Top 5 Tuesday: OCD

I've mentioned before (I'm sure several times) that I have a mild case of obsessive compulsive disorder. I haven't been officially diagnosed, but I'm pretty sure it's there... I'm not crazy or anything. I don't have to lock and unlock the front door three times before locking it for good. I don't have a closet lined with identical clothing. I'm not most every character that Kevin Spacey plays in the movies. However, I do have several... quirks, I guess, that drive me crazy if they're not followed. It's been driving Meghan crazy for over six years, especially considering that she is completely not OCD, to have to put up with my irritatingly specific mannerisms and requirements. While she sees absolutely nothing wrong with starting "corners" in the house with her various sweaters, flip flops, folders, pens, earrings, Fiber One bars, bins, and boxes, it sticks out to me like a sore thumb. Over the years, though, we're grown to learn how to compromise with each other, and I'm proud to say that she's picked up on several of my rituals and agreed to abide by them, while I have also agreed to ignored the aforementioned corners. This, my friends, is what we call marriage. You learn to love these things about the other person, despite the vast difference between your preferences, and it becomes something you smile about instead of calling it a flaw.

Even with the balance that we've struck in our life together, I still find myself adhering to the vast majority of my OCD habits. It was today while walking the Chief that I thought about this particular topic. Every time that I walk him, I find myself abnormally conscious about where I'm stepping. In fact, almost everywhere that I walk outside, I make a concentrated effort to avoid one, specific action: stepping on cracks. In considering this aspect of my life, it led me to today's Top 5 Tuesday: my most important OCD rituals.

5. Wet Towels on Floor: I find that this is more of a general principle than it is a habit, but I can't stand when a wet towel is left on anything apart from a hook on a door or a towel rack or somewhere else where it's going to get dry. I'm not going to name names or anything, but one person in particular has come a long way in this area. I still find myself often laying out our hand towel flat on the counter, eager to get it dry as quickly as possible.

4. Open Drawers and Cabinets: When Meghan and I were first dating, I noticed that she used to constantly leave things open. Drawers, cabinets, consoles, it didn't really matter. It wasn't something that happened often, but just often enough to make me think that there was something wrong with my cabinets. I came to call this her "Sixth Sense" maneuver since it reminded me of the scene in The Sixth Sense where Haley Joel Osment is sitting in the kitchen having breakfast and his mom leaves the room for a moment, only to come back and find all the cabinet doors open, instinctively blaming the child, even though it was a mischievous spirit doing the deed. For a while, I thought I had a ghost, when all I really had was a girlfriend who didn't mind that a door was ajar. Now? This happens very, very rarely.

3. Not Stepping on Cracks: I've already mentioned this one, so it should come as no surprise that it's featured in this week's Top 5. I've avoided stepping on cracks ever since third grade. It was in third grade that Marcos Johnson told me, and I quote: "Step on a crack, break yo momma's back." Now, I wasn't about to go doubting Marcos Johnson's word, so ever since that day I've been rather self-conscious about where I plant my foot. I'm happy to report that thus far, no backs have been broken.

2. Dishwasher Placements: It was a tough decision between this and number 1, but I'm just a little less particular about this than I am that. When I say "dishwasher placements," I mean where dishes are placed within the dishwasher, how they're aligned, the order in which they're distributed, and particularly where the silverware is placed. I'll be honest... I can be a little over-demanding here. I've come quite close to offending people in the past with my rearrangements, and no doubt many a night I've hurt my wife's feelings with an ill-timed, "Misterrrrr!" when all she's tried to do is acquiesce to my irrepressibly persistent ticks and habits. However, I'm a big believe in packing things the right way. It's how I was raised, how my father was raised, and no doubt how his father before him was raised. So while I may not go on many vacations where the car is packed as tightly as possible, I do assume responsibility for a well-packed dishwasher... Whether in my own home or others'. I think that may be where I take it a bit too far... maybe.

1. Volume Level: I lied. It wasn't that tough of a decision between this and number 2. The volume level on a radio or television is singlehandedly the most particular of all my OCD mannerisms. Now, this doesn't apply if the device doesn't have a numerical system wherein the volume is displaying by a number instead of a sliding scale or no display at all. It only applies when I can see a number on that display when you change the volume. When this is the case, I have to, and I can't stress this enough, I have to have that number be an even number or a multiple of five. For example, when I'm listening to the radio in my car, I typically have the volume set at 15, 16, 18, or 20. Rarely do I have to go outside of that range, but if I do, it's within the system. The TV in the living room usually stays with the multiple of five rule: 20, 25, 30, and 40 being the most typical. However, at night when I'm playing Modern Warfare 2 and firing assault rifles and chucking grenades, the volume goes down to 12. NOT ELEVEN, NOT THIRTEEN: TWELVE. This is one that I just can't bend on, and won't hesitate to correct.

I can't tell you why I have many of the habits that I do. I know where a handful of them come from, but the rest? I honestly have no idea. I still, to this day, don't know why I'm as particular about the volume as I am, but I am. It's that simple. If I could not care, I would. I guess the problem is that I care too much... Story of my life!