What's your quirk?

[christina2706]

I was taking a shower, washing my hair, when I realized that I was washing my hair a second time. It wasn't especially dirty but I guess I've just made a habit of it.

So I'm curious, what's your little quirk?

[Exxxie]

I wash my hair twice as well! So I guess I'll steal your little quirk...

[christina2706]

I just remembered that I read magazines backwards. Well, kinda. I didn't even realize it until an ex-boyfriend pointed it out once because he thought it was cute. I always start on the last page and flip through. If I find an article that I want to read in full then I flip to the beginning of it and read it through.

[Charlesa1]

i'm always padding my pockets through out the day to see if my phone, keys, and wallet are there. lol

[m21]

I thought everybody washed their hair twice ? We've always done that.
A lot of bottles of shampoo even say "Rinse and repeat" on them.

My quirk is that I must do everything right hand side first.
Shave right side of face first, wash right leg first, right sock on first, right shoe on first, right leg in pants first, right arm in shirt first and dozens of other things right first.

I tried doing left first for one day, didn't even last 1 hour.
I'm right handed but don't know if that matters.

[christina2706]

Originally Posted by m21

I thought everybody washed their hair twice ? We've always done that.
A lot of bottles of shampoo even say "Rinse and repeat" on them.

Really? I had no idea you were actually supposed to. I haven't always and my hair felt perfectly clean before I started doing it. Hmm...

It just seems so unnecessary.

[wantsomefun]

Originally Posted by m21

My quirk is that I must do everything right hand side first.
Shave right side of face first, wash right leg first, right sock on first, right shoe on first, right leg in pants first, right arm in shirt first and dozens of other things right first.

I tried doing left first for one day, didn't even last 1 hour.
I'm right handed but don't know if that matters.

Now you made me think. I'm very left-sided. Left-handed, left-footed, left ear and eye have always been stronger, the works. I do everything right-side first too -- brushing my teeth, combing my hair, cuff buttons. I assumed that was because my dominant hand was doing the work.

You're completely correct about changing the way you do the mindless things of your day. If you have to think about them too much, it's frustrating.

[Lioness]

Pictures HAVE to hang straight and the toilet paper has to drape over the top...

[N.E. Woman]

When I'm reading a book.

I will be reading it, beginning to end, then skip to the last page to see how it ends, then flip back and continue reading it "normally" front to back.

NEW

[AZRIEL]

[tim929]

Originally Posted by Charlesa1

i'm always padding my pockets through out the day to see if my phone, keys, and wallet are there. lol

+1

I do that all the time too. I used to have several little quirks now I have just condensed them all down into one giant neurotic mess.

Since I am mostly bald I dont wash my hair more than once. I save a fortune on hair care products too since regualr soap is more than sufficient to do the job and conditioner would simply be a waste.

When I was younger, my older brothers thought it would be funny to hide in my closet and jump out and scare me one night. From that day until I was twenty one or twenty two I had to check my closets at leats twice befor I could go to bed.

When I put butter, mayo or whatever on bread I have to start from the top of the bread and work down and then left to right making sure that whatever I put on the bread is of even thickness and reaches all the way to the very edge.

I must always put my socks on befor I put on my pants (you thought I was going to say shoes, didnt you?)

The bills in my wallet must always be faced the same direction and in accending order of face value.

Whenever I go to a store or a reception desk of any kind where they have brochures on the counter, they must always be straightened up and neat. I have spent several minuets in some places making sure this task is done. And I MUST do it. If I dont I feel like I didnt complete my lifes work properly.

Im sure I could come up with more...but I dont feel like it right now.

[Lioness]

Originally Posted by N.E. Woman

When I'm reading a book.

I will be reading it, beginning to end, then skip to the last page to see how it ends, then flip back and continue reading it "normally" front to back.

NEW

That's cheating!!

[m21]

Originally Posted by christina2706

Really? I had no idea you were actually supposed to. I haven't always and my hair felt perfectly clean before I started doing it. Hmm...

It just seems so unnecessary.

