**Author:** ![Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c77e96/32.png) [@Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Speaker_for_the_Dead)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2000, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-little-habits-you-have/36239/92 "2000-10-15T17:19:00Z")
I have a lot of bizzare habits. In the bathroom, I try to fill the bowl with bubbles. At a urinal, I aim for the hole (mostly so there is no splashing, but now it’s a game. I talk to myself constantly, like when I think of a new idea, I feel like I have to explain it to myself. I also ALWAYS use hand gestures, even if I’m not talking to anyone. I get bugged nonstop at school for that. My cats, I talk to them whenever I pet/cuddle them. I use the strangest voice. My friends call me a pyro, since I always am wondering how something would burn (then follow up with experimentation). Leaves, seeds, paper, pens, straws (they burn really well), just about anything. I have about 20 candles in my room, and always a pack of matches. There’re more, but I don’t want to get into that. ---
**Author:** ![Welfy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e56c9b/32.png) [@Welfy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Welfy)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2000, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-little-habits-you-have/36239/93 "2000-10-15T19:02:11Z")
I read the comics backwards. Well, not a certain comic strip; I mean I read the back page first, then the 4th, 3rd, 5th, 2nd, and 1st. It’s quite odd to my friends. I also have a cleaning compulsion in everyone else’s rooms and houses–except for my own room. It’s a mess. But today when I went to Ray’s house and he wanted to play around, I spent the first 15 minutes of the visit cleaning his room. ---
**Author:** ![Swampwolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8edcca/32.png) [@Swampwolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swampwolf)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2000, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-little-habits-you-have/36239/94 "2000-10-15T19:14:50Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Speaker for the Dead \* > \*\*I have a lot of bizzare habits. > My friends call me a pyro, since I always am wondering how something would burn (then follow up with experimentation). Leaves, seeds, paper, pens, straws (they burn really well), just about anything. I have about 20 candles in my room, and always a pack of matches. > > There’re more, but I don’t want to get into that. > > \*\* OK, Speaker, here are a few fun pages for you to check out: [http://www.pcola.gulf.net/~irving/bunnies/](http://www.pcola.gulf.net/~irving/bunnies/) [http://www.sci.tamucc.edu/~pmichaud/grape/](http://www.sci.tamucc.edu/~pmichaud/grape/) [http://ghg.ecn.purdue.edu/](http://ghg.ecn.purdue.edu/) And the pyromaniac’s wet dream (it takes a while to load, but IMHO it is the greatest video clip on the web): [http://www.perp.com/whale/video.html](http://www.perp.com/whale/video.html) ---
**Author:** ![Fairy\_Princess\_Kitty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/df705f/32.png) [@Fairy\_Princess\_Kitty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fairy_Princess_Kitty)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2000, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-little-habits-you-have/36239/95 "2000-10-15T22:05:58Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Welfy \* > \*\*I also have a cleaning compulsion in everyone else’s rooms and houses–except for my own room. It’s a mess. But today when I went to Ray’s house and he wanted to play around, I spent the first 15 minutes of the visit cleaning his room. \*\* I do the exact same thing, my friends think I’m odd. When I get nervous or depressed I will clean, just start organizing stuff. I happened to be missing my boyfriend a few days ago and my friend and I went over to her boyfriend’s house. I cleaned his whole room except the bed and the closet. I hate making beds and he wouldn’t let me touch the closet. Finals week I cleaned out my science teacher’s desk, it got to the point that he would threaten me and not let me get near his desk, playfully of course. He’s still scared I’ll try to do it again. At least I know I’m not the only one. Kitty ---
**Author:** ![Homer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/df788c/32.png) [@Homer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Homer)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2000, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-little-habits-you-have/36239/96 "2000-10-15T22:15:06Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by mega the roo \* > **Oy. Yesterday my boss told me that if I keep on saving the man-pickles, he’s going to write me up for wasting food.** Megan, you wonderful creature, what the HELL is a man-pickle? –Tim ---
**Author:** ![Skelji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b38774/32.png) [@Skelji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skelji)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2000, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-little-habits-you-have/36239/97 "2000-10-15T22:19:02Z")
Kitty, you and Welfy can come visit my house anytime. I hate cleaning, well, picking up is more like it. I hate dirt, but I swear that junk mail and paperwork stacks itself up on my counters. During the night, my clothes sneak out of the closet and lounge around on the chair in my bedroom. ---
**Author:** ![Sapphire\_Bullet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/96bed5/32.png) [@Sapphire\_Bullet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sapphire_Bullet)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2000, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-little-habits-you-have/36239/98 "2000-10-15T22:27:14Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Homer \* > Sapphire Bullet, are you made of pure love? Why yes, I am. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![mega\_the\_roo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3da27b/32.png) [@mega\_the\_roo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mega_the_roo)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2000, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-little-habits-you-have/36239/99 "2000-10-15T23:28:42Z")
> [@](#): > > I know this sounds serious, but I just can’t stop laughing! Oh, go ahead and laugh! It’s absolutely ridiculous. 🙂 > [@](#): > > Megan, you wonderful creature, what the HELL is a man-pickle? It is a pickle with a face. Usually a surprised one, but sometimes happy or sad. I am going to bring one home on Tuesday and scan him so you all can see what the hoo I’m talking about. Maybe if I’m lucky, I’ll find a Cyclops-pickle to bring home. They’re the happiest. And some more: I will be doing something like brushing my teeth and think to myself, “I’m brushing my teeth” and then another bit of myself will ask, ‘Brushing your teeth?’ and the first bit will say, “Yes. Brushing my teeth.” I can’t burn a candle without sticking my fingers into the wax and making a collection of little fingerprints. I automatically say “Ow” or “Ouch” upon running into something, whether it actually hurt or not. And I too, must have the teeth of my keys facing the same way. ---
**Author:** ![racinchikki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eada6e/32.png) [@racinchikki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racinchikki)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2000, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-little-habits-you-have/36239/100 "2000-10-15T23:39:57Z")
**mega the roo:** I, too, automatically say “ow” when running into something. Actually, my pain reactions go something like this: _bump into something lightly_ Ouch. No wait, that didn’t hurt. _bump into something hard_ Ouch. Ok, that hurt a little. _stub my toe_ OW OW OW OW OW OW JESUS F\*CK!!! OW OW OW OW OW OW OW! Ok, I’m better now. _papercut_ OWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOW OUCH OUCH OUCH PAIN PAIN PAIN BLOODY BLEEDIN’ PAIN OW OW OW OW! PAIN PAIN PAIN OW PAIN OUCH OW! SON OF A HOOKER PAIN OW OUCH PAIN OUCH! … Wait, it doesn’t hurt anymore. _break my ankle_ … Ok, this might be a little uncomfortable. Also, I name EVERYTHING. From inanimate objects to people. Especially cars. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-little-habits-you-have/36239.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-little-habits-you-have/36239.md?page=6)