Obsessive-Compulsive Personality

My version of OCD (which I prefer to think of as part of my personality, rather than an outright disorder, so I call it OCP) manifests itself primarily in terms of symmetry.

I detest things which are asymmetrical, but could clearly be symmetrical, if someone only put them the right way round, arranged them properly, or designed them slightly differently.

Examples:

  • Bottles, when laid on their side (for example in a fridge or a wine rack), should always have the labels facing uppermost
    • Exception: bottles which have gone into the fridge more recently should be placed with the label downwards, so that you can easily tell later which ones are coldest - turn them at least half-way round when you put more (with the label downwards) into the fridge
  • Bottles, when standing upright on a shelf etc., should always have the label facing to the front
  • Multiple packets (or boxes) of anything, placed side by side somewhere, should always be the same way round / same way up as each other
  • Cars with rear fog lights, or reversing lights, should have them on both sides, or in the centre. A fog light on one side and a reversing light in the same location on the other side, is an abomination of design
  • Pictures on a wall should not hang askew (although to be honest, I don't think this is an aspect of OCD or OCP; it's just part of The Way Things Should Be for anyone)
  • Towels should hang so that the front and the back fall to the same length (if you've seen Sleeping with the Enemy, you'll know what I mean, but note that I only identify with some aspects of Patrick Bergin's character there)
  • Placemats on a table should be positioned equidistant from sides / corners / joints on the table (as appropriate to the type of tables you have)
  • Bottles in partially-filled (or partially-empty, if you prefer) crates should be placed as symmetrically as possible as the crate gets filled or emptied

Other than symmetry, there are a few other Rules regarding The Way Things Should Be:

  • Toilet rolls, when hung horizontally, should always have the free end hanging from the front
  • Toilet rolls and kitchen rolls, when standing vertically, should always unwind when picked up with the left hand (or the right hand, if you're left-handed) and rotated in the air in the "natural direction" (top of the circle moving away from you)
  • Books, CDs, DVDs etc. should be arranged on a shelf according to one (or more) of the following systems:
    • Alphabetically by author/artist (good for fiction and CDs)
    • Alphabetically by title (good for DVDs)
    • Chronologically (good for series by the same author, or DVD series)
    • Grouped by subject matter (good for non-fiction)
    • Grouped by colour of the spine (good for O'Reilly publications, although this matches the previous point)
    • In order of size (good for efficient use of bookshelf space)
  • Keys should be placed on keyrings so that they are in order of size (length of key hanging down from the ring)
  • Keys should also be arranged with teeth all pointing to the same side of the ring
  • Banknotes should always be the same way up/round (and most currencies have an obvious "front" side of them as well), and kept in order of denominations, in a wallet or money clip

Other systems I use which possibly take things a bit further than most people would think of:

  • Plates and dishes, after washing, always go on the bottom of the pile in the cupboard
    • Always take one/s for use from the top of the pile
  • Knives and forks (plus spoons and anything similar, depending on your customary eating and/or cooking utensils) should always be placed in the drawer to the right after washing, and taken from the left before use (or vice versa, if you prefer)
  • Glasses should be taken from the front of the cupboard and replaced after washing at the back
  • DVDs should always be placed in their boxes with the label upright after they've been watched
    • I don't mean "with the box cover label uppermost"; I mean the disk should be rotated so that the label on the disk is the right way up to be read, inside the box
      • Exceptions are the rather uncommon two-sided DVDs which have no printed label on them, because you have to turn them over in the DVD player to get to the second half of the film; I have only two of these (out of ~1000 DVDs): The Pelican Brief, and GoodFellas
  • Never leave the fridge door open for longer than absolutely necessary
  • Ditto for the oven

I like https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tnzz-eFmKaw

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