Dumb Thing I [Don't] Do

This winter I have come to observe personal habits and idiosyncrasies that are kind of nutty. Most of the quirks and tendencies I have had for a while, but it has been only the last month or so that I have really noticed them. I think the habits come from a combination of spending a lot of time by myself throughout my life, simple nerdiness, and maybe a dash of my anxiety and depression disorders too.

I do not make my bed in the morning, or at any other time during the day. When I go to bed at night, the bed is usually exactly how I left it when I climbed out of bed 16 or 17 hours earlier. I make my bed only when I think I might be having an overnight guest. If the guest becomes a regular visitor, then I will eventually inform him that it has never been my habit to make my bed, which in turn usually frees me of that chore.

Unless someone is watching, when I go to my refrigerator to get a drink of milk or juice, I will drink right from the bottle or carton. I will not bother with a glass. When my dishwasher is full and I turn it on, the number of plates and bowls outnumber the glasses by a significant percentage. There are surprisingly few coffee cups too, due to the fact that I will simply rinse out and reuse the same cup or two over and over again. Most of the cups to be washed are cups used by guests.

When alone I talk to myself a lot. Sometimes it is a steady monologue. Most of the time I am talking out loud, in full voice. I am not mumbling or whispering. This is a relatively new phenomenon. I have always mumbled things to myself, but the act of speaking right out loud began only a few years ago. For a while it had me concerned, but I have finally made my peace with it perhaps because I have control of it. I do not talk to myself when someone is around.

When putting on shoes, socks or other foot clothing, I always start with my left foot. Even when I pick up the right shoe first, I will put it down and reached for the left shoe. I do not know where, why, or how this habit began, but it is a regular thing that I have come to notice. It could be a harmless bit of my rather mild obsessive/compulsive disorder. It isn't something that concerns me, but it does seem kind of odd.