I agree but it just something we've always done and like I said about the bottles even saying it.
I just put "shampoo instructions" into google to see what came up. First 4 results (and pictures) were saying "rinse and repeat".

Originally Posted by wantsomefun

Now you made me think. I'm very left-sided. Left-handed, left-footed, left ear and eye have always been stronger, the works. I do everything right-side first too -- brushing my teeth, combing my hair, cuff buttons. I assumed that was because my dominant hand was doing the work.

You're completely correct about changing the way you do the mindless things of your day. If you have to think about them too much, it's frustrating.

Strange you are left handed yet do everything right side first, I though it might be the opposite for left handed people.

Maybe it has something to do with the right hand side of our brains being the thinking side and the left hand side the memory storage side.

You should try doing it the opposite way, you'll find yourself automatically doing things right side first and literally having to force yourself to do left first.
If you're anything like me I ended up swearing at myself and calling myself names trying to last a while.

[m21]

Originally Posted by Lioness

Pictures HAVE to hang straight and the toilet paper has to drape over the top...

Noooooooooooo !!! Toilet roll paper MUST hang over the back.

[wantsomefun]

Originally Posted by Lioness

Pictures HAVE to hang straight and the toilet paper has to drape over the top...

Well, yeah!

Before they re-paved the street, this old building shook when big trucks went by. I used to have to straighten some paintings once a week, even the ones on double hooks.

If someone uses my bathroom and changes the toilet paper roll "incorrectly", I have to change it as soon as I see it.

At work, there are times when I'm doing three things at once. If I didn't have my quirky routines for getting stuff done, I'd fall apart. Lists with my own style of shorthand, my unique group of stylized checkmarks are the way I organize myself so I can adapt when things get chaotic. If someone fucks with that, it's an issue.

If you have normal motor skills, your signature looks pretty similar every time without you trying to make it that way. You don't think about the movements required to get out of your chair and go to the refrigerator for a drink -- you just do it.

I think our quirks are a result of the way we've learned to cope with the world combined with our individual bits of OCD.

[N.E. Woman]

Originally Posted by Lioness

That's cheating!!

I know I'm sorry, I'm just a sucker for HEA stories. I just want to make sure my favorite character makes it!

[Lioness]

Originally Posted by wantsomefun

Well, yeah!

Before they re-paved the street, this old building shook when big trucks went by. I used to have to straighten some paintings once a week, even the ones on double hooks.

If someone uses my bathroom and changes the toilet paper roll "incorrectly", I have to change it as soon as I see it.

At work, there are times when I'm doing three things at once. If I didn't have my quirky routines for getting stuff done, I'd fall apart. Lists with my own style of shorthand, my unique group of stylized checkmarks are the way I organize myself so I can adapt when things get chaotic. If someone fucks with that, it's an issue.

If you have normal motor skills, your signature looks pretty similar every time without you trying to make it that way. You don't think about the movements required to get out of your chair and go to the refrigerator for a drink -- you just do it.

I think our quirks are a result of the way we've learned to cope with the world combined with our individual bits of OCD.

I'd really like to hear about your organizing lists and systems since I'm always trying to find better ways to organize my To Do's. I'm always forgetting something. I know shorthand and often use it so no one can read what I've written.

The company I work for is VERY OCD even down to the order of how the biscuits are to be placed on the pan so even though I've never considered myself OCD, I do have some tendencies and I don't have to be embarrassed about them at work.

[Lioness]

Originally Posted by m21

Noooooooooooo !!! Toilet roll paper MUST hang over the back.

Noooooooo!!! Not on my toilet paper holder!!

Originally Posted by N.E. Woman

I know I'm sorry, I'm just a sucker for HEA stories. I just want to make sure my favorite character makes it!

What does HEA stand for?

That's one of my quirks...I never read the ending first; but...I used to peek to see what my Christmas presents were though...

[cijababe]

I always thought of myself as a chaotic sort of person, but am increasingly finding that not to be entirely the case. My mother is untidy and spontaneous, my father extremely methodical, so I'm a bit schizo anyway.

