# Things you do, that without context... **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 8, 2019, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-do-that-without-context/827384 "2019-01-08T01:24:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2019, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-do-that-without-context/827384/21 "2019-01-08T17:35:30Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > If I’m holding something (usually a coffee cup) in my right hand and come to a door that pushes open, I use my left elbow to push it open. I have since my left arm was in a cast and after the cast came off, useless for about a year. I do the same sort of thing, but for different reasons (I do it for light switches as well). Many years ago I used to work in sterile process areas, and you don’t touch a door with your (gloved) hands because you’ll be needing them to handle sterile items later. (Think elbow taps in an operating theater antechamber.) Another one of those habits that stay with you. j ---
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2019, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-do-that-without-context/827384/22 "2019-01-08T17:39:36Z")
I put my car keys in the refrigerator sometimes. I learned this trick when I used to work in a real-live office. Sometimes I’d run and pick up something for lunch at a deli or grocery store, and it wasn’t unheard of for me to grab some groceries or something for dinner at the same time. I can’t tell you how many times I’d get to the office, put extra stuff in the office fridge, then go about my day. At the end of the day I’d completely forget the groceries were in the fridge and head home without them. I finally figured out if I put my car keys in the bag with the groceries, there was NO way I’d forget the groceries since I couldn’t drive home without the keys. Now that I work from home, I still use that trick when I’m at other people’s homes or prepping food to take to a party. It works great! ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2019, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-do-that-without-context/827384/23 "2019-01-08T18:01:53Z")
Surprising how many of these have rural roots. Mine does as well and neighbors have questioned me about it. In cold weather, before getting in the car, I do a walk-around and kick the tires and give the hood a little thump. Growing up, especially with the older cars, feral cats getting up in the engine area for warmth wasn’t that unusual. Having one end up in the fan as the motor was running wasn’t unusual either. Ever see the mess a full-grown tabby can leave behind once some steel blades do a number on him? It was common enough in my neck of the woods that the “Cat Kitty” betting pool (who would be the first person of the season to catch one in the blades) sometimes got more response than the “buck pool” for biggest deer shot. Dad won the pool once; it basically paid for having the motor compartment cleaned. And since we have ferals in the city, and since modern cars are not totally proofed against such things, I play it safe and give any napping kitties fair warning. ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2019, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-do-that-without-context/827384/24 "2019-01-08T18:43:38Z")
I’m constantly making Simpsons and futurama references any time I feel they are warranted. If there are people around that dont know any better, I usually sound pretty insane. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2019, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-do-that-without-context/827384/25 "2019-01-08T19:07:58Z")
I was going to post something, but the more I thought about it, its pretty messed up even given the context. ---
**Author:** ![The\_wind\_of\_my\_soul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecc23a/32.png) [@The\_wind\_of\_my\_soul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_wind_of_my_soul)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2019, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-do-that-without-context/827384/26 "2019-01-08T20:09:44Z")
> [@Athena](#): > > I put my car keys in the refrigerator sometimes. > > I learned this trick when I used to work in a real-live office. Sometimes I’d run and pick up something for lunch at a deli or grocery store, and it wasn’t unheard of for me to grab some groceries or something for dinner at the same time. I can’t tell you how many times I’d get to the office, put extra stuff in the office fridge, then go about my day. At the end of the day I’d completely forget the groceries were in the fridge and head home without them. > > I finally figured out if I put my car keys in the bag with the groceries, there was NO way I’d forget the groceries since I couldn’t drive home without the keys. > > Now that I work from home, I still use that trick when I’m at other people’s homes or prepping food to take to a party. It works great! I love this! I just forgot some groceries last week! ---
**Author:** ![mmmiiikkkeee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/edb3f5/32.png) [@mmmiiikkkeee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mmmiiikkkeee)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2019, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-do-that-without-context/827384/27 "2019-01-08T23:36:40Z")
Whenever I get up from a chair I tap my right and left thighs before walking off; must look like I’m doing some kind of hambone routine. I keep my wallet in one pocket and my cell phone in the other at all times, and given their values and the unlikelihood of anyone who spotted them returning them, I always make sure they didn’t drop out of my pockets every time I stand up. I watched an old(er) guy getting into his car one time. He didn’t appear to have any kind of mobility problems as he walked to his car, but he got in in a weird looking way. Opened the door, then turned around perpendicular to the car and sat in the drivers seat facing 90 degrees to the left with his feet still on the pavement (facing 9 o’clock when looking at the car from above). He then picked up his feet and pivoted around to face the normal way, and closed the door. My best guess is that he was a retired police officer who’d spent a few decades getting into a car wearing a gun or service belt, and just retained the method which I assume one needs to use to comfortably sit down into in a car seat with all that gear strapped to ones waist. This was at a college that had an officer training program. ---
