Habitual

[keiramarcos]

I am a creature of habits. I like things to be a certain way. My mother has always said that I was pretty much like that at birth. She likes to tell the story of me at six months -- refusing to drink milk because she changed the brand she purchased at the store. I don't know if I believe her but honestly I wouldn't be surprised if it were actually true.

I like order. I have my preferred brands for practically everything from socks to oatmeal. My first meal of the day is always a bowl of oatmeal, a small glass of orange juice, and a cup of coffee. I like a variety of coffees so there is some "give" on that issue. There are some coffees that absolutely hate and don't even like to smell. The first thing I did when I moved in with my husband was throw a way his Folgers. (shudder)

When I go grocery shopping -- I have a list on my tab organized by how the store is organized (I have lists for different stores, too). The worse thing I've encountered in recent memory was when my preferred Kroger reorganized. Thank God I only had to pick up three things -- If I'd had a large list I would've probably had to leave the store or alternatively flip the fuck out (in a perfectly reasonable way that no one who didn't know me very well would even notice). I did take the time to memorize the new lay out so I could update my big lists at home. Fuck you for laughing.

I hate it when a company changes the formula of a product like dish washing liquid or shampoo or whatever. It really fucks with me and makes me uncomfortable.

Tonight I went to the store to buy some stuff for dinner. CP wanted some tuna from the seafood counter BUT some smell in the meat department area put me off so much that I had to leave the store and he did not get his tuna. He's known me for 15 years and he still looked at me like I was crazy when I came home without the tuna and informed him solemnly that I would not be returning to Publix for at least six months... due to smelling something rotten in the meat department. So he went to a organic food market and bought himself some tuna since I was put off food completely and he couldn't trust that I would actually come home with tuna if I tried again.

There are ways a professional type person my describe me and far more way less flattering terms someone immersed in pop-culture might use: Monkish, neurotic, etc.

I was diagnosed with OCD in college. I have my quirks but I work hard to manage them so I don't end up alienating everyone I meet. I double check to make sure I lock doors. I unplug appliances in the kitchen and tuck them away when I'm not using them. All the money in my wallet has to be face up and ordered by value. I carry three kinds of hand sanitizer, baby wipes, and travel size cans of Lysol. I only write with black ink. I plot my stories and books in Composition Notebooks.

I started color coordinating my crayons the year my mother bought the big box for Christmas. I was five.

My biological father left when I was very young. A professional might say that I sought to gain control over my circumstances by insisting things be done a certain way every single time. That wouldn't, however, explain why I apparently boycotted milk for three days when I was six months old.

Side note, a few years back CP and I switched to an organic milk made by Horizon. I can't even stand to smell any other brand of milk now. Somethings never change and somethings do.

Comments

[ladyholder.livejournal.com]

I can't say that this is a surprise... Because you write the mild OCD your geniuses have very well.

I have my own ticks, but nowhere near that level. Some are habit, some are preference, a few might be my own anal retentive nature. My biggest preference these days is my creamer for my coffee. Sweet Cream for the win please.

So, no. Not a surprise. I am jst glad to know you have some controls. And that it hasn't taken over your life.


~L

[cold-shuga.livejournal.com]

i have had a perfectly fine life. until they diagnosed the OCD i had to put up with a lot of shit. from people deliberately upsetting my organisation method to others trying to "fix" me. now my family just say "oh well..that's just her way".

i like to think of it as my refined mind making sense of everything.

anyone who thinks otherwise can just piss off.

*grin*

my supermarket just did a big reorganize too. i complained and they since have lovely people all over the store to "help" you. totally STUPID set up....the have plastic wrap etc with the diary items. it makes NO SENSE AT ALL.

idiots.

[leaveoutalltherest]

The money sorting, I get that. Depending on my stress level, I sometimes even go face up, denomination order, and then order by serial number in each denomination.

Stress is my trigger. If I'm not stressed, I'm not too particular, everything just has to be organized and tidy. If I'm stressed... well, the more stress there is, the 'worse' my ticks get.

My mom says she could always tell when the bad weeks were, and I didn't have to say a word, because I would pull all my clothes (clean and folded) out of the dresser/shelves, and rearrange them. By style, color, sleeve size, pant length, whether it was appropriate to wear under a work shirt... The longer it took, the more chocolate and tea she bought me.

[anneruane.livejournal.com]

ITA! There's nothing worse than when the grocery store decides to reorganize. I swear, they do it just to mess with me. Maybe it's a conspiracy.

