Weird/Strange Habits or Rituals you do?

[plagued]

All forums, once you frequent them enough, gives you an idea of the personalities of the people you get to know from the boards. but we never really find out the weird/interesting/quirky sides of the people we think we've gotten to know.

So, lay it all out: what are the weird things you do?

something interesting i do with those paper towel dispensers in public restrooms, the ones with some kind of crank that dispenses the towel to your desired length. i always have to crank them 12 times before i tear the towel off. i always limit myself to 12, no matter if it dispensed too much or too little. if i somehow lost count, i will start over but i'd have to go to 24 cranks. weird right? it's not like i'll die if i don't do this, nor will it ruin the rest of my day. it'll just bug me for a little. (off topic: have you noticed that Disneyland has instructions on the walls next to the sinks on how to wash your hands? makes me laugh every time)

something interesting with how i eat food is that i will eat each part of my meal in whole before eating another. say, if i have a burger, fries and a drink, i will eat my burger first, not eating a single fry until my burger is finished. then i will eat my fries entirely. then i will drink my drink. i will only take a sip of my drink while eating if i start to choke or if something is going down too slowly. my reasoning is that when i'm enjoying the taste of something, i want to enjoy it alone and fully.. and eating something else would feel like it's interrupting. i guess my tastebuds just dont get the concept of complementary tastes?

another quirk i have while eating is that i don't want any parts of my meal to mix. say if i have pancakes, bacon, and eggs. i will get discouraged if any of the syrup from the pancakes get on the bacon or eggs, or if any of the egg yolks get on the bacon or pancakes.. you get the idea. i would usually have to move any part of my meal that can "run-on" to something else on its own separate plate. i'm guessing the reasoning for this is tied with my previous quirk of keeping tastes separate.

* * *

i have a friend who has to go up and down their stairs twice before they leave the house and another friend who only gets out of bed if the current time ends with a "5." anything strange or weird that any of you do?

[FrumiousBoojum]

Re: Weird/Strange Habits or Rituals you do?

Yay! OCDs are fun!

Your food habits aren't all that strange. I tend to eat meals one thing at a time. Only time I mix it up is usually near the beginning when I want to sample everything.

Uhm... problem with my weird habits are that sometimes, I only know that they're weird when somebody else tells me its not quite normal.

On a related note to your post: Those instructions on how to wash your hands are sadly needed. Many people don't wash their hands or don't wash them long enough (Bob Evans has a sign by the sink telling you the proper amount of time is the amount of time it takes you to get through a verse of Old MacDonald). And with the H1N1 apocalypse, that kind of stuff is needed more than ever.

[TheGlassSlipper]

Re: Weird/Strange Habits or Rituals you do?

Hhhmmm...Weird...Habits...things that I do....?...You really wanna know huh?...Here's a couple random things about me....

When eating (Ribs, Cheetos, etc) I will NOT lick the food off my fingers! Yuck! I have to wipe it or rinse the food off!

I love my steak rare!

I am scared of escalator's, I will usually take the stairs if I see them near by! (When I went to Vegas last time with my friends they gave me a really hard time, but tough dude!!!!! I'm taking the stairs!!!)

I love Chorizo cooked with Egg, but I will NOT eat scrambled eggs alone (Esp in my fried rice)...

This forum is fun, I could go on about the random things about me! But I will limit it for others to share

[knittingknerd]

Re: Weird/Strange Habits or Rituals you do?

Weird random things about me... Hm...

Oh I work nights so I sleep during the day. I come home, have something to help settle me, have a V-8, then sleep from like 8:30 am until 2ishpm, wake up for 2 hours, putz around the house, go back to bed around 4, and sleep until 9:30pm. And if I have a day, I get home from work and try to stay up as long as I can, only to fall asleep around 7pm.

Food wise I eat my meal least favorite to favorite thing. So if there's a burger, fries, and a salad I eat the salad first and work my way up to the burger. But if it is something I don't really like I force myself to eat that first.

I knit all my own holiday gifts. That's pretty weird.

[HighLeveller]

Re: Weird/Strange Habits or Rituals you do?

I knit all my own holiday gifts. That's pretty awesome.

Fixed that for you.

I'm another who usually doesn't let food items mix. But that's normal actually.
A couple eating-out things:
Before opening a portion-pack (ketchup, etc) I'll squish it around for a few seconds to mix it. Sometimes they separate, and this is equivalent to shaking it if it were a bottle.
I'll often visit the soda fountain at least three or four times--but only for a partial cup or even just a few swigs, no matter the size of the cup. This is just because I like to get a variety of flavors.
I hate wasting portion packs and try to take only what I know I'll use, and take any extra napkins I end up with to keep in the glove box or on the desk at home. I've kept extra portion packs in the glove box and used them on a later visit.