**Author:** ![half-elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ac91a4/32.png) [@half-elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/half-elf)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2019, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-do-that-without-context/827384/28 "2019-01-09T06:09:32Z")
> [@Cub\_Mistress](#): > > I slam my hand down on the hood of my car before I start it. > once, long ago, a cat was in my car engine compartment. Never again. Where I live has been going through an uncharacteristic cold spell with snow in cities, schools closed etc, and banging on the hood/ bonnet of one’s car has been officially recommended for precisely this reason! ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2019, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-do-that-without-context/827384/29 "2019-01-11T03:38:05Z")
> [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > I think I probably have a lot of these, but I don’t really recognize them anymore. Last night my brother came over to the house and as he was leaving, I had to pick up the door knob and attach it to the door to let him out. I explained that if we left the knob on the door, one of the dogs could open it. He said, “Y’all have weird lives.” Gary Larson would be proud of your dog. > ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2019, 7:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-do-that-without-context/827384/30 "2019-01-11T07:39:33Z")
I have a nerve condition that makes writing with a pen really difficult. At work, whenever I get a form that requires me to write on it, I just use my label maker I have sitting on my desk and print out all the pertinent information and slap the labels on the paper. My closest coworkers understand and are used to this. But sometimes those papers get sent further down the line, and I’m sure those people are thinking: “WTF am I reading? A ransom note?” ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2019, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-do-that-without-context/827384/31 "2019-01-11T18:06:55Z")
I cut at my feet with scissors. I get big calluses and dislike the feeling of a pumice stone. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2019, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-do-that-without-context/827384/32 "2019-01-12T15:50:06Z")
> [@mmmiiikkkeee](#): > > Whenever I get up from a chair I tap my right and left thighs before walking off; must look like I’m doing some kind of hambone routine. I keep my wallet in one pocket and my cell phone in the other at all times, and given their values and the unlikelihood of anyone who spotted them returning them, I always make sure they didn’t drop out of my pockets every time I stand up. > \. This is me as well. Left front, keys, right rear wallet. 58 years old and I’ve never lost or misplaced either. A new addition (well for 8 years or so) is cell phone on clip on holster on my belt or just hoked on the waistband of my jeans. Have never misplaced that either. Some routines are just good. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2019, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-do-that-without-context/827384/33 "2019-01-12T20:26:52Z")
If I want to get a better look at a rock, like an interesting pebble in a garden or park, and I don’t have water handy, I will lick it. It’s a geologist thing. ---
**Author:** ![hibernicus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hibernicus/32/2802_2.png) [@hibernicus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hibernicus)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2019, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-do-that-without-context/827384/34 "2019-01-13T00:16:36Z")
I mow the sidewalk. When I’m finished cutting the strip of grass outside our house I leave the engine running and push the mower back along the sidewalk. It’s a really effective and low-effort way of picking up fallen leaves, twigs and similar debris. But I always think anyone who saw me would think it was weird. ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2019, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-do-that-without-context/827384/35 "2019-01-13T05:17:26Z")
If I saw someone pull out gardening gloves and stomp on them I would make the probably correct assumption that they were making sure any fauna resident therein were dead. However, I have a friend who is quitting smoking. Very slowly. She has decided she can have one cigarette a day, but if she has the whole pack then she will smoke more than one because no self-control. So she brings the pack to me. I live about a 10-minute drive away. When she calls, I put one cigarette in my mailbox and she comes to get it. If I’m going out, I usually leave one, in case she comes over. Sometimes she sends her husband instead. My neighbors might conclude that I am some kind of drug dealer because two or three times a day\* some car pulls in, goes up to my mailbox, takes something out, then leaves. Wait, I guess I am some kind of drug dealer. (Also her stupid beater car is leaving oil spots on my driveway.) I used to keep a pair of wool socks in the freezer so that when I got home from my retail shift with tired feet I could put on cold socks, which really seemed to help. The first time it happened my husband thought I had lost my mind. You know, it’s the first sign, when somebody puts their socks in the freezer, and the butter in their underwear drawer. \*“Something” always “happens” to the single cigarette. It breaks, it got lost in the car. It burns up… ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2019, 6:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-do-that-without-context/827384/36 "2019-01-13T06:30:00Z")
