Let me start by throwing out a couple cliches:
Opposites attract.
God has a sense of humor.
Most people use those phrases to enhance their wit or humor, but there is so much truth to those phrases. Why else would God see fit to pair someone like me, who is a little obsessive compulsive, with a family who are anything but obsessive compulsive? It doesn’t make any sense, otherwise.
I’ve always been willing to admit that I am slightly obsessive compulsive. In other words, if certain things aren’t done a certain way, I get a little freaked out. For me, it truly does matter which direction the toilet paper roll is facing.
Following a Routine
From the time I get up in the morning, I follow routines.
The alarm goes off at 5:00. I push the snooze button then get up at 5:10. Walk to the closet and grab my shorts and a pair of pants, which I carry into the bathroom and set them on the counter. I go to the toilet, wash my hands, shave, shower, dry off, put on my shorts and pants, grab some tissue to blow my nose, grab more tissue to dry out my ears. wash my hands, brush my teeth, comb my hair put on anti-perspirant/deodorant (yes, it must be anti-perspirant/deoderant – not just deoderant)…..and the routine continues, every morning, in the specified order.
Did you notice that I shave before I do most of my other bathroom activities. In most cases, that would make no sense, but it became part of my routine several years ago. We lived in a house that didn’t have a fan in the bathroom. For me, it’s critical that I can see in the mirror while I shave. If I showered first, the mirror would be too fogged to see myself and I would have to take extra time to dry off the mirror so I could shave. I realized at some point that if I shaved before I showered, I could save the time and effort of having to dry off the mirror.
Now, even after we moved to a different home that has a fan in the bathroom, I’ve never returned my process to the original order. It still works.
Do you want to know how to mess with someone like me? Move an object that is part of his routine.
One time, several years ago,my son started using my comb. He couldn’t just use it and put it back in the drawer…NO…he had to take it and leave it somewhere else in the house. I couldn’t just grab a different comb. I needed my comb. I couldn’t just wait until I finished the rest of my bathroom ritual. I needed to comb my hair next. So, I would search the house until I found my comb and could continue.
This happened with regularity. In fact, it was so regular, that I began feeling unfulfilled in the morning if my comb wasn’t moved to an obscure location and I didn’t have to go look for it.
Everything in its Place
Everything has it’s place and should be left in its proper condition.
Because I live in a house with people who aren’t “like me,” I end up having many “moments.”
If I were to be the last one in my house to go to bed at night, I would go around turning of lights and shutting and locking doors. Instead, I’m the first one up every morning, and the first thing I notice when I get up is that those things weren’t done properly the night before.
When I get home from work, each day, I don my French maid outfit and go around the house picking up wrappers and garbage to put them in the garbage. Then I make a second trip around the house to get all the cups and dishes to put them in the dishwasher.
People “like me” notice all those things that were not put where they belong. When the people I live with who are not “like me,” and I confront them about the mess I had to clean up, the answer is either “I forgot”, or “I didn’t see it.”
“How could they not see it, for pity sake?” I ask. “You had to walk all the way around it to get through the room.”
I’ll never understand.