# Your Odd Compulsions, Please. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 14, 2005, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-odd-compulsions-please/290062 "2005-02-14T19:49:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![DeVena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dec6dc/32.png) [@DeVena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeVena)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2005, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-odd-compulsions-please/290062/21 "2005-02-14T22:15:45Z")
I eat one item at a time. Clockwise. What is directly in front of me is eaten first. Then I turn the plate upon finishing an item rather than just eating from a random pile of food. If there are other smaller dishes, they are dispensed with first. (My brother does the same thing, but he eats counter clockwise.) I always put my hashbrowns on my Egg McMuffin and eat them together. Sweettarts. You know, the tangy little multi-colored candies? I open it, spill out all the different colored tabs and then organize them according to the spectrum. Roy G Biv. I just can’t eat them all jumbled up. I don’t eat M&Ms at all. Too much chaos. Freud would have a field day with me. ---
**Author:** ![J8099](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c89c15/32.png) [@J8099](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/J8099)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2005, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-odd-compulsions-please/290062/22 "2005-02-14T22:19:10Z")
> [@lizardling](#): > > I have to hit the lock button on my car remote two or three times to make _absolutely_ sure that it’s locked. > > 1. Get out of car. > 2. Hit remote. > 3. Walk about 15 feet. > 4. “Did I lock it?” > 5. Hit remote. > 6. Walk about 10 more feet. > 7. “Did I lock it?” > 8. Hit remote. > 9. “Ahh, it’s locked for sure now!” > 10. … > 11. Profit! I have the same problem–except for me, it’s my front door. I’ll go back four or five times just to make sure it’s locked. ---
**Author:** ![cuauhtemoc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecb155/32.png) [@cuauhtemoc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cuauhtemoc)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2005, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-odd-compulsions-please/290062/23 "2005-02-15T00:17:55Z")
When eating pizza, I eat the crust first, then remove half the cheese, and only eat it after I’ve eaten the rest of the slice. When eating a sandwich, I remove just a bite of the meat, cheese, or whatever, and again, I eat it only after I’ve eaten the rest of the sandwich. I think it has something to do with saving a little bit of the good part for last, so I have something to look forward to while I eat the most substantial part of the food item. Kind of a little dessert. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2005, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-odd-compulsions-please/290062/24 "2005-02-15T00:22:06Z")
> [@Stranger On A Train](#): > > Yeah, I know (although you can occasionally get real “chips” here as well) but I’ve always hated the term “French Fries”. It’s not the idiotic French/Freedom Fries thing–it just _sounds_ harmonically discordant, and “fries” by themselves sounds…greasy. “Chips” is just more succinct, unostentatious, direct. And most people grasp what I mean, even if it is a bit off. Well I don’t call them _French Fries_ either, just fries. > [@Stranger On A Train](#): > > And nah, I ain’t no Limey. 🙂 But between my precocious childhood reading, my baby sitter, and the fact that of the two and a half television stations we could get one was PBS with liberal showings of “Monty Python’s Flying Circus”, “Dr. Who”, and “Mystery”, I picked up the argot aptly, including an annoying tendency to pronounce “schedule” with a soft “ch”. :eek: You got to watch Monty Python on TV? You lucky dog, you. > [@Stranger On A Train](#): > > Better watch it, or I’ll start talking like Billy Bob Thornton in “Sling Blade”. “Ah recon ah’ll have a some of them french fried tators, mmm-huh.” > > Stranger Actually I find the English accent quite hot, it’s just the chips/fries thing that drives me crazy. Another eccentricity, I guess. So none of Billy bob Thorton, please! ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2005, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-odd-compulsions-please/290062/25 "2005-02-15T00:33:30Z")
> [@Maastricht](#): > > [This classic seven-page thread “Odd Little Habits You Have”](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=41543) got me hooked to SDMB. Never before had I met so many shower-sitters, compulsive readers, everything on the side-eaters and heartwarmingly-no-odder-then-myself-people in one place. Shower sitter? Like sitting in the tub and just letting the water hit you for fifteen minutes because you’re tired or sleepy and need a bath but don’t have the energy for anything more intensive? I thought I was the only one. Oh, frabjuous day. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2005, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-odd-compulsions-please/290062/26 "2005-02-15T01:01:32Z")
> [@J8099](#): > > I have the same problem–except for me, it’s my front door. I’ll go back four or five times just to make sure it’s locked. I don’t lock my front door. Not even when I leave. Well, OK, if I’m gonna be gone for days and days, sometimes. But mostly, I leave it unlocked. ---
**Author:** ![Sunshine\_and\_Smiles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a5b964/32.png) [@Sunshine\_and\_Smiles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunshine_and_Smiles)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2005, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-odd-compulsions-please/290062/27 "2005-02-15T01:21:11Z")
I don’t really know how to explain this. When riding in a car, I won’t take a breath if lined up with a telephone pole, sign, mailbox, etc. I don’t know why. This results in some short breaths and some reallll long ones. I also tend to apply this to walking, where I can’t step in line with anything. When chewing gum, I divide the gum into two pieces in my mouth, then chew on both sides. I always swallow gum, rather than spit it out. ---
