Do you know anyone with strange, irrational quirks?

One of my best friends is OCD (obsessive-compulsive disorder), so she straightens up the displays while we’re shopping and such, even though it wasn’t we who made the mess.

My step son is 20 years old. He will stand in the shower until the water turns cold. He will take a bar of soap and lather it between his hands so long that half of it will be gone in two uses. He used to wipe away the drip from his drink on the inside of his glass after taking a drink. Now, he fills his mouth so full of a drink or a bite of food he can barely chew it and often chokes. All he wants to talk about are cartoons and computer games. He coughs and clears his throat almost constantly. He will use almost a whole roll of toilet paper when he goes a number two. If the toilet isn’t clean, he ‘hovers’ when he goes and makes a real mess. When mixing a drink in a glass from concentrate, if he gets the taste wrong instead of putting in more water or concentrate, he dumps the whole thing and starts again. He used to be a real picky eater, but has gotten better. He cried once when the pepperoni pizza arrived and it was square.

I share a quirk with some friends, so it may not be rare. We spend significant time each day online answering odd questions from strangers.

I can’t stop talking about food.

I know a couple of chronic throat clearers.

My best friend’s boyfriend cannot be satisfied in a restaurant. He gets mad if there’s not a water filled glass when he sits down, but will also complain if the waiter comes around with water glasses, because he thinks it’s disruptive. Everything is either too salty, or not salty enough. There’s too many choices on the menu, or not enough menu items that he could actually eat. The food is to hot (both temperature-wise and spice level) or it is too cool. It’s either over cooked or under cooked and the waiter didn’t snap too it fast enough, or the waiter came over while he was in the middle of a conversation and didn’t want the interruption, but then complains bitterly that he doesn’t have any ketchup. If the waiter brings ketchup, he then asks for tartar sauce or maple syrup (things that regular people wouldn’t eat with French fries) and on and on an on.

There are a few people on Fluther that are into role playing, but they try to make sure that we all understand that it’s for real.

I can’t stop talking about food.

@cazzie those behaviours must be incredibly challenging/stretching for you.

@Adagio That’s just the start. I was on my phone on the bus. Some nights he doesn’t sleep and he will pace until 2 or 3am. Some things have gotten better now he’s older, but some new things have cropped up that are challenging, like the sleeplessness. He used to only eat this one type of frozen pizza but it had red pepper on it, so I had to take all the red pepper off it before I baked it. He would cry if I didn’t cut his sandwich in half before I put it in front of him. His lunch box had to be exactly the same every day. I gradually got him to eat healthier food and now he loves to bake with me. He recently told me that if he has to do something he doesn’t want to, ‘My head and gut drive me crazy.’ Taking him to a restaurant when he was younger was a nightmare. I never really minded, except when we were in France and it was my first year in Europe and I was soooo looking forward to the trip. That sounds selfish, but after all these years, I don’t care anymore. I didn’t see much of Paris because we were busy trying to find places that served food that wouldn’t make him cry. It HAS been hard raising a child with Autism. Not all the behaviour is cute and charming. He had it doubly hard because he was able to do what ever he wanted at his mother’s house, but when he came to me, I had rules. I don’t think there is anything wrong with expecting better behaviour from a child, regardless of what their diagnosis is. Bad manners is bad manners. Rude is rude. The good thing is that he now ASKS to come stay with me and we are buddies. He still has clothes and a room in my house and when he is upset, he phones me. I love him dearly, but autism sucks and it is hard to watch him suffer with his confusion and frustration with the every-day.

Apparently I can’t type in the correct amount of “o’s” for my to and too’s either LOL.

@cazzie Without intending to sound in the least glib, given the circumstances handed to you, you have performed magnificently, I take my hat off to you, to be where you are now with your stepson is a huge accomplishment.

@Adagio thank you. That is very kind of you to say. He hasn’t been delt a very easy hand.

I know someone that is a borderline hoarder and is addicted to “slippers”, the Hawaiian word for flip flops. She grew up in Hawaii and is obsessed with her slippers.
She has pairs of slippers that are 20 years old in mint condition and there are slippers everywhere, every door has at least 2 pairs of them, and they are stacked in piles in the laundry room. She never throws away a slipper because they ALL have sentimental value.

EVERY-SINGLE-THING she has has some sort of story attached to it. ” I got that toothpick with the Pineapple on it in 1985 at my 3rd cousins, best friends, sisters wedding.”
” See that yellow rubber band on that bag of chips, it is my favorite rubber band, I have had it since I was about 7 and used to shoot it at my little brother when he was in the bathroom.” I am not kidding. lol