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Like most of us, I've my idiosyncracies. Certain tendencies that are like reflex actions to me amuse others, for instance, my husband. Of course, I tell him off that he's the weird one. Now, don't we all display some quirky behaviour that seems absolutely rational to us? The operational words here are, of course, 'to us'.
I thought of sharing some of my quirks with you all. It'll be a fun exercise to see how many of you find them weird and how many identify with me. So, here you go:
#1. I need my mail Inbox to, at all times, have zero unread messages. Unread messages, some junk others spam, that keep piling up make me restless and I need to delete them, report as spam, whatever, almost immediately. The spam folder also needs to be emptied, pronto! There's something about those numbers within brackets denoting unread messages that play on my mind and I've to do something about it. So, you can imagine my state of mind after a long vacation where I haven't had access to my emails. This is an emergency. I come back and ruthlessly make a clean sweep, swiftly sorting the junk from necessary. A lot of emails come in as a result of subscription channels. Normally, these get a brief glance but not so during emergencies. Only the absolutely necessary ones remain from the pile and then a sigh of relief escapes through my senses. I immediately feel sorted and happy!
Likewise for WhatsApp messages. I'm, by choice or destiny, a part of scores of common groups that are active by the minute through the day. I've, to retain my sanity, put most of them on "mute for a year". Yet, I need to click on the group periodically and make the green pop-ups go away. And, it doesn't mean I'm reading the messages.
The husband, on the other hand, has 3785 unread emails lying in his inbox. Oh dear, I cannot express how it feels when I see those numbers in bold within a bracket crying out for attention! I asked him once and he shrugged it off casually saying those emails are not important, hence unread. Why not delete them? He shrugged again and then looking at my alarmed state, snorted with laughter. That annoyed me further!
#2. Same with spills, however minor, on the cooking stove. I need to wipe them clean immediately. Most people accumulate the spills over the course of a cooking session and then set on the cleaning task. Not me. The stove surface is simultaneously wiped off the sprinkles of oil, broth, milk, etc even as these said items may be boiling over the gas. I always have a wipe handy when I'm cooking.
C has branded me as half-mental or "ara-loosu" as he calls me. It seems once we had a tiff and in the midst of intense argument, I was simultaneously found wiping the surface furiously. He recounted the observation with great amusement much later in the day and chuckled to add that only because he feared for his safety he had stiffled laughter inside his throat and quickly escaped to leave for work.
#3. I once got a potted plant that had the sapling planted away from the centre of the pot. No, I didn't lose sleep over it but only mentioned it as a minor irritant to the husband. Ironically, we were discussing Sheldon (from the Big Bang series) and his OCD. C slyly remarked that I'm at times as crazy as Sheldon. For the record, I don't have any OCD. Just more particular about certain things.
#4. When I was younger, my mother used to have a harrowing time tying my hair into two ponytails. The difficulties were multiple. Firstly, I had very thick and silky hair rendering it quite tough to get all the strands together enough to tie them or braid them. To top this, I was very finicky about the hair being parted exactly at the centre point in the front of the head and continue as a straight line until the nape. A slight deviation and I'd know (sense the comb movement) immediately and ask mother to re-do it. Even at the cost of being late to wherever I was going to. I definitely drove my mother up the wall because the waterworks were also forever ready in case she didn't comply with my specifications. Sheesh! Now, that I'm a mother myself I'm completely in awe of her patience and kindness. And, so glad that karma didn't come back to bite me. I've a son :-p
So, now that I've bared my secrets with you, tell me I'm not all that weird. Even better, tell me your quirks and give me some reason to wink knowingly at you :-)
He he, this was fun to read. I am sure I have my quirks myself but can't recall any major ones off the cuff except for my time obsession, I suppose. I can just imagine you furiously wiping the stove in the midst of an argument ;)
ReplyDeleteLOL...aye, come on, you should tell me yours. I used to be obsessed with time too. Always on or before time but I've mellowed down now, especially after marriage and kid :-p
DeleteI can relate to #2...��
ReplyDeleteHaha..wow..good to know ;-) Nice to see you here, Sharda :-D
DeleteI think I accidentally wrote this post on your blog. Please give it back to me Uma!
ReplyDeleteIn how many ways are we alike?! Point 1 same to same ... I have to have blank clean clear ... No pop ups no nothing everything has to be clean ... N my husband has 23785 unread mails.. Yes he calls me freak but I know he's the one not me.
2. Same to same.... It's not just that, I cannot see the kitchen sink with more than 3 dirty utensils at a time... 3 is the limit ... I keep doing the dishes... All the time
3 I don't have plants nor am I fond of them but I know what you feel. I like to fold my towels, hand towels, bedsheets, clothes in a particular way and my whole day is ruined if someone doesn't keep it the way I want it.
4 I didn't have long hair for long time but when I did I hated if the plait tilted to one end and I kept pulling it to the correct side always complaining to mom that it wasn't tied right. You can guess who suggested to get my hair cut and keep it that way!
Hahahaha, Purnima...gr8 to know my soul sistah! I've a maid to wash dishes, so I don't share that part of obsession. Yes, I like to dry and fold clothes in a certain manner and while my day is not ruined, I don't like it when it's not done like that. Yes, both sides plait ought to have started from the same level.
DeleteOh my, we do sound like a bunch of nut cases discussing. My husband read the comments, rolled his eyes and said I have madder company ;-)
very interesting
ReplyDeleteThank you, Onkar :-)
DeleteLooks like I am more like a combination of you and C, I clean the kitchen counter and put things back in its place in the middle of cooking right after the thing has served its purpose and if paper is not being read I would want it to be folded and kept away, and my folks says that I am absolutely crazy that i cannot wait for all of them to finish reading the paper (that is almost half a day ..:/) and I can see the smirk they try to hide when I shout at them to put things back in its place ....
ReplyDeleteand I have 25479 unread mails in my mail box :p
Lol, Padma..there are times when I've stashed the present day's newspaper into the cupboard long before the day has ended ;-)
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