# What pointless things do you do just because? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 12, 2026, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-pointless-things-do-you-do-just-because/1033791 "2026-10-12T20:39:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2026, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-pointless-things-do-you-do-just-because/1033791/21 "2026-10-13T16:31:47Z")
My maternal grandmother, for reasons known only to her, pronounced “window” as “windle.” Though Mrs. H never met her, she and I still refer to windows as “windles,” for the lulz. Also, whenever I hear someone say “diabetes,” I always go to my Wilfred Brimley voice and say “di-a-BEET-us.” ---
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2026, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-pointless-things-do-you-do-just-because/1033791/22 "2026-10-13T16:50:03Z")
I must be related to a cat, because I do this sometimes when I sit down ---
**Author:** ![Briny\_Deep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/briny_deep/32/17188_2.png) [@Briny\_Deep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Briny_Deep)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2026, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-pointless-things-do-you-do-just-because/1033791/23 "2026-10-13T17:35:25Z")
Because I am 12, I say it like Scott Malkinson on South Park, with an adenoidal lisp. _Don’t make fun of my diabetethe, athhole._ To answer the OP – so many tiny things on the computer that are essentially just superstition and magic, which must be infuriating for actual smart people to watch. Ex. when I refresh a pivot table, one and only one cell must be selected, or else scary bad things could happen. I’ve got a million, many of them even more embarrassing than liking South Park. ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2026, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-pointless-things-do-you-do-just-because/1033791/24 "2026-10-13T17:40:52Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > I’m fussy about FIFO use of my kitchen stuff. I do this, too. In fact I have pretty much the same organization system for my coffee mugs. And I do the same thing with clothes. When I do laundry the freshly washed shirts get put away at the back of the closet, and any shirts remaining get pushed forward. When I get dressed I take whatever shirt is at the head of the queue. Similarly for jeans / tshirts / underwear / socks, I pull the remaining items out of the dresser drawer, put the freshly laundered items on the bottom, and then place the others on top. For clothing it doesn’t quite feel as pointless. Besides insuring that everything wears out at the same rate (I started doing this decades ago when I discovered a couple of pairs of underwear at the bottom of the drawer that looked like they’d hardly been worn), it also means I barely have to put any thought into what I’m going to wear. This shirt and pants are at the head of the queue, so that’s what I’m wearing today. ETA: Should have read the rest of the thread before posting. I see others do this, too. ---
**Author:** ![moes\_lotion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ba0ec/32.png) [@moes\_lotion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moes_lotion)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2026, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-pointless-things-do-you-do-just-because/1033791/25 "2026-10-13T17:48:49Z")
I’m also in the FIFO camp, but just for cutlery, plates,bowls, cups and saucers. Because there are usually just my wife and I, we would be constantly using only 2 or 4 of each item over and over again. With FIFO the wear and tear gets distributed more evenly. ---
**Author:** ![moes\_lotion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ba0ec/32.png) [@moes\_lotion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moes_lotion)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2026, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-pointless-things-do-you-do-just-because/1033791/26 "2026-10-13T17:54:21Z")
> [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > There seem to be other instances where I can’t help bursting into song, another of which is any time I hear the word “Oklahoma.” Then I have to sing the final chorus (including O-K–L-A-H-O-M-A) all the way to the end. There is a tiny hamlet named Yelverton that we occasionally drive through, and each time my wife and I sing (to the tune of “Oh, Little Town of Bethlehem”) “Oh little town of YELVERTON, how still you sleep TONIGHT” where the capitalized words are sung as loudly as possible. ---
**Author:** ![JohnGalt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johngalt/32/184_2.png) [@JohnGalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnGalt)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2026, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-pointless-things-do-you-do-just-because/1033791/27 "2026-10-13T18:06:56Z")
When I walk the dog, I keep an eye out for unusual things that are next to the sidewalk, like a pair of sunglasses or a kid’s toy that got dropped. I’ll pick it up and set in a more prominent place, to make it more noticeable in case someone is looking for it. One time I found a barred owl’s feather. Since it’s a bird of prey, it’s illegal to own the feather. In that case I picked it up and stuck it in a crack in an adjoining retaining wall, so others can see it without it blowing away in the wind. It was there for about three weeks before it disappeared. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_stainless_steel_rat/32/5727_2.png) [@The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Stainless_Steel_Rat)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2026, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-pointless-things-do-you-do-just-because/1033791/28 "2026-10-13T18:16:28Z")
I play Spider Solitaire on my Computer…a lot. And I mean _a lot_. But I also track my wins and losses and calculate every 25 games what my overall win percentage is-not that I need too, it started as a one-off and now is a habit I find hard to break. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2026, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-pointless-things-do-you-do-just-because/1033791/29 "2026-10-13T19:09:56Z")
> [@JohnGalt](#): > > I’ll pick it up and set in a more prominent place, to make it more noticeable in case someone is looking for it. As a person who constantly loses things, bless you. ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2026, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-pointless-things-do-you-do-just-because/1033791/30 "2026-10-13T19:59:27Z")