I take my mother shopping every week and find myself getting very bossy with her. I rarely take a list shopping but instead have a set route round the shop, and pick up what I need along the way. She takes a list and looks for things ad hoc, as they appear on the list. This often means going back for things several times, which can be tiring and/or irritating. She routinely puts things on the list that the shop doesn't sell and is always surprised when I point this out

Then the fun with packing - I realised recently that I like to pack neatly whereas she just throws everything in higgledy piggledy - I always find myself repacking as we go. I make it into a game and hope it entertains the till operators, but really - she just never learns, God bless her.

[meforyou]

Automatically - hair, all over wash, shave the necessary area, and a groin wash to finish. I always use my hands as squedgies to remove excess water before the towel is grabbed. It's a ritual.

[wrench24a]

All the paper money in my billfold has to be sorted
by denomination. 1's together,5's together,etc. and
the values have to be in order 1's-5's-10's and so
on.

[wantsomefun]

Originally Posted by wrench24a

All the paper money in my billfold has to be sorted
by denomination. 1's together,5's together,etc. and
the values have to be in order 1's-5's-10's and so
on.

Of course! Also, all bills must be facing the same way -- all fronts and tops in the same position.

@ Lioness -- I work in a large grocery story in the checkout area. We're given a printout of everyone on the schedule for the day, with their starting and ending times. From that, the morning supervisor is required to fill out a form, assigning everyone to a checkout lane, showing who follows whom. By law, our disability-access lanes must be kept open at all times, and minors are to be given a meal break at a certain point in their shift. We are required by corporate OCD SOP to use a yellow highligther to mark some things, black pen to write the bulk of what we are required to write, and red pen to make certain notations. I have my own series of marks I use on these forms to keep track of what I've done and to remind me of things I'm required to do at certain times. It's crude and largely illegible to most people, but it works for me.

The pace pf my work can be extremely hectic, I'm constantly being summoned from one end of the checkout area to another, and I must frequently run to the far corners of the building to check things, find things, or return perishable items customers bring to the front but then decide not to buy. I often walk over five miles in an eight-hour shift (several of us wore pedometers for a while), while supervising a crew of thirty-some employees, many of whom are young kids, and dealing with well over a thousand customers, some of whom are far more immature than the worst of the kids!

If I don't have my lists, I'm in major trouble.

[teddies!!!]

Light switches. If I'm turning the lights off all the light switches have to be in the same possition. if it can't be done it don't bother me but I'd give it a good shot first. Only one quirk of many

[wantsomefun]

Originally Posted by teddies!!!

Light switches. If I'm turning the lights off all the light switches have to be in the same possition. if it can't be done it don't bother me but I'd give it a good shot first. Only one quirk of many

I actually re-installed a few light switches in the "dream" house we built twenty years ago. There were some multi-switch installations, and I turned some switches around so that when all the lights were off, all the switches were down. My wife thought I was nuts, but she didn't let lights on all over the place after that!

[Furred Goddess]

When I am writing stories or my novel, I have to have a cigarette in my lips (doesn't have to be lit) and a pot of black coffee. For some reason, the cigarette destroys my writer's block.

[CS natureboy]

[richief]

Originally Posted by m21

I thought everybody washed their hair twice ? We've always done that.
A lot of bottles of shampoo even say "Rinse and repeat" on them.

My quirk is that I must do everything right hand side first.
Shave right side of face first, wash right leg first, right sock on first, right shoe on first, right leg in pants first, right arm in shirt first and dozens of other things right first.

I tried doing left first for one day, didn't even last 1 hour.
I'm right handed but don't know if that matters.

One of the great marketing successes of the 60s, how to double your sales overnight, put rinse and repeat on the bottle.

Quirks.

I talk to myself, lots,
I dip the clutch before starting my car even though I have checked it is not in gear.
I talk to my food as it is cooking.
And I have a thing for a sexy Texan.

[Themis]

I MUST roll over at least 3 times before going to sleep,
I have "locdots" on all my appliances ( So I can use them in the dark ).
Cash ( when I carry it ) in my wallet must be folded in half lengthwise.