I'm obsessive over some things and couldn't care less about others. Hubby still hasn't quite figured out what does and doesn't matter to me, and it's been 17 years. I think it goes back to when I was a child and was allergic to Every. Stinking. Thing. You get kinda brand-loyal and set in your ways when a stupid formulation change can result in puking your guts out for 24 hours straight.

I think all successful writers have to be OCD to a certain extent. I think you've earned your OCD license. ;o)

[chris-king-2005.livejournal.com]

Grocery stores who reorganize are EVIL. My local did that to me a few years back and half the town wandered around in confusion for weeks. I swear, there's shit I *still* can't find...even two years later.

I'm not nearly organized enough to have OCD. I'm at the opposite end of the spectrum...to the point that I made sure to tell my husband whe we married "remember, I'm like this *now*. It's not Alzheimer's.". *smirk*. He got used to following me around the house, picking up tea cups in my wake as I drifted around the house with my nose in a book. How I manage to still be such a contol freak continues to mystify friends and family alike...particularly when I do shit like absentmindedly taking my glasses off and fucking losing them in the house. (I spent far too much time blindly patting every horizontal surface in the house trying to find my glasses - until I got one of the little ole lady leashes for my glasses. Now when I take them off, they can't go far!)

All that being said, I'm a creature of habit...mostly because then I don't have to pay attention to the little shit.

I figure it's a matter of priorities - the stuff I care about, I care about alot. The rest of it either annoys or bores me, so I rarely pay attention. (Housework? Current events? Politics? Fashion? *snort*. Who the fuck cares? But I'll stay up literally all fucking night to read.. Who needs sleep when there's hot, snarky, smutty Keira!fic to read?)

[batspit.livejournal.com]

"All the money in my wallet has to be face up and ordered by value."

Wait, not everyone does that???

Grocery stores that reorganize are on my list of "most likely to incite homicide" behaviors from the world in general. (People who must zoom to the front of the lane going away in a merge zone because they are more important than everyone else hold the #1 spot) I think one of the worst things about moving was having to figure out the layout and preferred items in Every Freaking Store. There was no end to the 'new' and it did not go over well. Thank Goddess for comfort porn. I couldn't read anything new, because I was a 'new'ed' out.

[magda-666.livejournal.com]

Grocery stores reorganize their shit every 1 to 2 years in my city, you just got it right and WHAM they changed everything AGAIN. (I mean: who puts the toothbrush replacements for my electric toothbrush next to the el. mixers? what if i grab the wrong thing and try to brush my teeth with the mixer o.O)
I write my shoping lists the same way, but more because i can not stand other people in the store and am glad to get out of there as fast as possible.

In other ways i am a slob, but my shit has to be exactly where i left it lying around, if someone moves it or tries to 'help' with cleaning or so i get really mental and ocd, because they never do it right and i never find anything ever again. Fuckers. ;)

[qzee.livejournal.com]

See the reason the evil supermarkets reorganize EVERYTHING from time to time is that they are told "you'll sell more things if you do this..." by an expert study. I would love it if they learned that, no, all they will do is stress out their loyal customers and drive us crazy(er).

[arcadii]

I learned brand shopping at my mama's knee and I'd rather go without than switch! I also make lists, but not to your extent and I will not leave the house with an appliance running, from the ceiling fans to the TV and dishwasher - I don't walk out of the door unless everything is off and that includes if something's in the middle of a cycle. And yes, I do go back in to double-check before actually making it out to the car.

[syble4.livejournal.com]

My mother once told me, we all have a bit of OCD. I don't know if she was referring to just out family, but it fits us. I have the lock issues too. I have to check them several times and use to constantly check the ones in the car. I had to work hard to gain control of that one, since it was a bit dangerous to drive around while constantly looking left then right at the darn locks.

Of course, they do say, the exceptional smart have quirks, so that explains it all to me. ;)

[auntbijou.livejournal.com]

OCD runs in my family. I got it from my dad, and I've apparently passed it on to my daughter, who says, "I don't have OCD, I have CDO. Get it right."

*rolls eyes*

See, I feel better now that I know someone else organizes shopping lists by store layout. It makes more sense, and throws me completely off when things get reorganized. When both our local grocery store and WalMart expanded and reorganized their stores, I had to force myself to think of it as a treasure hunt. Because otherwise, I would have had to hunt down the store managers and murder them in their sleep rip off their arms and beat them over the heads with them. The ripped off arms, I mean. I mean, seriously, what rational person would put sanitary napkins in the middle of the friggin' paint department???

I still refuse to buy meat if the meat department smells off in any way, and if a restaurant doesn't smell "good" to me, we aren't eating there. I will flat out refuse, won't let the kids touch a thing because no. Just... no.

