The eccentricities of human nature

[hypn0tik]

Just curious as to certain habits/quirks/etc etc... that some of you have that others may find strange.

I'll list a few of my own and add more as I think of them.

1) When I go to restaurants, I hate it when the amount of food on the plate isn't proportional to the size of the plate. I hate seeing small plates packed with food so that you don't have room to maneuver or humongous plates with a tiny bit of food so that you feel you're getting shafted. I think there should be around 75% coverage of the plates area.

Example: Too much food
Too little food

Desserts don't count. I'm simply talking about main courses.


2) When I open up a pack of gum I always eat them in a zig-zag fashion. If I offer friends some gum, I like to give them a particular piece so that it doesn't ruin my pattern.


I'm crazy aren't I?

 

[FoBoT]

OCD
learn it
love it
live it

 

[hypn0tik]

Originally posted by: FoBoT
OCD
learn it
love it
live it

Haha.

I don't have OCD (if that's what you were implying), but I've been told by many of my friends that some of my habits are out of the ordinary.

 

[PepePeru]

my quirk is that sometimes have a full-body twitch / spasm.
i cant help it when it happens, but after it happens its gone.
people who dont know me & arent used it will usually ask 'wtf was that?!'

my biggest pet peeve is people that eat loudly, eating with their mouth open...

 

[clamum]

None that I can think of really...

 

[manowar821]

Originally posted by: FoBoT
OCD
learn it
love it
live it

PLEASE PUT PERIODS AT THE END OF YOUR FRICKIN SENTENCES.

:laugh:

I have very mild OCD. It makes people laugh.

I'm lucky it's so easily manageable. The worst symptom I've ever had is when my boxers or socks are twisting slighting left or right, I have a miniature flipping-out episode, but then I'm cool again after I've fixed it.

I cannot stand when paper is not stacked straight. I mean, I can stand it, but I will go slightly out of my way to fix it if I see the issue at hand. Otherwise, you wouldn't know I had OCD unless you had been my friend for 2+ years.

G Wizard, my girlfriend does that EXACT SAME THING. She calls it her "shivers". Sometimes, she makes a really idiotic noise along with it, it's cute.

 

[dainthomas]

I have CDO. It's like OCD, only in alphabetical order like it should be.

 

[djheater]

My OCD is tempered by my ADD. I can't concentrate on anything long enough to be obsessive about it.

I straighten things. If something is out of square, I enjoy straightening it so that it is aligned with other elements. This includes: pictures, furniture, office supplies, desk clutter, condiments and place settings at restaurants, etc.

I need two pillows to sleep on. It doesn't matter what size or thickness, but there needs to be two. I wake my wife up and complain to her if she has moved my two pillows. It bothers her, lots. But I figure she deserves it. I've threatened to move her underwear to a different place every day before she wakes up to see how she likes it.

 

[Arkitech]

Wierd, I was gonna make this exact same post today.

My biggest pet peeve with myself is my face :Q

I happen to have a really expressive face and I have to mentally be aware at all times to force my face to remain deadpan. Its kinda hard to explain unless you know someone with a similar issue. A good example though is talking to someone and out of the blue their eyes get really wide.

Sounds crazy I know, but I'm working on a way to break the habit

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

Dear OP, what do you call that fishball from hell in the second picture? Just professional curiousity.

 

[hypn0tik]

Originally posted by: MagnusTheBrewer
Dear OP, what do you call that fishball from hell in the second picture? Just professional curiousity.

I have absolutely no idea. I did an image search of 'fine dining' on Google found that among the results.

It's been my experience that fine dining = large plates with little food. Some of the results seem to support that theory.

Edit: Here. It's the last picture on the page.

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

There is a definite difference between fine dining and expensive (poor value) food. While fine dining is costly more often than not, the difference is you don't mind paying for a wonderful meal.

Dining like any other human endeavor takes effort and dedication on behalf of both the restranteur and the guest. Stay away from 'trendy' places and spend a little time examining just what your requirements are for a fine dining experience. When you have determined specific criteria, try the concierge at several fine hotels in your area for reccomendations.

 

[hypn0tik]

Up for the morning crowd. I'm really interested to see some responses.

 

[Martin]

There's a comic about you
http://www.xkcd.com/245/

http://www.xkcd.com/284/

 

[MrPickins]

As evidenced by this pic, I have a problem knowing when to get rid of old stuff.

That, and I bite my fingernails. A lot. I managed to quit smoking, but I still can't kick that habit. Go figure...

 

[CPA]

If I step on a crack with one foot, I have to step on a crack, with equal pressure and in a similar spot, with the other foot.