And a few more, mostly from living with a blind partner, though most are more habits I suppose.

[x__orion]

Originally Posted by richief

I dip the clutch before starting my car even though I have checked it is not in gear.

Doesn't everyone? Hell, the Passat I drive requires the clutch to be pushed for the engine to even start!

[umpire2]

Originally Posted by christina2706

I was taking a shower, washing my hair, when I realized that I was washing my hair a second time. It wasn't especially dirty but I guess I've just made a habit of it.

So I'm curious, what's your little quirk?

I lust after cute women in Mexico. Weird, huh?

[black-raven]

I divide my candy into their colours and then eat the ones that there are more of until they are all even... and then in order of the ones I like the least, to the ones I like the most.

[N.E. Woman]

Originally Posted by Lioness

What does HEA stand for?

That's one of my quirks...I never read the ending first; but...I used to peek to see what my Christmas presents were though...

Happily Ever After

I know HEA stories are cheesy, but I love them. I used to read books with Fabio on the cover, so at least my taste improving.....

[christina2706]

I checked my shampoo bottle and it does not instruct me to rinse and repeat. Says to saturate hair, work up a lather and rinse. Whew.

Originally Posted by umpire2

I lust after cute women in Mexico. Weird, huh?

That is crazy. You're such a nut!

[origen01]

Originally Posted by umpire2

I lust after cute women in Mexico. Weird, huh?

not at all. mexicans are sexy as hell

[richief]

Originally Posted by x__orion

Doesn't everyone? Hell, the Passat I drive requires the clutch to be pushed for the engine to even start!

No idea bud, but lots of cars start without dipping the clutch, maybe it is a safety feature on the Passat.

It may not be a quirk the Army could have taught me do do it, but that was a long time ago.

[wantsomefun]

Originally Posted by x__orion

Doesn't everyone? Hell, the Passat I drive requires the clutch to be pushed for the engine to even start!

Originally Posted by richief

No idea bud, but lots of cars start without dipping the clutch, maybe it is a safety feature on the Passat.

It may not be a quirk the Army could have taught me do do it, but that was a long time ago.

In the US, a "news" show called "60 Minutes" made a big deal out of supposed unintended acceleration reported by owners of Audis. People claimed they would start their cars and they would roar away on their own accord, punching through garage walls and endangering the public. As it turned out on further investigation, the problem also existed on Cadillacs, Benzes, Fords, you name it. The problem was moronic drivers who floored the gas rather than the brake when starting the car. This was discovered later, after Audi took a major hit in the US market, a lot of witch-hunting and lawsuit-filing, and some political posturing.

Regardless, Big Brother stepped in and told the car makers that they had to re-design their cars to make them impossible to start unless the clutch was pushed to the floor on a manual transmission, or the foot brake was applied and the transmission was in either "park" or "neutral" on an automatic. Knowing that idiots also live outside the US, I imagine some car makers just decided to make that standard across their line.

[richief]

What a bunch of fuckwits, how the fuck can you think of starting your car without checking if it is in gear, but then again looking at some of the slack jawed fuckers who get cars around here I am not surprised.

[AZRIEL]

[smcaaphd]

Originally Posted by Furred Goddess

When I am writing stories or my novel, I have to have a cigarette in my lips (doesn't have to be lit) and a pot of black coffee. For some reason, the cigarette destroys my writer's block.

Ah HA!! And in the opening lines of one of my stories, I actually wrote...

...and so I sit here, with a cigarette dangling from my lips, like so many writers before me...

Gosh, and here was me, thinking I was writing fiction

[x__orion]

Originally Posted by wantsomefun

In the US, a "news" show called "60 Minutes" made a big deal out of supposed unintended acceleration reported by owners of Audis. People claimed they would start their cars and they would roar away on their own accord, punching through garage walls and endangering the public. As it turned out on further investigation, the problem also existed on Cadillacs, Benzes, Fords, you name it. The problem was moronic drivers who floored the gas rather than the brake when starting the car. This was discovered later, after Audi took a major hit in the US market, a lot of witch-hunting and lawsuit-filing, and some political posturing.