**Author:** ![buns3000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c89c15/32.png) [@buns3000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buns3000)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2005, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-odd-compulsions-please/290062/28 "2005-02-15T02:41:01Z")
> [@J8099](#): > > I have the same problem–except for me, it’s my front door. I’ll go back four or five times just to make sure it’s locked. I also have this problem. Also, when I’ve pulled it shut, I will stand there pushing it a few times to make sure it is shut properly and isn’t going to suddenly pop open. I also go back to check I’ve locked the car, even though I’ve never gone back to find I didn’t lock it. I have a mild hand-washing thing going on and one or two other O/C habits that are too embarrassing to mention here. ---
**Author:** ![RancidYakButterTeaParty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/53a042/32.png) [@RancidYakButterTeaParty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RancidYakButterTeaParty)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2005, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-odd-compulsions-please/290062/29 "2005-02-15T03:02:44Z")
> [@Sunshine and Smiles](#): > > When chewing gum, I divide the gum into two pieces in my mouth, then chew on both sides. I always swallow gum, rather than spit it out. I am a gum swallower too! I guess I didn’t think of that as being compulsive though. Is it? ---
**Author:** ![x-ray\_vision](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/x-ray_vision/32/351_2.png) [@x-ray\_vision](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/x-ray_vision)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2005, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-odd-compulsions-please/290062/30 "2005-02-15T03:09:15Z")
When there is a phone number displayed on a television commercial, I have to add up the numbers until I get a one digit number. I have to add them up forward, then backwards, then starting somewhere else and continue until the commercial’s over. Oh, and when it adds up to nine, I win. 😕 ---
**Author:** ![unclviny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e274bd/32.png) [@unclviny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/unclviny)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2005, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-odd-compulsions-please/290062/31 "2005-02-15T03:24:52Z")
Hello fellow freak-o’s!, With me it’s almost all about the cigarettes: 1. If I go to the store and they don’t have my brand IN A FLIP-TOP BOX!! I go to another store. 2. When I put a pack in my pocket they MUST be oriented properly!, the “opening” side of the box must be facing away from my body and my lighter must be in an upright position next to the pack. 3. When I set them down orientation is everything!, they MUST be “right side up” (“opening” side up and pointing away from me so that I can read the label) and my lighter goes on top of the pack with the little “gas button” facing to the left and the lighter must be aligned with the pack (no wacky sideways lighters for me!). Why yes I’m single, why do you ask? Unclviny ---
**Author:** ![tripthicket](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripthicket/32/297_2.png) [@tripthicket](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tripthicket)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2005, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-odd-compulsions-please/290062/32 "2005-02-15T04:22:13Z")
Well, lemme see… When I talk on my cordless phone at home, I _always_ roam throughout the house, from one end to the other, back and forth, going into most of the rooms. I take my canned soft drink out of the fridge and put it into the freezer before I start to drink it, leaving it there for about 30-45 minutes. I like it _cold_. Halfway through the same drink, I will stick it back in the freezer for a while, to get it very cold again. Putting the drink into a glass with ice isn’t the same. Wallet goes into the right back pocket. Keys into the left front pocket. Other items (change, chapstick, pen, etc) go into the right front pocket. The left back pocket holds the checkbook on those rare occasions I carry it, or I might put papers such as receipts there until I get home. This is the way things are meant to be. I’m a doodler on the phone (work phone, or other stationary phone). I also doodle in training classes or meetings. When I’m in an extended ‘doodle-rich’ situation, I’m likely to do anything (being a fair untrained sketch artist), but when it’s during a brief phone conversation, I always doodle the same thing. As a side note, I will ‘check’ pens when I’m about to use them by doodling this same thing on scratch paper. I’ve gotten to where I cannot stand a shirt that touches the part of me where the front of my neck meets my collarbones. How it feels is hard to describe, but it’s a very short period of time before the urge to **GET IT OFF ME** is overpowering. Lately I’ve developed the bad habit of jumping to the end of a book to read the last chapter after I’ve only read a few of the first chapters. I’m a finger-drummer. I drum on everything: steering wheel, knees, books I’m holding, desk near the keyboard, kitchen counter, stomach, anything. Usually it’s to some rhythm or other, heard with my ears or remembered in my head, rather than the impatient kind. When I was younger and did more walking, I would close my eyes as I was stepping off a curb to cross a street, and when I stepped up on the opposite curb. Of course, I was careful to avoid traffic, and kept my eyes open while I was crossing the street. The game was that the curbs were markers for imaginary walls. Cars in the street were the enemy, and if they drew abreast of me while I was in the street, they ‘killed’ me. Closing my eyes was the symbol for my becoming intangible and passing through the walls that kept cars from ‘attacking’ people on the sidewalks. I don’t do it anymore, but I almost always think of it as I step over curbs. I think that’s quite enough for now. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![buncombe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@buncombe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buncombe)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2005, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-odd-compulsions-please/290062/33 "2005-02-15T05:02:29Z")
