# Your unique and surprisingly not behavior **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 5, 2012, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-unique-and-surprisingly-not-behavior/633712 "2012-09-05T04:47:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![moejoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de053/32.png) [@moejoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moejoe)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2012, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-unique-and-surprisingly-not-behavior/633712/41 "2012-09-07T15:39:23Z")
> [@August\_West](#): > > I do this. But not with random cars, only ones that are a little erratic or set off my “spidey sense”. > > I haven’t had the opportunity to use my observations, either. I do this with random people on the street. I observe them until I could give a perfect description to the police, and then I memorize the time of the activity because that will probably be helpful to the investigation. ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2012, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-unique-and-surprisingly-not-behavior/633712/42 "2012-09-07T17:59:56Z")
> [@Wheelz](#): > > Overweight men who like to wear nice pants are nitwits? Surely some of them are. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2012, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-unique-and-surprisingly-not-behavior/633712/43 "2012-09-07T18:03:25Z")
> [@JackieLikesVariety](#): > > I think people who read a lot frequently imagine narration in their daily life. > > lately I have been doing this but instead of Abe, I explain things to [LeBeau](http://travsd.wordpress.com/2012/03/01/bon-anniversaire-robert-clary/) from Hogan’s Heroes. > > it’s hard to distract him from wanting to neck with me, however. Not Abe Lincoln or LeBeau, but I do sometimes pretend I am escorting various characters from various shows/movies/books around. ---
**Author:** ![Soylent\_Juicy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/82dd89/32.png) [@Soylent\_Juicy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soylent_Juicy)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2012, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-unique-and-surprisingly-not-behavior/633712/44 "2012-09-07T19:06:01Z")
I think in Internet memes and then giggle out loud at the funnies I’ve created in my head. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/74df32/32.png) [@The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Devil_s_Grandmother)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2012, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-unique-and-surprisingly-not-behavior/633712/45 "2012-09-07T20:02:02Z")
I talk to myself when grocery shopping (I’m usually trying to do math in my head, which I’m not very good at) and while driving (usually having debates with my imaginary friends). My boyfriend and I are always going on about how whichever one of us does first is going to be made in BBQ for the other, as we’re both so tasty. It’s funny to us, but I should imagine our friends think we’re a little odd. ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2012, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-unique-and-surprisingly-not-behavior/633712/46 "2012-09-07T22:44:17Z")
I don’t think I am the only one that does this but I always get weird looks when I do it. When taking a pill, I always get my mouth half full of water first, tilt my head, open mouth, drop pills, and gulp. When I was a kid, Mom gave me an aspirin, and the dang thing dissolved on my tongue before I could drink water and swallow and it seemed like it was hours before I got rid of that nasty taste. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2012, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-unique-and-surprisingly-not-behavior/633712/47 "2012-09-08T13:11:24Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > I sometimes pretend I’m escorting Abraham Lincoln through the 21st Century, explaining all the new stuff to him. He hates traffic and all the noise, but loves fluorescent lighting and the way women are dressed. Computers are just magic to him. I do this with Ben Franklin and Thomas Jefferson. ---
**Author:** ![ducati](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/cc9497/32.png) [@ducati](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ducati)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2012, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-unique-and-surprisingly-not-behavior/633712/48 "2012-09-08T15:07:25Z")
I like my tea cold. Ice cold. Since most restaurants brew it, it’s warm when they put it in the urn/dispenser and cools to room temperature eventually. I tried asking for a lot of ice for a while, but it never works. Every single w/w just scoops some in the glass, fills with warm tea, and the ice starts melting immediately. I hate that. Now, I always ask for a glass of iced tea, and a glass of ice. I’ll drink some, add ice, and repeat until the glass is full of ice, making my tea colder faster. Or I’ll just pour the tea into the full glass of ice. There’s not a formula for making that decision. That would be silly. I also imitate a sea slug or banana slug, but just on Saturday mornings while This Old House is on. I could also be a cactus or a petunia for that matter. They all look the same on the sofa. ---