Regardless, Big Brother stepped in and told the car makers that they had to re-design their cars to make them impossible to start unless the clutch was pushed to the floor on a manual transmission, or the foot brake was applied and the transmission was in either "park" or "neutral" on an automatic. Knowing that idiots also live outside the US, I imagine some car makers just decided to make that standard across their line.

That's fucking stupid, and indicates (to my mind) a fundamental lack of understanding of hte principles that actually make their car work.

Anyone with half a brain would check the car wasn't in gear and I suspect a lot of people, like me, push the clutch to the floor as a reflex as they turn the key in the ignition.

Richief, I've been doing that since I learnt to drive, long before the arrival of the Passat! Interestingly, it was my father who taught me to do it as a matter of course, and he's ex-TA...

[richief]

Well I guess I was taught that way, not much fun when you hit the starter button of an 18 ton stalwart and it jerks forward smashing into a brand new Merc.

[thecaptian]

When I put something down and if I am holding it with the tip of my fingers sometimes I have to touch it again because the first time it didn't feel right.

[x__orion]

Originally Posted by richief

Well I guess I was taught that way, not much fun when you hit the starter button of an 18 ton stalwart and it jerks forward smashing into a brand new Merc.

Or bounce the week-old headlight cluster of your Dad's car into the tow-bar of your sister's car.

Woops...

[Old Tool]

- In rooms in which I spend a fair amount of time, all of the slotted screws that hold the switch and receptacle plates are facing the same direction - either perfectly horizontal or perfectly vertical (doesn't matter which of the two methods, as long as they are all the same). I have been known to adjust the plate screws in hotels, public spaces and other people's private homes to satisfy my need for this order.

- I put pennies in odd and surprising places for other people to find.

- Every time I count to ten, I use a different language (whether I'm counting out loud or in my head) I can count to ten in 23 languages (just learned how to count to ten in tagalog this week ).

- When I am paying cash for items at any retail store, and the total is not an even amount, I tell the clerk to keep the change. It confounds about 75% of them.

- When I am embarking on a long drive, I like to figure out which lane to choose that will allow me to make the fewest number of lane changes. I once drove from Sacramento to just south of San Francisco (almost 80 miles) and only made one lane change - totally awesome!

quirk is my middle name.

[curiousscouser]

Originally Posted by cijababe

Then the fun with packing - I realised recently that I like to pack neatly whereas she just throws everything in higgledy piggledy - I always find myself repacking as we go. I make it into a game and hope it entertains the till operators, but really - she just never learns, God bless her.

I pack my own bags, always. It really annoys me if the cashier asks if I'd like help packing then packs for me despite my saying "no thankyou".
I don't think it's a quirk, I just don't want my eggs broken by a tin of tomatoes, and prefer to keep all frozen food/chilled food together so they don't warm up as much as they would individually.
It also makes it easier when I get home - I have one bag for the fridge, one for the freezer, one for the tin/jar cupboard and one for fresh fruit/veg. Simple.

[Lioness]

Originally Posted by Old Tool

I once drove from Sacramento to just south of San Francisco (almost 80 miles) and only made one lane change - totally awesome!

Wow! I actually know how totally awesome that would be!!!

[richief]

I have this thing about not suffering fools gladly, gets me in trouble sometimes.

[Lioness]

When I handwash my dishes, I rinse them completely off first so there isn't food floating around in the water then I wash them in a certain order that I never vary.

[aesopstails]

Originally Posted by Lioness

When I handwash my dishes, I rinse them completely off first so there isn't food floating around in the water then I wash them in a certain order that I never vary.

EEeeeewwww!!! "Floaters"! Of course, I suffer from a similar affliction, Sissy, but we need to wipe the plates off over the trash bin or disposal instead of wasting the precious commodity that is water! (I'll send my daughter to spend a week with you, and she'll have you conserving and recycling everything that isn't nailed down!)

P.S. MMWWWAAAAAH!

[richief]

Use paper plates and avoid washing up.