Since I have no actual content today, I figured I may as well take part in the Idiosyncrasies/Quirk meme thing:

“Write down five of your own personal idiosyncrasies.”

• I’m almost physically incapable of saying nice things to someone’s face. I can be as mean as I like, but when it comes to complimenting someone, I can only do it if they’re not around. (Conversely, I tend to be very uncomfortable saying mean things behind someone’s back, at least if I know them personally. The idiot strangers I deal with are talked about viciously.)
• I hate to be in the “wrong lane” when driving in town. If I know that, a mile up the road, I need to be in the left lane, I’ll be in the left lane as soon as possible. I’ve got a completely irrational fear that if I don’t get in the correct lane when I can, I won’t be able to get over when I need to. Since I understand the need for a “fast lane” on the interstate, I don’t get into the inappropriate lane there (this is helped, no doubt, by the fact that there are few exits on the left), but I’m always nervous when I pass someone. I can’t help thinking that I’ll never get in front of them and over again before my exit comes — even if my exit is still miles away.
• When I go to the movie theater, I like to sit in the middle of an aisle, near the back of the theater. I want to be standing in line when seating for my movie begins, even if it’s a flop of a movie that’s been in theaters for weeks and I’m the only one going to see it — I hate to risk being forced to search for a seat. I prefer to stay seated to the end of the credits, but I usually don’t — between everyone else standing up, and the employees getting impatient as they wait to clean the theater, I feel pressured to leave. I also have a few other rules about the movies.
• While I’m prone to getting songs stuck in my head, the most insidious “earworm” I’ve ever found is the voice of “Don Adams. I’m incapable of hearing the man’s name without spending at least a couple of hours muttering various quotes to myself, like “…and loving it.”, “Would you believe…”, “Missed it by that much.”, or “Tennessee Tuxedo will not fail!”. I have no idea why Get Smart and Tennessee Tuxedo quotes stick in my head this way (especially since they were both off the air long before I was born).
• Like Michele, I have an aversion to meeting people’s eyes when I’m talking to them. In order to make it less obvious that I’m trying not to meet their eyes, I’ll often focus on something else while listening, which tends to make people think I’m not listening at all, even if I am. I’ll confess that this tactic occasionally fails, as I’ve been known to get distracted while practicing it, though that happens far less often than people think it does.

( þ A Small Victory )