# Weird stuff you do habitually for no reason **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 24, 2008, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-stuff-you-do-habitually-for-no-reason/478487 "2008-12-24T01:31:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![PapSett](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecc23a/32.png) [@PapSett](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PapSett)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2008, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-stuff-you-do-habitually-for-no-reason/478487/61 "2008-12-27T17:31:42Z")
When I was a kid, I used to ‘draw’ crosshatches- like a tic tac toe grid-on the roof of my mouth with my tongue; I had a regular routine to it-grid, grid, circle the roof, squish tounge to cover roof of mouth, repeat. I did this for YEARS, until I finally consciously forced myself to stop in high schoool. No idea why. I am a writer, and find the easiest way to get conversations to flow smoothly and naturally is to vocalize them. So I am quite often driving around town, holding whole conversations between my characters, complete with voice tone and inflection. Oh, and did I mention facial expression. I guess people wonder why I am arguing with myself sometime… And there have been a time or two I have actually come to tears, ‘rehearsing’ a particularly emotional scene. I wet my toothbrush twice, too. So much weirdness, so little time. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Lo-Slung\_Denim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f6c823/32.png) [@Lo-Slung\_Denim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lo-Slung_Denim)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2008, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-stuff-you-do-habitually-for-no-reason/478487/62 "2008-12-27T18:52:32Z")
> [@CaerieD](#): > > Whenever I have a sandwich or a burger, I’ll eat all around the edges and slowly work my way inwards. I do that. It’s just good sense, all the good burgery bits are in the middle! I will never leave a book unfinished, even if I hate the book. I am big literature fan and generally optimistic that the book may yet turn out good…and I can’t judge it properly if I haven’t even \*finished \*it! ---
**Author:** ![jali](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ecae2f/32.png) [@jali](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jali)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2008, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-stuff-you-do-habitually-for-no-reason/478487/63 "2008-12-27T20:42:14Z")
> [@LurkMeister](#): > > …Also, if I’m waiting somewhere (like at a bus stop) and am not reading I’ll start counting; usually I’m also doing a mental thing like "the bus will come before I get to… I do this too! I count cars going by. The bus will come when I get to\_\_\_ cars. Or \_\_\_ white cars. I’m annoyed if my phone rings or if someone interrupts me since that will delay the bus since I have to start over. (the bus is controlled by my count) ---
**Author:** ![lucky\_henry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/bc8723/32.png) [@lucky\_henry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lucky_henry)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2008, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-stuff-you-do-habitually-for-no-reason/478487/64 "2008-12-27T21:35:16Z")
> [@Justin\_Credible](#): > > When I’m watching tv or listening to music, the volume has to be on an even number. You’re almost correct. It must be an even number OR a multiple of 5. ---
**Author:** ![Chessic\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7c8e57/32.png) [@Chessic\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chessic_Sense)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2008, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-stuff-you-do-habitually-for-no-reason/478487/65 "2008-12-27T22:41:36Z")
You know how if you step on a crack, you break your mother’s back? I take that game to an extreme. When I walk, I can’t step on any crack or any imaginary line shooting out, at right angles, from any object in or beside my path. Walk past a line of cars? I avoid the cracks and imaginary lines coming out of the tires. Sometimes, the mirrors too. Forget stepping on the \*mentally continued) parking space lines. Trees, flower beds, pots, people’s previous steps, pillars, bike racks, anything. Everything has a line that comes out from any corner of it where it touches the ground (or is lined up appropriately). If I step on one, I feel a little dizzy and awkward. It makes walking very difficult. On [this](http://www.pismochamber.com/CityVision/StampedConcrete2.htm)sidewalk, I’d have to avoid stepping next to both ends of the gate, the signpost, light pole, and each and every brick pillar. ---
**Author:** ![Kat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b19c9b/32.png) [@Kat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kat)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2008, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-stuff-you-do-habitually-for-no-reason/478487/66 "2008-12-27T23:36:32Z")
> [@Skara\_Brae](#): > > I count to 8, over and over again when climbing stairs. I do this, too! It really sucks when the stairs don’t have a multiple of 8 steps. ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Nader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Darth\_Nader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Nader)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2008, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-stuff-you-do-habitually-for-no-reason/478487/67 "2008-12-27T23:56:42Z")