I use mouthwash instead of toothpaste when I brush my teeth.

And a rather esoteric technical one: Whenever I listen to a cassette and even change sides (yes, I regularly listen to tapes, along with CDs and records and MP3s) I use a screwdriver to fine-tune the alignment of the tape head on the player, for optimum sound. There's supposed to be an alignment standard, but things rarely line up consistently from one tape to the next. I've brought this up before on the stereo forum I go to, and it seems others would rather use other means (equalizers and so forth) to compensate for quality issues caused by misalignments. I'd rather correct the problem at the source.

[PirateChick]

Re: Weird/Strange Habits or Rituals you do?

When I go travelling all my toiletries have to be in separate Ziploc bags. If one item touches another one I won't use it. People look at me weird when I have q-tips and cotton balls in separate bags.

When I eat a hamburger I eat half of it regularly and then take the other half apart and eat everything seprately but I never eat that half of the bun.

I don't eat eggs, at all. Well, maybe once or twice a year when the mood fits but not as regularly as everyone else. Oh, and the once or twice a year I get the craving I have to make them myself. I won't let anyone else.

I tend to wake up two or three times a night to make sure I set my alarm for the morning.

[TheGlassSlipper]

Re: Weird/Strange Habits or Rituals you do?

Wow, you all have some pretty interesting things you've shared. Very nice, we want more!

[Barbaraann]

Re: Weird/Strange Habits or Rituals you do?

I don't know if this is considered weird, but I don't work well, or do anything well if people are watching me. I get much more done if I am alone. I think it stems from my mom giving me a task as a kid, and then when I didn't do it up to her standards, she would do it over again.

[DarthDucky]

Re: Weird/Strange Habits or Rituals you do?

I have been able to break this habit, but now that I am thinking about it, it will be coming back.
I have to count the syllables in phrases and sentences. Counting, might not be the right word, it's more like finding out if there are an even or odd number of syllables.
Like I will "drum" on a surface. I start with my index finger for the first syllable, then I go to my middle; all of this is on my right hand. If the phrase ends on index, it is has an odd number of syllables, if it ends on the middle, it has an even number.

[plagued]

Re: Weird/Strange Habits or Rituals you do?

add to my list: you know those carpets/rugs with the frills/yarn/string at the ends? i always make sure that they are all combed straight.

[aimster]

Re: Weird/Strange Habits or Rituals you do?

I'll put ketchup on just about anything, including scrambled eggs & fried fish.

[sunnygirl]

Re: Weird/Strange Habits or Rituals you do?

This isn't super wierd, but it's a quirk of mine: I can't stand when someone wearing a short sleeved shirt gets one part of their sleeve flipped up. I don't know why, but looking at it makes me all squirrely. I've actually fixed the sleeves of total strangers to avoid the way it makes me feel. :blush:

Oh, and I cannot ever, ever hand a sharp object to somebody hand to hand. I mean anything: fork, knife, scissors, pins - anything sharp. My friend Sara's mother is a very superstitious Scottish woman, and she drilled into us that if we handed a sharp object to someone, you'll get into a fight with that person. I know it's a silly superstition, but I can't shake it.

[Stitchy]

Re: Weird/Strange Habits or Rituals you do?

My different items of food cannot touch each other. No mashed potatoes touching the green beans. And forget about mixing them up. ICK

[Exprmnt626]

Re: Weird/Strange Habits or Rituals you do?

*When I go down the stairs to shut down Journey to Atlantis for the evening, I have to touch the round Employee Only sign with my right hand

*When I first enter an unfamiliar doorway I touch the door frame with my left hand

*When I suit up to play hockey, I have to put my skates, shin pads, and elbow pads left, then right.

*I tape my hockey sticks heel to toe and the blade cannot touch anything but the ice.

[disneyfan07]

Re: Weird/Strange Habits or Rituals you do?

I separate my change into ziploc bags(sandwich size) 1 for each type: pennies, nickels, dimes, quarters, 1's 5's 10's 20's 50's(rare that I have them) 100(also rare)

I too dont like any of my food touching: I make sure that when I dish out food on my plate each food type has its own area.

when I am reading a book, after reading a few pages I count to see how many pages are left to read, in sets of five(or less) pages.

I dont know why I do it, but just before I take a shower, I check to make sure the door is locked.

when I make a purchase, even if its just to get a soda, I use the largest bill I have(usually a 20, sometimes a 50 or 100 if I have them).