Personality Quirks

[Aveline]

Personality Quirks

I've been talking with a few people lately and more than once the subject has come up of things that make us seem slightly nutty to other people. We all have those crazy little things we do that make absolutely no sense to any one else. Well, when working on a new character I got the idea to try to find some really unique little quirks I might give to her. I was looking for ideas on the internet, and I came across the funniest forum posting I think I have ever seen. Basically people just listed their own personal quirks. It made me feel really very normal. I think this would be fun for all of us to do. We can all laugh at each other, and perhaps a few of these can be used in your characters. I'll start by giving some of my own, and then I'll share some of the funnier ones I found on that forum posting.

Me:

• I only eat one food at a time, and all the food on my plate has to be separate. Nothing can be touching. Some foods can be exceptions if they were meant to be together like potatos and gravy, but the minute my potatoes touch my corn I need a new plate. I was once given a cafeteria tray as a gag gift because it has all of the little separations... but the joke was on them because I love it and use it. And I eat my foods starting with what I like first. Everyone who knows me knows that I eat one thing at a time, and then by the time I get to the last thing on my plate and I don't like it I can use the excuse that I am simply too full to eat and I don't have to hurt anyone's feelings.
• When my car needs gas, I cannot simply put just a few dollar's worth in to get me where I am going. I -have- to fill the tank up. If I know I need to get gas, but I do not have enough money to fill the tank up, I will call someone for a ride before I just put a few dollars worth of gas in my car. This has led to another little quirk that now I stop get fill up my car almost daily to avoid being caught in the situation where I do not have enough money to top off my gas tank. I also have a certain way I like it to be done and refuse to let anyone else put gas into my car. You fill it until the pump clicks, then you pull it out 3/4 of the way and do it until it clicks again. And then you stop. Period.
• I'm a bit anal about numbers ending in a nice and neat fashion. No messy decimals. Every one of my characters in game will deposit their coin into the bank and then withdraw until the bank account is an even amount of platinum coins. Has to be a multiple of ten, but a clean multiple of a hundred is better. My bank account in real life is the same way. I've once withdrawn $.02 from my checking account an even number, and I will routinely calculate my total as I go while I am shopping and figure out what I need to put back or how much more I need to spend exactly so that my balance comes out even and so that my checking account will not be tarnished. If I am in a real hurry I just write the check over and get change back. You should see the looks I get when I write the check for four cents over the total.

I have more, but I'll wait to share them until I am sure everyone else will embarrass themselves along with me. Here are a few of the others I've come across while looking for them for my characters, or better yet, here is the link. And I might as well admit that I have the Wendy's one in common with the very first post there. I thought I was the only person. Hamburgers shouldn't be anything other than round. It is just wrong.

[Grenwyn]

I stick to the speed limit, whether it's 65 on the interstate, or 55 on a windy, twisty back country road that is really unsafe to drive at anything over 35.

[Lathander]

I tailgate Grenwyn

[Briek]

I think I am the opposite in which I -never- stick to the speed limit, and I make sure I know by memory where every speed camara is in the local area

[Isaldur]

I allow myself to become annoyed and bothered by people who are self-important narcissists because I always need something or someone to ruin my fun.

I am only attracted to women that are certified crazy. The kind that you come home to after a long day of work and find her dousing your belongings with lighter fluid before torching your house all because you forgot to call during lunch. I believe this is a deep-seated need to punish myself more than society and the world does to me already.

I am 24/7 constantly plotting escape routes and survival plans no matter where I am in case it happens to be the day a zombie apocalypse starts.

I smoke cigarettes when I damn well know they are killing me. That's pretty much the point.

[Briek]

sounds awesome, especially the crazy pyro girlfriend bit

[Gwain]

I'm an orangutan that lives in a library. I used to be human but found that to be holding me back. I'm not insane unless you call me a monkey. Then I go all ape poopy on you.

[Mele]

- I don't eat full meals ever. I'll make something and pick a few bites at it and put it away for later. When I'm inevitably hungry soon from then, I'll repeat the process. Then I'll just eat those several things for a few days, or even fuss at one long enough to have to throw it out. Ironically, I ALWAYS cook too much, too.

