Bad Habits ©

Whether we’d like to admit it or not, every single one of us has at least one odd habit. Some have so many you could write a thesis on it. I recall reading about a teenager who communicated with the world, only through farting. He was so disgusted with people that he showed his contempt with this special communication technique. The psychiatrist was able to work with the youngster over a period of time until he started communicating normally.

In the world of odd habits, that one is on the extreme side. Sticking closer to the more normal odd habits, I collected a list from some internet forums which I thought you might enjoy, even if it’s to make you feel better about your own quirky behaviours.

• The smell of water makes me happy. 
• Feel safe when I lie on the ground. 
• Sunshine smells like fresh bread. 
• Like seeing things in bubbles, underwater or in glass domes. 
• Classify numbers/letters as either male or female. (Male: numbers: 1,3,5,6,9,10, letters: b,d,e,g,o,p,q,r,s,w,x,z; female: numbers: 2,4,7,8, letters: a,c,f,h,i,j,k,l,m,n,t,u,v,y) 
• To get rid of hiccups, hold ones breath and take tiny sips of water while counting, but you must stop on a prime number.  
• Have to organise one’s wardrobe by shirt type and then by colour and all t-shirts must be ordered by rainbow colours. 
• Kiss ones hand and hit the ceiling of my car when going through an almost red light.  
• Can’t go to bed unless one’s hair is combed – as if its actually going to stay combed for more than a minute after you get in. 
• Suffer from Leporiphobia which is a fear of rabbits, and can't go out at Easter-time. Cute little bunny-rabbits are just evil. 
• Like to drive ones car to the middle of nowhere and try to find ones way back without a map. 
• Act out a little play with my fingers. 
• Talk to animals in a way one would expect them to sound if they spoke English. 
• Cut a banana in ultra thin slices and eat one slice at a time. 
• Eat the crust off of sandwiches first before going in for the middle. 
• Eat kiwifruit whole - skin, stem, everything. 
• Like burnt cookies, popcorn, toast, meat, cake and pastry. 
• Eat food on a plate counterclockwise. 
• Eat multi coloured lollies in a specific order of colour.  Yellow and green must always first, and red last.

There seem to be quite a few odd habits relating to food. A recent poll taken in the UK on the bad habits of diners included some interesting examples of people who shared their odd habits with their waiter. These included:

• A woman who complained that her starter and main course were the same colour; 
• A budgerigar who dined out with its owner – because it became anxious when left alone; and 
• A diner who complained that the cows seen nearby were an objectionable colour.

To a degree we all need a certain amount of OCD to keep functioning, eg a place for everything and everything in its place, but I guess our aim should be to keep it under control.

The first example of OCD I saw as a child was when a relative insisted on putting matching coloured pegs and clothes on the line, just because the neighbours might see it.

One of my habits is in response to being treated like a moron. If a sticking plaster or an envelope manufacturer insists on placing precise instructions on how to open their product, I go out of my way to open it any way BUT the way they tell me. Somehow I feel that by giving in I would somehow be encouraging them to continue to treat the members of our society like idiots. ©