Once I get started cracking my knuckles, it’s ON, folks. Every joint in my hands, which is really a lot. Elbows. Shoulders. Neck. Sternum. Hips. Knees. Ankles. And then the the foot cracking begins. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2008, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-stuff-you-do-habitually-for-no-reason/478487/68 "2008-12-28T00:08:56Z")
> [@Darth\_Nader](#): > > Once I get started cracking my knuckles, it’s ON, folks. Every joint in my hands, which is really a lot. > Elbows. > Shoulders. > Neck. > Sternum. > Hips. > Knees. > Ankles. > And then the the foot cracking begins. I do this too when cracking. I do my knuckles (all three sets too) then my neck, then my knees, then my toes…all in a span of about 30 sec. Something I do when I am working by myself is I will replay conversations I have just had, however small and minute, in my head over and over again. Even word for word, about 5 or 6 times; and if I am really not paying attention I will catch myself mouthing out the words, so I look especially crazy. THEN I take that to an extreme and I will tweak the convo ever so slightly, I’ll say things I should have said/wanted to say and the like. It’s crazy but I do it ALL THE TIME throughout the ENTIRE DAY ---
**Author:** ![tumbleddown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9bcb4/32.png) [@tumbleddown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tumbleddown)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2008, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-stuff-you-do-habitually-for-no-reason/478487/69 "2008-12-28T00:57:22Z")
I double wet my toothbrush. I count when climbing stairs, but in fours, not eights. (I have 13 steps. It’s very frustrating.) I count other things, and count down things like red lights. (“This light will change in 10 - 9 - 8…” and it often works.) When I’m home alone and cooking, I narrate what I’m doing like I’m on the Food Network. My dog sits in the kitchen doorway and watches. I think he finds me as entertaining as Giada DeLaurentiis. (He loves Giada.) When I do things with/for my dog, I sing little songs about it. “We’re making pupper’s supper, he’s gonna have some yummy, we’re making pupper’s supper, he’s gonna have a nice full tummy.” Or “Let’s go out for a walk, walk, walk, we’ll take our walk, around the block, let’s go for our walk.” It keeps _him_ entertained, if nothing else. ---
**Author:** ![GameHat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ed655f/32.png) [@GameHat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GameHat)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2008, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-stuff-you-do-habitually-for-no-reason/478487/70 "2008-12-28T04:29:38Z")
I am constantly tapping out rhythms. Basically, if I’m not fully engaged in anything and this is something to tap on, well, it’s drumming time. This intensifies when I work in the lab. Set up a sample, have to let reaction run for 5 or 10 minutes - I’ll frequently grab something and start drumming on the lab bench. I’m not a drummer so my repertoire is a bit limited. I find the most common things I will tap out are an approximation of the [Amen Break](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_amen_break) and the classic newbie drummer exercise [“Paradiddle”](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rudiment) ---
**Author:** ![Diane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/2acd7d/32.png) [@Diane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diane)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2008, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-stuff-you-do-habitually-for-no-reason/478487/71 "2008-12-28T16:35:01Z")
I do the stairs/counting by 8 thing too. I think I picked it up in aerobic class a few years ago. I have this really bizarre alarm clock system that I have been doing for years. The clock is set 1 1/2 hours fast. The first alarm is set for 5:30 (which is really 4:00). I wake up and tell myself “Oh great, I still have an hour to sleep”, then I go back to sleep. I just like the feeling of knowing that I can go back to sleep because it isn’t time yet. The second alarm is set for 6:30 (which is really 5:00). This is when I get out of bed. 6:30 looks a lot better compared to 5:00. ---
**Author:** ![texasoysterman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/58956e/32.png) [@texasoysterman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/texasoysterman)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2008, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-stuff-you-do-habitually-for-no-reason/478487/72 "2008-12-28T16:49:09Z")
Whenever I get in the shower, I have to be naked. I know, I know. It’s just something I’ve done since I was a kid. I can’t help it. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2008, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-stuff-you-do-habitually-for-no-reason/478487/73 "2008-12-29T01:22:58Z")
> [@texasoysterman](#): > > Whenever I get in the shower, I have to be naked. > > I know, I know. It’s just something I’ve done since I was a kid. I can’t help it. Freak ---
**Author:** ![DarRRva](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/53a042/32.png) [@DarRRva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DarRRva)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2008, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-stuff-you-do-habitually-for-no-reason/478487/74 "2008-12-29T01:49:19Z")
> [@Rascal\_s\_Mom](#): > > I posted this in another thread a few weeks ago, but I have to start off, stepping, with my right foot. Even when, as I approach the steps at work I have to shuffle shuffle shuffle to make it work. Very weird and annoying. Similarly, I have to step inside bricks on paved footpaths. Like, I have to have my whole foot inside the square otherwise it makes me cringe ---