- I absolutely cannot sleep without the fan on, and the window open. Here in California I keep it fully open, back in Boston even through the winter it was open at least half way.

- I loathe the phone. I'll ignore calls simply because I hate it.

- I febreeze EVERYTHING. Seriously. I've even squirted the cats on their side from a distance.. >.>

- I'll keep the entire house clean, BUT the bedroom. Stubbornly, I insist no one BELONGS in the bedroom to see the mess anyhow!

- I CANNOT take a liquid medicine without my husband helping me and blocking my nose! I'll seriously choke it up!

[Briek]

don't just disguise smelly odours, FEBREZE THEM NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Lathander]

Alright, I'll give you all ONE.

Whenever I accidently see a digital clock/watch showing all 1s (e.g. 1:11, 11:11), I have to stare at it for ten seconds without looking away. It has to be an accident, planning to look at the clock during one of those times doesn't count. Then, if it doesn't change during that time, I consider it good luck. If it changes during those ten seconds, I can say goodbye to good luck. It doesn't mean I'll have bad luck, just that I won't get the benefit of the good luck. Sometimes I'll challenge myself and glance back a few times after the 10 seconds because I'm a gambler that way. It's actually very hard NOT to look back after counting to 10 and looking away (for me anyway). Oh, and no cheating speeding up the 10-count as it nears the end of the sequence. This usually happens when I'm going to bed. It's amazing how OFTEN it happens.

Try it...I dare ya.

[Jaenoic]

Whenever I hit a bump in the road when driving, I yell out "Woo!" even when I'm alone in the car.

I work in a gym and I have gym OCD. Weights *must* be reracked, and *must* be reracked with like weights. Weights cannot be left on machines, or be out of order, or mixed(eg a 45lbs plate and a 10lbs plate on the same peg). Attachments/handles cannot be left on the ground. If anything near me is disorderly, I literally cannot exercise or work until it's cleaned up. The weird thing is, this orderliness doesn't apply to anything else in my life.

I refuse to kill insects needlessly, which bothers many people(women) around me. I'll go out of my way to pick the insect up and put it outside instead of killing it.

My mind works in squares. I like things to be squared off and even. If I see something jutting out or is slightly out of line with something next to it, I'll move it so it's squared away. This applies especially to mats, rugs, plates, towels, blankets, and papers. Oddly my bedroom is exempt from this rule.

[Lysha]

<_< Right, so...

Volume has to be in 5's or 2's.
Ice cubes have to be in 2's
2 steps to a sidewalk square
I frequently check exits and possible entryways in case of zombie attacks and plan escape routes or places that'd be good to defend (*shudders* zombies....)
I have to say y'all. It's really awkward for me to even type 'you all' or 'you guys'
I can not and will not tolerate the edge of a sleeve flipped up. I will fix it
Same with tags
Canned good have to be facing the same way
I will randomly organize things to be straight and even (my room is an exception. I too believe people have no business in my room)
I have to close cabinets. Can't stand them open
Same with drawers
I will always assume you hate me

...mind you, I've been diagnosed with OCD...so...

[Alaudrien]

when im at a restraunt..I have to clean the table myself when i leave i mean not like scrub it just I cant leave a mess at a restraunt it makes me feel like I was disrespecting someones home!

and.... um...

haha I constantly have to ask what time it is cause I need to know for no reason just than to know. Half the time I don't realize I ask what time it is till someone asks me why I ask so much.

[Mele]

I clean tables at restaraunts, too. But because when I was 13ish I worked as a host/bus girl at my uncles restaraunt so I know how much of a pain it is. So I essentially pre-bus the table so all they have to do is pick the pile up, lol.

[Aveline]

Ok, now that everyone else is joining in on embarrassing themselves, I can share a little more. I thought of some more while talking with someone else and we were making fun of ourselves.