I keep it under control, and don't let it control me. That's the key, right?

[pantherrrrea.livejournal.com]

I seriously despise my compulsion to check again and again if I had unplugged the iron after ironing although I really KNOW that I have done so because I am anal retentive about such things.
I have my quirks *oh dear do I have them* such as getting seriously pissed off when somebody did not close the doors of the microwave after using it while living in a dormitory, but I do not think I have OCD.

I think everybody hates it when a big shop reorganizes as it is really really annoying :D

I'm not laughing

[justalurkr.livejournal.com]

My dad is exactly the same way about his grocery list and flipped out in ways people noticed when the local Safeway upscaled and reorganized. I'd be that way if I took the time to memorize the store. As it is, I catch myself making multiple trips to different parts of the store as I remember things I need that are in the same general vicinity.

[inu-spockya.livejournal.com]

oh, man -- you have no idea what a comforting post this was, lol!

I was estranged from my family for a number of years. my sister, my dad, and me got together a couple years ago, when my brother-in-law died, and in the course of getting reacquainted we realized that all three of us are total squirrels! checking appliance, door locks, bathroom set up just so, you name it. and I hate when the store reorganizes. I'm dyslexic as hell sometimes, and I tend to find items by color and pattern of the package. when they redesign a label or move the aisles around I am fucking *lost*. I lose my glasses in my house all the damn time and my mate finds them for me, bless him. including, on one occasion, on top of my head!

I like those three-section college-ruled notebooks to plot/jot in, the ones about the size of a trade paperback. and I will not go into a restaurant at all if I smell nasty fry oil in the parking lot, because to me that means the kitchen is probably filthy. and I won't shop the meat department if *anything* smells funny. I'll just come home and shop for meat in our wee local market -- which oddly enough is quite a bit cheaper, and a lot cleaner, than the big one in the next town over. I made lists, took a calculator, and *verified* this -- and still most of the whiny idiots here insist the big store's cheaper. in truth, only on gallons of milk and that's cos they get a bulk-buying discount. they more than make it back overcharging for everything else.

and Folgers? ew. just, no. no matter *how* badly I need the caffeine. I like espresso-roast or a nice dark Italian, and prefer not to drink Columbian because it's too acid. and only real chocolate, none of that palm oil crap.

love ya, Keira-san!! don't ever change, lass, ye're an inspiration to the rest of us for sure!!

[adafrog.livejournal.com]

Yeah, OCD is fun, isn't it? Although I totally see nothing wrong with ordering money in the wallet. :D

[justalurkr.livejournal.com]

I have a diagnosis of OCD as a comorbid condition to the ADD from about 12 years ago. The latest counselor says she doesn't get that from me.

The latest counselor has never seen me eat a bag y M&Ms. Sorted in order of the rainbow, eaten from red to chocolate.

I wish I'd gotten the orderly, tidy version. Instead I have the sorting and hoarding variety.

[legessa27.livejournal.com]

Organization is not OCD, its just common sense! Writing lists out by store location is just a way to get away from the stupid people in the store quicker! And crayons have to be sorted by color because really how are you supposed to find just the right shade otherwise? I must admit I always thought these things were the norm until other people just looked at me like I was crazy. I still maintain that they're the ones that are odd.

[phoenix4.livejournal.com]

Not sure what it says about me, but a lot of these just seem like good sense. I double-check the locks (and whether I have my keys before the door shuts). I organize paper money, thanks to a childhood spent selling stuff at fairs and keeping a cashbox. I write the grocery list by store aisle; otherwise I'd have to backtrack a dozen times. (And yes it screwed up my day when they reorganized.) I'm not particular about ink or notebooks, but I do rearrange magazines on the store racks if they're in the wrong place.

I'm not very brand-loyal, because growing up poor means you eat whatever is cheapest that week. However, I think if price wasn't an issue, I would buy the same brand every time just because it's more efficient if you don't have to make a choice every week. So I may be a little OCD, or just "particular".

[otrame.livejournal.com]

*Raises hand

Mild OCD here too, though nothing as useful as having the shopping list laid out by store. And I also hate when they change the formula for things I like. Tend to throw a bitty fit if people don't put things where they belong in my kitchen (and this is pretty notable because I am generally even tempered).

*keeps smiling

Hey, look over there! A cute squirrel.

*Nonchalantly slides the Folger's I just bought 1/2 an hour ago (really) behind the sack of bread flour

Well the squirrel was there a minute ago. Oh, well.

*looks innocent