**Author:** ![Jennett](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f08c70/32.png) [@Jennett](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jennett)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2008, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-stuff-you-do-habitually-for-no-reason/478487/75 "2008-12-29T02:32:47Z")
> [@KnitWit](#): > > I am addicted to lip stuff. So sad. Me too! I can’t stand naked lips. ---
**Author:** ![1010011010](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/1/ea666f/32.png) [@1010011010](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/1010011010)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2008, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-stuff-you-do-habitually-for-no-reason/478487/76 "2008-12-29T03:15:33Z")
> [@Jolly\_Roger](#): > > Its weird, I know. I can’t help it though. I don’t think I had ever pooped in a public toilet prior to joining the Navy. I’ll usually plan on taking a shower afterward and, so, get naked before starting, but I don’t know that it’s compulsive so much as just being time saving. I _must_ have something to read, though. > [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > The clicking sound of a car’s turn signal sounds like a drum beat. When I’m at a stoplight, and I have my turn signal on, I invent songs in my head that use the “drum beat” from the turn signal. > [@Cluricaun](#): > > That’s hysterical, I do that too. Sometimes for the fast setting on the windshield wipers too. Oh yeah. It’s really bad when there’s another car and the period synchronizes. I blame electronic music. If possible I will try to set clocks accurate to the second. I have several radio controlled “atomic” clocks to reference for this purpose. Odd thing is I don’t usually wear a watch. ---
**Author:** ![Santo\_Rugger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@Santo\_Rugger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Santo_Rugger)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2008, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-stuff-you-do-habitually-for-no-reason/478487/77 "2008-12-29T04:40:40Z")
> [@olivesmarch4th](#): > > I often blow on my food before I eat it. Even salad. I think it’s because I usually eat hot things. So in rare cases I’m not eating something hot, I forget. > [@Alessan](#): > > I always sniff milk before I pour it. > [@Cluricaun](#): > > When people I don’t like or that I find unattractive walk past me while indoors I exhale when their “wind” hits me because I don’t want to breathe in their nasty humors or something. I do the opposite for people that I do like or that I find attractive. I have no idea when this started or why I do it. > [@Flander](#): > > I compulsively pace while on the cell phone. Like walking around the yard, or the middle of the road, or even better, if I’m on a tile floor, I have to move like a knight in chess. Back and forth throughout the tile floored room, only in that fashion. The tile floor thing isn’t limited to phone calls. Anytime I’m on a tile floor, it’s the same. > [@CaerieD](#): > > I’d mentioned this in another thread a few days ago: I highlight obsessively when I’m online. As I was going through this thread, reading all of the posts, I caught myself highlighting **olivesmarch4th** ’s post. I had no intention of quoting her or copying that post. I just. Had. To. _Highlight_. I do all those things. Maybe we’re not as weird as we think we are. 😃 > [@Trocisp](#): > > When walking down the sidewalk, I must equalize the number of left foot-right foot walking over cracks that I do. I must also equalize the pattern. > [@texasoysterman](#): > > Whenever I get in the shower, I have to be naked. If you shower with your clothes on, it shows you’re crazy. If you shower with your clothes off, it shows your nuts. ---
**Author:** ![GrizzRich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/7ba0ec/32.png) [@GrizzRich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrizzRich)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2008, 7:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-stuff-you-do-habitually-for-no-reason/478487/78 "2008-12-29T07:51:03Z")
When I order a soft drink in a restaurant, I will remove the straw that the server has put in it. If they GIVE me a straw, I’ll unwrap it and put into my drink; only to immediately remove it an place it on the table. I may, though, use it to stir my iced tea to dissolve the sweetener. I just DON’T drink through a straw unless my drink has a lid on it. ---
**Author:** ![Jaglavak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/85f322/32.png) [@Jaglavak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jaglavak)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2008, 10:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-stuff-you-do-habitually-for-no-reason/478487/79 "2008-12-29T10:46:42Z")
Every weekday I get up in the morning and put on warm durable clothing. Then I walk out the door to a place where I trade aggravation for money. Nobody knows why. ---
**Author:** ![Tabby\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Tabby\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tabby_Cat)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2008, 11:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-stuff-you-do-habitually-for-no-reason/478487/80 "2008-12-29T11:05:39Z")
I drag my hands along the wall or other surface when I’m walking. Like I’m reassuri g myskef that the wall is indeed still there. I hve no idea why I do it, it’s subconscious at this point. Sometimes ms. Mouse will catch me doing it, and I’ll have no idea I was! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-stuff-you-do-habitually-for-no-reason/478487.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-stuff-you-do-habitually-for-no-reason/478487.md?page=5)