**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:** [September 8, 2012, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-unique-and-surprisingly-not-behavior/633712/49 "2012-09-08T15:14:49Z")
I thought I was the only person in the world who ate one thing at a time (used to give my mom fits). But I took it a step further: I wouldn’t let the different foods touch on my plate. At one point, I was so obsessive about it that I would have each food in its own bowl, but then Dr. Albracht put me on these little white pills… ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2012, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-unique-and-surprisingly-not-behavior/633712/50 "2012-09-08T15:18:43Z")
I almost never get to do it any more because I almost never go to the movies alone or in small groups any more, but I used to assess whether a movie felt right-handed or left-handed (like a pitcher) so as to determine the best place in the auditorium to sit (as which side of the plate to bat from) to maximize the potential of enjoying the film (getting a hit). ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2012, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-unique-and-surprisingly-not-behavior/633712/51 "2012-09-09T13:10:56Z")
I was just saying the other day that the ‘Dope’ is the most concentrated collection of smart people I’ve ever found. This thread proves it’s the most concentrated collection of interesting people, too. I listen to audiobooks most of the day. Don’t need stereo, so I clean and cook and work with one earbud in. One reason I do that is without it I’m narrating – it was driving my family crazy. Because I don’t talk, I sing. Like a “sung through” light opera (think “Les Miz”). Even the most boring tasks are redeemed if they’re part of a stirring, funny musical… imagine cleaning the bathroom while singing like Jack Skellington when he sees Christmas for the first time, but all the lyrics are about an epic battle between the toilet brush and the Swiffer. Why, yes, the whole thing rhymes. Of course. So I wait til no one else is home, and sing to the dogs. At least they understand the value of a free musical-in-the-round. ---
**Author:** ![myskepticsight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cc9497/32.png) [@myskepticsight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/myskepticsight)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2012, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-unique-and-surprisingly-not-behavior/633712/52 "2012-09-10T00:18:09Z")
> [@notfrommensa](#): > > I don’t think I am the only one that does this but I always get weird looks when I do it. > > When taking a pill, I always get my mouth half full of water first, tilt my head, open mouth, drop pills, and gulp. > > When I was a kid, Mom gave me an aspirin, and the dang thing dissolved on my tongue before I could drink water and swallow and it seemed like it was hours before I got rid of that nasty taste. I do the same thing, because the exact same aspirin thing happened to me as a kid when I started getting headaches and I was just like ‘hell no’ and figured out the other way. **I** look at people funny when they lay pills on their tongue and then go for their drink - it doesn’t make sense! Those pills are sitting there DISSOLVING why are you doing that? ---
**Author:** ![NIKI50](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/958977/32.png) [@NIKI50](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NIKI50)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2012, 8:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-unique-and-surprisingly-not-behavior/633712/53 "2012-09-10T08:36:04Z")
This thread is exactly why I read the Dope. Love you guys! ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2012, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-unique-and-surprisingly-not-behavior/633712/54 "2012-09-10T12:27:03Z")
When I see something bright yellow, I’ll stare hard at it for a second and then look away. The purpose of this is to create the impression of a certain bright and lovely purple which is left in my eyeballs, and which I almost never see in real life. The best are yellow traffic lights. As a kid I read a book about a girl who got sent to Siberia with her family. Often when I’m walkign around the dollar store I’ll note gadgets and gizmos and just “stuff” which I’d want to take with me if I ever had to go. “Those pocket hand warmers coudl save me from frostbite in an emergency” Those cheap thin blankets would make great long underwear, and I coud quilt them together to keep warm at night. . ." ---
**Author:** ![jayrey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/47e85d/32.png) [@jayrey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayrey)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2012, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-unique-and-surprisingly-not-behavior/633712/55 "2012-09-10T16:20:02Z")
> [@NIKI50](#): > > This thread is exactly why I read the Dope. Love you guys! What he/she said. ---
