Weird little quirks/superstitions you've discovered about yourself

Sonicator wrote:
Thin_J wrote:

When I shift into neutral in my car I waggle the shifter right and left for no reason. I guess it's sort of a verification for my brain that "Yep, I'm out of gear" but I didn't start doing it for that reason. I have no idea why.

I do the same, but it's a conscious thing.

I do this as well.

MacBrave wrote:
Sonicator wrote:
Thin_J wrote:

When I shift into neutral in my car I waggle the shifter right and left for no reason. I guess it's sort of a verification for my brain that "Yep, I'm out of gear" but I didn't start doing it for that reason. I have no idea why.

I do the same, but it's a conscious thing.

I do this as well.

Me too.

Wow. Y'all are crazy.

If I think about it, I can't step on a crack - or an un-even-ness, like where hardwood meets carpet - with only one foot; I need to do the same thing with the other foot. If I really think about it, I have to have the crack (or whatever) touch the same part of both feet; if I miss with the second foot, I then have two un-even-nesses to fix.

If I'm not thinking about it, it doesn't bother me at all.

MacBrave wrote:
Sonicator wrote:
Thin_J wrote:

When I shift into neutral in my car I waggle the shifter right and left for no reason. I guess it's sort of a verification for my brain that "Yep, I'm out of gear" but I didn't start doing it for that reason. I have no idea why.

I do the same, but it's a conscious thing.

I do this as well.

Same here. Every time I get into a car that's stick driven. And when I get out too. It was, almost literally, drilled into all of us Field Support Mechanics during my compulsory military service due to some really nasty accidents while out in the field.

If examining impulsive behavior done in hopes of warding off "bad luck" or attempting to avoid some unwanted "fate" and reminding myself that such things are the fabrications of the human mind and have no bearing in reality qualifies as a quirk, then yeah I have a quirk.

Makes me tons of friends when I point out to fellow fans of my favorite sports teams, "Absolutely nothing you do has any bearing on the outcome of the game tonight. It doesn't matter if you wear those socks you haven't washed in 8 years. It doesn't matter what route you take to the stadium. It doesn't matter whether you hold in your poop until the team scores." All this has made me realize is that people actually like their superstitions and find some kind of value in them even though I'm sure they know it's silly.

People also love me when they say things like, "Oh man! today is December 12, 2012! I should play 12, 12, 12 in the pick 3!" and I question how the numerical date has anything to do with the outcome of the Pick 3. And if there were such a thing as "luck", don't they think that all the mystical luck was used up when the date became 12-12-12 in the first place? Or will the sheer amount of people flocking to play 12,12,12 cause some kind of inbalance in the universal reserve of luck and cause 6,6,6 to come out instead? So perhaps they should play 6,6,6 instead...but oh man, Wait! That might invite the satan into your life and if 6,6,6 comes out and you win that would be in essence like making a contract with the devil. So is winning the Pick 3 worth your immortal soul??

Friend Anthony: "The Rangers scored 2 goals in the 2nd period of the second playoff game! I should play 2-2-2 tomorrow."
Me: "Why?"
Tony: "Because...2,2,2...it's lucky."
Me: "How is that lucky? And what the hell is luck anyway?"
Tony (now trying to come up with some rationale to explain this): "Uhhhh...they scored twice in the second period of the second game."
Me: "Yesterday they didn't score at all in the first period of the first game. Did you play 0-1-1? Or 2-3-1 for their 2 goals in the third period of the first game?"
Tony: "You're an a-hole."
Me: "Why, because I saved you money you would have otherwise lost playing the lottery? You should be buying me a beer for my clear-headedness, not cussing me out."
At this point he goes to the bathroom and brings me back a Bud Light, which he knows I hate.
Me: "You're an a-hole."
Tony: "You're lucky I didn't fill it up in the bathroom."

CptDomano wrote:

Whenever I leave a room, I always have to touch everything in my pockets to make sure I actually have them.

I also have that quirk. It's strongest when I'm tired.

I once near-panicked because my keys were in my pocket. It took me a moment to remember that it was because I was driving at the time.

Mere Anarchy wrote:
MacBrave wrote:
Sonicator wrote:
Thin_J wrote:

When I shift into neutral in my car I waggle the shifter right and left for no reason. I guess it's sort of a verification for my brain that "Yep, I'm out of gear" but I didn't start doing it for that reason. I have no idea why.

I do the same, but it's a conscious thing.

I do this as well.

Me too.

This is a thing I also do.

When I was little and climbing around my mom's car I'd usually hit it in to gear, and we'd get that classic lurch when she came out to drive us somewhere. I hate that lurch.

Also, Ghostship should talk about flow state some more! You know Chris Peterson died recently right? Sadness.

My astigmatism causes me to look sideways at something I'm watching intently in a fairly distinctive manner, rather than straight-on like normal people do. One of my daughters has inherited the distinctive posture, so it's a good bet she also has my particular kind of astigmatism.

My ears, eyes, and cheek features are so asymmetric that a mirror-face image of either side duplicated into a whole face looks nothing like me (done it on photo editors).

Thin_J wrote:

I sort and face the money in my wallet the same way. People hand me change in a restraunt, I'll stand there and face it all and then put the bills in order in my hand before I put it in my wallet. This is a leftover from my brief time spent running a cash register at retail. Had a supervisor that threw a fit when someone didn't face their drawer. She talked to me about it the first time I ever ran a register and never had to again. Mine was always perfect after that. Just became habit to face/sort money when it's handed to me.

This is a quirk? I always thought it was merely being organized. I actually hate it when someone tosses the cash, receipt and change all in one hand. "What the f*ck am I supposed to do with it like this? What am I, a slob?" I think to myself. Instead I just hold it all, move over to the side so I'm out of the way, stick the receipt in the plastic/paper/whathaveyou bag, the change in my pocket, then sort the money in my wallet.

I call it "reason number 7353 why I prefer debit over cash".