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Susan Martin: Quirky? And that’s a problem?

Published:October 16, 2009, 8:35 AM

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Updated: August 21, 2010, 2:32 AM

Most times when I back my car out of the driveway and tap the remote, I wait to see if the garage door closes all the way before I drive off.

On those occasions when I don’t, I feel compelled to drive around the block, just to make sure the door didn’t hit a snag and rise again.

That’s not all.

If I enter an elevator and the button to my destination floor is already lit, I go ahead and push it again anyway.

And at work, I keep perfectly sharpened pencils pointing upward from their holder, a habit that has not gone unnoticed by several of my co-workers.

So is it any wonder that one of them recently handed over a review copy of a book with the all-lowercase title: “i am neurotic” (harperstudio, $12.99)?

“Maybe you can do something with this,” my office mate said, turning quickly away.

Nice, eh?

Troubling title aside, I flipped through the book and discovered that it was a humorous collection of people’s quirky habits, rituals and hang-ups.

Entries came from a blog of the same name created by author Lianna Kong, who defines neurotic as “more of a colloquial term” to describe people’s various idiosyncrasies –or even personality type (think Woody Allen, or Monica Geller from “Friends”).

I came to one entry accompanied by a photograph of perfectly organized paper money emerging from a wallet.

It read: “Whenever I get any cash it has to be ordered from least to most value and all the faces must be oriented the same way ”

I knew I was on to something.

Here are some other entries from the book, with the full title “i am neurotic (and so are you).” I bet you may even see yourself in some of them:

“I open the mailbox every time I walk by. Even when I know there is no mail, like on Sundays or at 3 in the morning.”

“Toilet paper must be on the roll with the loose end trailing over the top not the bottom. I have been compelled to fix this error in friends’ homes, churches and public restrooms.”

“I have a thing about numbers that end in zero. When I’m pumping gas, if it stops at $38.46, I have to get it to $39.00 even.”

“Crumbs in butter tubs or jars of jelly drive me crazywhen I lived with many roommates, I would write ‘No Crumbs’ on the lid of the butter container.”

“I can’t stop myself from aligning the strings on my hooded sweatshirts, and even try to fix other people’s strings.”

“Whenever I go to the bottled water cooler at work I always have to take the cup second from the top of the dispenser in case the first one has been touched by someone else.”

When I eat a Hershey’s Kiss, I have to bite off the point at the top.”

So perhaps I’m not the only one who feels compelled to tuck in a stranger’s shirt tag.

Or to always give a pillowcase a vigorous two shakes before putting it on a pillow.

Or to turn all can labels to the front so I can read them, even though I don’t think the cats care whether they get Beef Feast or Turkey Feast.

Of one thing I am certain: Our garage door is closed.

Need a sharp pencil?

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