**Author:** ![Becky2844](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@Becky2844](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Becky2844)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2012, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-unique-and-surprisingly-not-behavior/633712/56 "2012-09-11T22:14:42Z")
I caught this thread a little late but it’s interesting. So I was sitting here wondering what I do that nobody else does. I couldn’t think of anything and felt deflated. Then my husband walked by and I asked him if he knew of any…blah blah blah. In my _Deliverence_ voice. Whenever I mention things to people that mean a lot to me but I figure they don’t care anything about, I say it in a low, raspy “come here to me ya purty little thing, and squeel like a pig” kind of voice, thereby denigrating my stupid little need. _happy dance_ I AM weird! I always knew I was. I should amend this to say “…to family.” If I talked like that out in public I doubt that the produce guy at Winn Dixie would keep pointing out the good melons to me. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2012, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-unique-and-surprisingly-not-behavior/633712/57 "2012-09-11T22:57:27Z")
I walk through the Dollar Tree and plan a wedding! Really, everything is there - food, drink, decorations, invitations, flower arrangements. I’m on the fence about the wedding gown. I suppose I could whip one up out of tablecloths, shower curtains, jewelry bits, duct tape, and such (and I have seen such things, just stunning, online somewhere). Same for the bridesmaids. Maybe make some dresses out of the thousands of scarves… They have tiaras in the toy aisle, and wedding favors galore (and baskets to put them in). Even shoes, I could paint and decorate imitation crocs or flip flops white. Oh, and the wedding party will all get makeovers and hairstyles…The groom? Well…I’m not much of one for tailoring. I could make him a tunic and palazzo pants out of the tablecloths…maybe the groom will have to be on his own. ---
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2012, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-unique-and-surprisingly-not-behavior/633712/58 "2012-09-11T23:05:42Z")
Whenever I grab a bottle of water out of the refrigerator at work, I walk back to my office tossing/flipping it. I never think it’s weird until someone comments on it. I also tend to grab either a pen or a rubber band whenever I’m getting up to walk around the office so I have something to fidget with. Pens get flipped in the same manner as the water bottles. ---
**Author:** ![phouka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c5a1d2/32.png) [@phouka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phouka)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2012, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-unique-and-surprisingly-not-behavior/633712/59 "2012-09-12T01:18:10Z")
Sometimes, I put myself in charge of supplying a real world expedition to Middle Earth or other pre-Industrial fantasy realm. I give myself a budget - anywhere from $100,000 to $10,000,000 - and line up stuff my party will need and can’t get there (antibiotics, ball point pens) as well as things to trade with the natives (hair bands, paper clips, zippers). It fills the time when I’m waiting for an appointment. ---
**Author:** ![jackdavinci](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackdavinci/32/3259_2.png) [@jackdavinci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackdavinci)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2012, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-unique-and-surprisingly-not-behavior/633712/60 "2012-09-12T03:16:17Z")
> [@ducati](#): > > I like my tea cold. Ice cold. > Since most restaurants brew it, it’s warm when they put it in the urn/dispenser and cools to room temperature eventually. I like my tea hot. But I don’t like to burn my tongue or wait for it to cool. So I always scoop an ice cube or two from the water glass into the tea. I take pictures of things I want so I don’t have to buy them. I take pictures of things I have an attachment to so I can get rid of them. I mimic my turtles’ exact swimming motions so they will think they are controlling me or I am some kind of extension of their own bodies. When someone tries to hold a shouting conversation with me from another room I passive aggressively speak to them at a normal level do they can barely hear me and give up. Whenever I meet someone new I imagine what it would be like to marry them and spend the rest of my life with them. I practice being kind (or at least gentle) with inanimate objects so that it might carry over into my real social interactions. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-unique-and-surprisingly-not-behavior/633712.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-unique-and-surprisingly-not-behavior/633712.md?page=4)