Many years ago, when I first had kids I read about a case where someone died after accidentally ingesting one of the plastic clips you get on loaves of bread. The article warned that children, the elderly and animals were all at risk of bowel problems caused by accidental ingestion. So I started tearing them in half and throwing them in the rubbish rather than using them to reseal the loaf. There are ways to do that without the clip. I obviously have done it unconsciously for 30 odd years because recently I did it while making breakfast while staying with friends and they were very puzzled. So then I had to explain and show them how to reseal the loaf [https://lifehacker.com/5957796/seal-a-bag-of-bread-or-anything-with-just-the-bag](https://lifehacker.com/5957796/seal-a-bag-of-bread-or-anything-with-just-the-bag). ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2019, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-do-that-without-context/827384/37 "2019-01-13T15:37:20Z")
> [@hibernicus](#): > > I mow the sidewalk… I do this too, to blow stray clippings back on the lawn. > [@don\_t\_ask](#): > > …how to reseal the loaf [https://lifehacker.com/5957796/seal-a-bag-of-bread-or-anything-with-just-the-bag](https://lifehacker.com/5957796/seal-a-bag-of-bread-or-anything-with-just-the-bag). I do this as well. I learned it from, of all things, “Late Night with David Letterman” many years ago. mmm ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2019, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-do-that-without-context/827384/38 "2019-01-13T16:09:25Z")
> [@biometricks](#): > > In the fall, spiders tend to make large 2 or 3 foot in diameter webs in my front yard on a daily basis. After walking into them many times, I started looking for sticks that had fallen from a nearby tree and use them to swat down the webs. It occurred to be that I probably look nuts to others since the web are nearly invisible, but I didn’t look particularity sane when I would accidentally walk into a web and try to get it off me either. > > I feel bad about ruining the spiders hard work, but often times the webs are anchored to the side mirror of my car so it would be ruined when I drive away anyway. There is a short gravel path between our front steps and the driveway, and spiders love to stretch a web across it. They’re also hard to see, so I usually am waving my arms when I walk to the car, in what must look like karate practice to anyone looking, although I suspect that anything I do probably doesn’t surprise the neighbors. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_McQwark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4da419/32.png) [@Steve\_McQwark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_McQwark)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2019, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-do-that-without-context/827384/39 "2019-01-14T00:10:02Z")
> [@galen\_ubal](#): > > Earlier today, I was pulling some weeds. I went into the garage first, picking up my gardening gloves…and dropping them to the ground, stepping on them thoroughly before putting them on. > [@silenus](#): > > Not unlike the OP, but with much less venomous arachnids, I always slap the snot out of something solid with whatever pair of gardening gloves I pick up before donning them, and for the same reasons. People think I’m challenging the wall to a duel or something. This had never occurred to me before reading this thread. Then today, I grabbed my gloves to go work in the yard, looked at them, and then smacked them against the wall. ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2019, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-do-that-without-context/827384/40 "2019-01-14T20:09:13Z")
> [@mmmiiikkkeee](#): > > I watched an old(er) guy getting into his car one time. He didn’t appear to have any kind of mobility problems as he walked to his car, but he got in in a weird looking way. Opened the door, then turned around perpendicular to the car and sat in the drivers seat facing 90 degrees to the left with his feet still on the pavement (facing 9 o’clock when looking at the car from above). He then picked up his feet and pivoted around to face the normal way, and closed the door. My best guess is that he was a retired police officer who’d spent a few decades getting into a car wearing a gun or service belt, and just retained the method which I assume one needs to use to comfortably sit down into in a car seat with all that gear strapped to ones waist. This was at a college that had an officer training program. First of all, this is how ladies used to be taught to get into, and especially out of, a car to avoid “being indiscreet,” i.e., flashing their panties (or worse). I have been doing it for quite a while (I’m 63) because after years of getting in the usual way (stick right foot in, then rotate on the left knee to sit down), my left knee got quite sore and tender. Doing it the way you so ably described above puts virtually no strain on the knee and feels more dignified as well. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-do-that-without-context/827384.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-do-that-without-context/827384.md?page=3)