> [@moes\_lotion](#): > > sing (to the tune of “Oh, Little Town of Bethlehem”) “Oh little town of YELVERTON, how still you sleep TONIGHT” Each and every time I read or hear the word ‘peculiar’, I sing, usually quite loudly, ‘How Peculiar!’ to the tune of the _Hallelujah Chorus_. ---
**Author:** ![Al128](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/al128/32/16541_2.png) [@Al128](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Al128)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2026, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-pointless-things-do-you-do-just-because/1033791/31 "2026-10-13T20:00:43Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > I organize my ordinary hanging clothes like shirts and pants into broad categories (e.g. short or long legs or sleeves) and store each category FIFO. To get dressed I pick a style or color I feel like today from near the FIFO oldest e.g. long pants category, then pick the FIFO oldest suitable shirt from its category. So sorta FIFO lite. When I find a couple of [whatevers] are stuck as barnacles being perpetually skipped over at the FIFO oldest end of a category queue, that’s my clue to donate / trash them. does your **daily-dressing-up-fifo-garment-wear-levelling-algorithm** compensate for quality of garments (e.g. H&M vs. Brooks Brothers) ? I can def. see value in adding one more layer of variables into the decision-mix, just to elevate it from “nice, but still pretty basic” to “somewhat sophisticated” … 😉 . FWIW, my algorithm is to sniff yesterday’s garments and quite often settle on “_that’s good for at least another day_” ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2026, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-pointless-things-do-you-do-just-because/1033791/32 "2026-10-13T21:30:40Z")
> [@Railer13](#): > > Each and every time I read or hear the word ‘peculiar’, I sing, usually quite loudly, ‘How Peculiar!’ to the tune of the _Hallelujah Chorus_. Well now so do I, I guess! I’m never getting that out of my head. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2026, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-pointless-things-do-you-do-just-because/1033791/33 "2026-10-14T21:20:04Z")
> [@Eric1](#): > > Walking is fun all right! No one else in my neighborhood likes to walk around but ambling is really my thing! I used to be an amblin man myself. But as the years have piled up I’ve noticed I don’t generally do better than a mosey anymore. ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2026, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-pointless-things-do-you-do-just-because/1033791/34 "2026-10-14T21:38:17Z")
I save the wrapper of every stick of chewing gum I open, so that later I can wrap the chewed gum before throwing it in the trash, so that it doesn’t end up on the ground for someone to step in, or ground into the rug, or cause any problems for whoever is handling the trash if it somehow spills or gets loose. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2026, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-pointless-things-do-you-do-just-because/1033791/35 "2026-10-14T21:51:52Z")
I’m down to a shamble… ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2026, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-pointless-things-do-you-do-just-because/1033791/36 "2026-10-14T22:06:36Z")
I saw a supposedly funny card. The illustration was an old couple walking together with the man holding a leash. The other end was attached to a turtle walking ahead of them. She’s saying “Don’t let him pull. He’s got to learn to walk at our pace.” I don’t resemble that remark. Yet. Hope I won’t for a long time. We’ll see. ---
**Author:** ![LavenderMagnolia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/2bfe46/32.png) [@LavenderMagnolia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LavenderMagnolia)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2026, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-pointless-things-do-you-do-just-because/1033791/37 "2026-10-15T16:00:11Z")
> It was bunk then and is still bunk now. I think my brother had to started to visit websites that our parents would not approve of, and telling me to copy a space (to make the computer run faster) was ensuring that nothing from those sites was still on the clipboard. Haha. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2026, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-pointless-things-do-you-do-just-because/1033791/38 "2026-10-15T18:35:15Z")
> [@moes\_lotion](#): > > > [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > > > There seem to be other instances where I can’t help bursting into song, another of which is any time I hear the word “Oklahoma.” Then I have to sing the final chorus (including O-K–L-A-H-O-M-A) all the way to the end. > > There is a tiny hamlet named Yelverton that we occasionally drive through, and each time my wife and I sing (to the tune of “Oh, Little Town of Bethlehem”) “Oh little town of YELVERTON, how still you sleep TONIGHT” where the capitalized words are sung as loudly as possible. When the local NPR station does their station ID and rattles off all the call letters for the stations in the Kansas Public Radio network, when they get to the station for the town of Chanute I always have to say “Sha-NOOT!” the way they used to say “Sa-LUTE!” on Hee-Haw. ---
**Author:** ![Die\_Capacitrix](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/die_capacitrix/32/9_2.png) [@Die\_Capacitrix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Die_Capacitrix)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2026, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-pointless-things-do-you-do-just-because/1033791/39 "2026-10-16T17:49:25Z")
I get old theme songs stuck in my head. If it’s the Flintstones, I have to say, “Wilma!” at the appropriate time. ---
**Author:** ![mixdenny](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mixdenny/32/2962_2.png) [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2026, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-pointless-things-do-you-do-just-because/1033791/40 "2026-10-16T17:52:00Z")
> [@The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](#): > > I play Spider Solitaire on my Computer…a lot. And I mean _a lot_. But I also track my wins and losses and calculate every 25 games what my overall win percentage is-not that I need too, it started as a one-off and now is a habit I find hard to break. Doesn’t your game automatically keep statistics? The Microsoft version does. My win ratio is at 34% [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-pointless-things-do-you-do-just-because/1033791.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-pointless-things-do-you-do-just-because/1033791.md?page=3)