• I never ever eat the last bite of a sandwich. No matter what kind of sandwich. I have no reason behind this, no logical explanation. But I've done it since I was a toddler. If I am still hungry, I'll leave the last bite of the sandwich and get a new sandwich.
• When I am walking somewhere alone, I'll occupy myself by trying to guess how many steps it will take me to get where I am going. When I am paying attention the number of steps from point A to point B HAS to be an even number of steps. When I start getting close to the destination if I start seeing that the number of steps is going to come out being an odd number I'll start taking dramatically shorter or longer steps to make it work. This gets me a lot of odd looks. And also, if I am way off with my guess about how many steps it is going to take, then I'll usually change my guess about midway and try to convince myself the rest of the way that I did not cheat and that was my guess the whole time.
• I also suffer from Jaenoic's edge problem. Everything must be even, stacked neatly, no edge out of line with another. If something is on a counter or the floor, the item MUST be parallel to the lines of the walls/floor/counters..
• When cooking, soup can only be made on the bottom left burner on my stove. Eggs only on the top right. Note that all the burners are the same size and work just the same.
• When eating snack type foods, if a serving is 14 chips, I count out 14 chips exactly, put them in a bowl and enjoy my 14 chips. I wash the bowl and then go get just one more chip to be a rebel.
• It absolutely drives me nutters when my characters' descriptions do not line up... having the same number of characters in every line. I try not to fix them all because I do not want people to know my characters just by that. But I cannot type 'l self' if they aren't fixed because it makes me twitch. Now this brings about another problem, the ascii that I do and the descriptions that I have in my files are in note pad and not in game. I don't like those lines to be uneven either. So, even though no one else can see it, I'll often put in pointless color codes in the lines to make sure they all have the same amount of characters. I'll put in a {90}{90}. And I know that is a little excessive so any time I have to turn one of them in to be published or something I'll delete the extras before they go in. But in MY copy, they are there.
• If there is a button, it is pushed. No exceptions. Even if I see the button every day.
• I had the man redoing the flooring in my house take up the floor and redo his work so that there were an even number of tiles on the floor and so that all of the lines between the tiles lined up with the lines of the walls when they could.
• When I am playing cards..if playing with a normal deck of cards they must be arranged in my hand a certain way. Firstly left to right because that is how we read and right to left is just not right. Then they must be clubs, diamonds, hearts then spades (alphabetical order by suit) And then within each suit they have to be in numerical order with the jokers (If playing with them) fill in the first applicable spaces where cards are missing. Now if playing with some other cards it is basically the same but the cards must be in alphabetical order by color rather than suit. And all numbers/pictures MUST be right-side up.

Ok, I'll wait again before embarrassing myself further. My roommate was more than happy to sit down with me and remind me of the nutty things I do. He says he still has plenty left for later.

[Jaenoic]

I thought of a few more...

I count steps as I go up or down them. Doesn't matter that I've descended/ascended the same flight five minutes ago, I need to count the steps again as I climb them.

I also scope out every place I go to for zombie-apocalypse readiness. My current plan is to stay at home, fill the bathtub with water, bring food upstairs, and destroy the steps behind me. My friend's house is no good because she lives in a basement and the door is super flimsy. Work is no good because there's little food and an entire wall is made of windows to the outside. A mall *might* work, but to me windows and giant glass doors are just as worthless as a hole in the wall.

If I'm a passenger in a car I do this weird mental thing where I watch the sidewalk pass by out the window. When there's grass between the street and the sidewalk I try to go "up" in my mind and when there's no grass I go "down." I see how long I can anticipate the path and keep going without making a mistake.

Also if I'm not driving or in shotgun, I have to sit in the back seat, to the right. No hump seat or left side, ever(I've seriously gotten in a stupid fight over this before).

[Kallias]

Dave, those sound more like symptoms...

I force my dog to watch The Dog Whisperer with me.

[Jaenoic]

Dave, those sound more like symptoms...

Yeah, symptoms of being awesome.

[Mele]

Dave, those sound more like symptoms...

Yeah, symptoms of being awesome.

^this

[Pirro]

Whenever I have candy that comes in many colors (M&Ms, jelly beans, etc.) I pick out one of each color to make a set, eat that set, and then repeat.

Like Grenwyn, I drive exactly the speed limit, and like Jaenoic I count stairs everywhere.