I count syllables. In song lyrics, in conversations with others, all the time. My friends hate it when I do this because apparently I get a freaky zoned-out look on my face, but that’s actually usually because I’ve hit an especially high number… Wow, people talk a LOT. ---
**Author:** ![Lyllyan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b2d939/32.png) [@Lyllyan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lyllyan)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2005, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-odd-compulsions-please/290062/34 "2005-02-15T06:11:06Z")
I am also a counter - but especially with clock chimes - I always have to count the number of chimes to make sure it is correct. I hold my breath as much as possible when out in a crowded place. It is a standard joke around my family that when in public I don’t breathe, and I turn off my eyes and ears. I always note all available exits where ever I am. ---
**Author:** ![Cyros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a698b9/32.png) [@Cyros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cyros)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2005, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-odd-compulsions-please/290062/35 "2005-02-15T06:33:10Z")
I also eat one item at a time. Usually, I eat from least to most favoured item. I cannot sleep without earplugs, regardless of the situation. I obsessively clean out my sent and deleted email. Pretty much after every message sent / received. I get antsy if I leave it alone. I also have the (sometimes uncontrollable) urge to clean out spouse’s sent and deleted. I only lock my doors when I go to sleep at night. When I’m out, they’re always unlocked. I lock my car door when it makes no sense (spouse in car, parked in my mother’s rural driveway). /Ms Cyros ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2005, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-odd-compulsions-please/290062/36 "2005-02-15T12:48:20Z")
I’ve got one, that i just noticed myself doing this morning. Whenever I cut into a head of iceberg lettuce, I have a certain way of doing it. I like the center best, but you have to eat the outside, too. So I always cut traingular-shaped wedges into the lettuce, and pry out the whole wedge. This way I get the sweet inside I like. My SO thinks this is nutty. I am also the only person I have ever met who will eat a bell pepper like an apple. I suppose that isn’t really a compulsion, but still. ---
**Author:** ![CandidGamera](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/candidgamera/32/2878_2.png) [@CandidGamera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CandidGamera)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2005, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-odd-compulsions-please/290062/37 "2005-02-15T14:01:39Z")
I’m a one-thing-at-a-time eater as well, and the order I eat in is from the least favorite item on the plate to the most favorite. Gotta save the best for last. ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2005, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-odd-compulsions-please/290062/38 "2005-02-15T14:06:34Z")
> [@QuickSilver](#): > > I park my car at the end of the row and far from all the other cars (if I can help it) to avoid getting dings and scrapes. But it still happens. The fuckers are out to get me! I have always parked my cars ( from the nearly mini up to a Suburban) straddling the parking spots lines. I feel that the force field-nature of the lines is a myth and does not prevent shopping carts, door-dings and general butthead drivers from hitting my car. You are correct, **quicksilver** they are out to get you. Oh, and I always lift my feet when I drive over a railroad track. It’s just bad luck. ---
**Author:** ![xbuckeye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9e8a1a/32.png) [@xbuckeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xbuckeye)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2005, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-odd-compulsions-please/290062/39 "2005-02-15T14:11:17Z")
Oohhhh!! Pick me! I _have_ to touch the corners of things as I walk past them (desks, doorways, walls, etc.) so I don’t run into them. Not that I would run into them, but I might and it might hurt. I can’t leave a beverage partially drunk. It must be finished! I don’t care if I am not thirsty, if it is cold/warm when it is supposed to be warm/cold, if all the ice has melted and the beverage is nothing but slightly flavored water, if it has been sitting out overnight, etc. The only place I can do this is with someone elses beverage in a public place. All the unfinished drinks at bars and restaraunts drive me nuts! Oh yeah, I am a candy sorter too. And colored wrapped candies (like holiday Hershey’s Kisses) must be eaten in this way. Take the number of candies you intend to eat and set them somewhere. Eat them in an order that leaves the most evenly distributed color combination possible. The first wrapper must be wadded up, each following wrapper must be wrapped around the original wrapper with the colored side only showing. I have to touch three things before I leave a place, my wallet, my keys, my cell phone. If I don’t, I just don’t feel right about leaving. If I ever forget one of these things, my day just isn’t right. And when I make a typo or a misspelling, I cannot click on the wrong word and change it, I have to delete everything back to it using the backspace key and fix it. I feel so much better ---
**Author:** ![DeVena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dec6dc/32.png) [@DeVena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeVena)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2005, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-odd-compulsions-please/290062/40 "2005-02-15T14:16:06Z")
And another thing. Do. Not. Touch. My. Monitor. Screen. Don’t even think about it. Yes, it may be incredibly important to you to draw my attention to a single spot, but you do not have to leave greasy fingerprints to do it. Use a pencil or whatever but Don’t Touch My Screen!! Do you know how long it takes me to clean it? Excuse me. I now have clean, rinse and buff my screen. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-odd-compulsions-please/290062.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-odd-compulsions-please/290062.md?page=3)