My trusty online dictionary describes a quirk as a ‘peculiarity of action, behavior, or personality.’ While the origins of the word are hidden somewhere in the realms of foggy land, quite a few amongst us, ACTUALLY strike that out – many of us, do have the odd behavior pattern, which might mystify, baffle, hell even, amuse us. And the weirdest part is – most of the times we can’t even fathom why we do it...
So we have people who sleep with their TVs on – if they wake up in the middle of the night and find it switched-off, they switch it on again, and promptly dropping off to la-la land; some people do not eat sliced cake – preferring to eat right out of the box it came in by breaking off pieces by hand; some drive their cars barefeet; some sleep with pillows on their faces rather than beneath their heads; some people cannot play / work / whatevah without their favorite handkerchiefs (I’m only hoping the rule doesn’t apply to inner-clothing items)…
Celebrities too are not untouched by quirks – the late MJ would never take off his makeup even when in bed, Jennifer Lowe Hewitt and her Mum count stairs, the list goes on…
I’ll start with some of my own, and then if you so wish, you could perhaps add some of your own idiosyncrasies:
• I can’t hear anyone brushing their teeth. Not in real life, not on the idiot box. It’s a dead No-No. I go a step further, applying it to people highlighting or underlining portions in a book, notes, newspaper. And to think I survived in the on-campus college accommodation with hundred of chicks who changed overnight from worshippers of lip glosses to devotees of glossy neon and hot pink highlighters. Five years - and innumerable term papers, exams, tutorials, assignments – you do the Math why March thru May was never the happiest (or calmest) period of my otherwise blissful all-year round time. I didn’t leave the quirk behind in college. It’s a loyal companion even today, much to hubby dearest’s annoyance. I'd rather hear screeching or squelching of tyrs in mud than the screeching of pen / pencil on paper
• I count, and worse – color coordinate, M&Ms while eating them. I extend this favored rule to Skittles, Dragees, Smarties, Reese’s pieces, as well as closer home, Gems (You can’t call me a racist candy-lover, as you can see). Red invariably gets popped first into my mouth, followed by purples, orange and pinks. Yellow and green are usually the last ones. No reason for this one either
• If I happen to spot a strip of medicine, and have easy access to a small pair of scissors, I just have to round off the corners. Go figure that one out…
• If I spot lotion balls that have formed near the mosituriser / lotion / cream lid, I scream an extended ‘Eeyuck’ in my mind, and run off to clean it with a wet cotton ball. Touching them with bare hands is a beyond all imagination
• All currency notes in my wallet have to be arranged in denomination. I even go a step ahead – smoothe out wrinkled notes and place them heads-up
• Not all shoes are born equal for me, I have to wear my right shoe first. If while going for my workout I slip on my left shoe by mistake, and realize it the next minute, off the shoe comes. Probably my Cinderella-fixation from my childhood days is still dormant in my subconscious, who knows…
• I have my good luck perfumes, and my jinxed ones. And even though I never do use the latter, I cannot dream of passing them on to people who will. Of course, the infrequent dropping of these jinxed perfumes – all ‘by mistake,’ let me assure you, does happen...
• My daily ablutions all have to happen in a particular order – Handwash, shampoo, conditioner, body wash, foam facial cleanser. To the T! Luckily, if I go over the schedule a little out of order, I only obsess about it for the next half hour, and do not go over the ritual again...TGFSM
• Even if I don’t have to empty my bladder, I visit the loo before I hit the sack. Just so I don't need to get up in the middle of the night to atend to nature's call...
• When TOOMA* holds my hand while sleeping, my hand has to always be the bottom one. I make the ‘correction’ if the order is reversed
• Since my childhood, I have this quirk of starting with the items I dislike on my plate, moving to my more appreciated food items. The last piece I swallow is usually what I like best. Sometimes I leave a portion till all the others have been finished on my plate. I don’t even realize that I’m doing it, but oh yeah – I sure do relish what I eat last
• While eating chocolate or candies, I suck on them till they are melted, and subsequently eat them, unlike ‘normal’ people who chew them right away
• My feet or toes are always in motion. Even in the midst of a training or a lunch session, they are usually doing their own tap dance ritual or wiggling
Moving on to the others - the Crème de la crème
• Not that I spy on him, I know that TOOMA while he’s on the John, has to have a newspaper in hand. I have no idea if he reads it, or if while reading, he is assured of a ‘steady deposit, ‘I do know that he is not selective – he will just about take any paper / magazine in the English language– even one that is a couple of days old, and he’s already pored through it
• My Mom and BFF (Best Female Friend) have to set things in the house in a proper manner always. You push a table a few inches here and there – they will glower at you, and put it right where it was. But I think instead of calling it a quirk, people are calling these OCD patterns…Heeyuck Heeyuck (I sure am dead if either of them were to read this)
• Good friend twirls her hair at all times – at the breakfast table, in a meeting, while watching a movie, while reading her own article that’s come out in that day’s newspaper issue, while buying groceries, heck even sometimes while she’s driving the car (and me nuts)...
• Another friend has to pull back the shower curtain, and peep inside that no cold-blooded killer is out to kill her, and only after she is fully satisfied that the bath only consists of her, her tub, her bath salts, and an assortment of bath products that she sighs in relief and sets about performing her daily bathing ritual. Try telling her that she borders on the paranoid, and there! You shall be subjected to a scowl, in whose comparison, Victoria Beckham’s scowl will seem like a golden ray of sunshine
• Another friend from college, if you try to fold her clothes, will unfold them again – as she likes her clothes to be folded in a certain fashion – her fashion. Needless to say, I never proffered her my help again...
• A good friend enjoys a love-hate relationship with ketchup. So while he would dunk his French fries and cutlets in ketchup, he will often ask for a side dish to put the ketchup in, and only then, begin his dipping ritual. Apparently, he hates his food items get soggy with the ketchup. I wonder what his stomach thinks of his odd habit...
And of course, the list would be incomplete without a mention of my BFF again – who, no matter how sting-free an onion may be, just has t wear sunglasses while chopping it. And if she, so much as squeaks in indignation that she doesn’t, she should know that I have photographic evidence…
And now, let me prepare myself to be choked to death by her very own bare hands….
The only consolation - at least, I’ll die laffing...
(*TOOMA - The Object of my Affection. Sometimes also referred to as hubby dearest)
No comments:
Post a Comment