Also, using my feet again, but it can be my hands or just a thought, if I tap with one foot, then I have to tap with my other foot. Now, that's not the end of it. Since I started the tapping with one foot, I have to reverse the order to balance it out, but I start developing a pattern like this (L = Left foot, R = Right foot):

L R simple, but now I have to reverse it, so:
R L now I have a pattern of L, R, R, L and have to reverse that:
R L L R Now I have a tapping pattern of L, R, R, L, R, L, L, R and have to reverse that:
R L L R L R R L This is about where I have to conciously stop myself otherwise I will keep working the pattern.

 

[waggy]

Originally posted by: CPA
If I step on a crack with one foot, I have to step on a crack, with equal pressure and in a similar spot, with the other foot.

Also, using my feet again, but it can be my hands or just a thought, if I tap with one foot, then I have to tap with my other foot. Now, that's not the end of it. Since I started the tapping with one foot, I have to reverse the order to balance it out, but I start developing a pattern like this (L = Left foot, R = Right foot):

L R simple, but now I have to reverse it, so:
R L now I have a pattern of L, R, R, L and have to reverse that:
R L L R Now I have a tapping pattern of L, R, R, L, R, L, L, R and have to reverse that:
R L L R L R R L This is about where I have to conciously stop myself otherwise I will keep working the pattern.

i do something like this. but with my hands.

 

[DefDC]

I'm a hand washer. Probably ~30 times a day... It used to be worse.

Kinda funny though, I went to have a watch battery replaced, and they commented, "You wash your hands a lot, don't you..." I said "Uh, yeah! How'd you know?"
"Most people have dead skin and hair in their watch band, you just have soap."



I can't tolerate most vegetables. Anything green tastes AWFUL to me. I'm very sensitive to bitter tastes. I have a cow if I get that one sliver of lettuce in a Taco Bell taco, or a stray green pepper makes it into my pizza. I'll damn near hurl... People think I'm a freak, or just being a baby, but whoa, I can REALLY taste it, and it sucks!

If I was on Fear Factor, I could do a bucket of bugs much easier than a delicious salad.

 

[jjzelinski]

Hmmm... ok here's one. I find clapping bizarre. "gee, you've done something commendable. Please, have some hand noise. You deserve it!"

I don't expect there are many out there who feel the same way (at least not that I've found), but I hope in the deepest, darkest corners of ATOT there might be some equally disconnected soul out there who finds very ordinary human habits very, very strange...


EDIT:

A bit more. Sometimes I can't help but notice how strange ears look in the "visual context" (I just made that up) of a persons head. The rest of the head and face are relatively gentle in terms of tissue and general form/structure, but the ears are just a protruding, corrugated mess that are by far the most strictly utilitarian feature of of the head. It may not be as weird as it sounds since more than likely even if some find this notion strange theirs a good chance "nice ears" aren't at the top of their desired-features-in-a-mate list. They're not attractive, they're not aesthetically relevant unless they're abnormal somehow (too large, stick out); they're simply there. Corrugated, protruding, aesthetically irregular, they're just there. :/

I also find it somewhat amusing that everybody poops. Big people, small people, good looking, bad looking, the mighty and the meek, we all poop. That's funny.

I also find it annoying.

 

[imported_Imp]

I sometimes plug power cords/cables in a few times until it "feels" right. That or I push it hard to make sure it's really in good. Then repeat about 2/3 times... crazy, crazy, oh, just maybe.

 

[hypn0tik]

Originally posted by: CPA
If I step on a crack with one foot, I have to step on a crack, with equal pressure and in a similar spot, with the other foot.

...

I have one somewhat similar to that I guess. If I'm walking on a tiled floor or sidewalk or something where the size of the tile is bigger than my foot, I have to alternate which foot steps on the junction between the tiles or the sidewalk cracks. It bothers me when in my natural stride only one foot steps on the crack.

 

[nweaver]

Indian head bobble (no, I don't do it, I work with some though)

/thread

 

[FusionKnight]

I don't know if anyone else finds this strange or not, but my biggest pet peeve are people who pull their car over in a parking lot. It just boggles my mind how people can stop in the middle of the road to do whatever while there are dozens of empty parking spots mere meters away. I'm usually a pretty easy going kind of guy, but this really riles me up. A good example of this was around my condo complex. There is one road leading in and out of the complex, which is separated by a median. I'm leaving and following this car ahead of me, which stops in the middle of the road, effectively blocking my passage. She begins unloading her groceries or whatever. I "kindly" point to the four or five empty parking spots less than ten meters away... I'm getting angry just thinking about this :|

FK

 

[Chaotic42]

I hate whistling, especially when people do it around the office. If you aren't Otis Redding, you have no business doing it!

 

[777php]

I roll things with my fingers....shoelaces...small pieces of paper...those paper sleeves that cover straws.

I have no clue as to why I do this.