GTKY: What makes you weird?

MommaBean · February 2017

(totally stolen from March 17 because I thought it was a great thread)

Let's hear it, ya freaks.

MommaBean · February 2017

madamerwin · February 2017

I have something called number-form synesthesia. Basically, numbers take on a very set, specific pattern in my head, and the pattern has been the same for as long as I can remember (early childhood). Like, you start at zero, and it's a curving line up and to the right to five, then up and to the left to ten, then sharper up to the left to 20, then a less sharp upward curving line to 30, etc. 100's repeat the pattern, and every 100 through 10000 repeats the same pattern as 1-10. Every number has a specific point in space, and when I think about that number, I am ON that number in my head. Like, if I am on 43, I can look "backwards" to 22, or jump "forward" to 80. Closer numbers are clearer, but more distant numbers are kind of fuzzy until I jump to them.

Dates have their own form - almost like every month is a stick, and they are roughly arranged in a circle. Looking down from above, April/May would be at the top, November-January at the bottom. But since today is 2/2, I am standing ON 2/2 and it's kind of like I am looking across the year on a flat plane. All of February is a line in front of me, with March 1 starting the March "stick" farther out. April is next to March, and May is above and beyond April. July is farthest away, kind of like across a disc. When I think of a date, I jump to that date in my head and view the rest of the calendar from that perspective. I have a freakish memory for important dates (like birthdays) because I can "see" people or events ON those days in my head. Days of the week are also arranged in a circle of sorts, made up kind of like squares in a board game. Wednesday is the biggest square, followed by Thursday. Tuesday is smallest.

It is kind of hard to explain without a diagram, but if you Google it, you can kind of get an idea of what I am talking about. For most of my life I thought that this was just how everyone visualized numbers, until the topic came up with my dad and he made me draw it out for him. He was thoroughly amused and perplexed. Turns out that I am weird.

krob · February 2017

ummmm @madamerwin i think i have the same thing. i didn't know there was a name for it. it's very hard to explain but i know exactly what you mean, especially in regard to numbers. Not sure if I do the same with dates/calendars. I think so, but it's less clear in my head. The each number especially those 1-100 have a clear and distinct location that never moves.

MommaBean · February 2017

@madamerwin that's so interesting!!

I have a comparatively mundane one: I don't have favorites. No favorite color, song, movie, lucky number, anything. I think it's weird!

madamerwin · February 2017

@krob If you get what I am talking about, then I would guess you also have it to some extent. When I explain it to people how don't have it, they generally have a very hard time even grasping the concept (which is amusing to watch, like in the case of explaining it to my dad). There are a bunch of different forms of synesthesia, and they are all closely related. From my understanding, when you are born, you have a ton of neural pathways between different areas of your brain. Many of them die off as you get older (within a couple of years?), but for people with synesthesia, some of them remain and tie different senses together. So some people see letters/numbers as colors, or "smell" music, or assign emotions to numbers or letters. In the case of number-form synesthesia, it's a spatial-number connection. Though I guess the alphabet also has a very distinct form and pattern in my head...

Either way, it's an interesting phenomenon.

krob · February 2017

@madamerwin alphabet has distinct pattern in my head as well!!! kinda cool to learn something about myself here!

kswiger06 · February 2017

Yup... that sounds pretty weird to me lol. (The numbers thing, I tried to imagine how you see it, but don't grasp how you envision it everytime)

I have some OCD tendencies. I've done certain things since I was a kid and never realized that it isn't normal for people to do it. Like my grandma is/was a beautician, and she has her own beauty shop room in her house with the spinning pump chairs and hair dryer chairs. Well as a kid I would sit in the spinning pump chair and spin myself in a circle going one direction, but I'd count each spin, then I'd spin in the opposite direction to make it "even". As an adult I don't spin in chairs, but my body naturally knows that if I get out of the car and forget something, if I turn around to the left, I will get whatever out of the car and spin back around to the right. Or if we walk around our garden outside, I will turn around and go back around the way I came before I go back to the house. Same with entering and exiting a house. If I go in the front door, I leave through the front door. If I take steps instead of an elevator going up, I also take steps going down. And those darn electric ovens with the dials that go in a complete circle, I have to turn it from low to high, then instead of just clicking it off, I will turn it all the way back around past low to get to off. If I see someone turn it on and just bump it off, I try to discreetly turn it the opposite way even though it's already off and I have no reason to mess with it. For some reason I like things to be done evenly. I have routines that if I don't follow, drive me crazy. My husband started catching onto my spinning thing several years ago, and asked me why I spun around like I was dancing (we were in the mall) and I explained it to him. At the time he thought I was joking, but it's to the point now where if we walk around the garden he'll ask me if I need to go the other way before we can go back up to the house. I have no clue why I do this, but if I temporarily ignore it then I'll end up going back outside at some point just to "fix" it. I admit it's pretty weird

I also have a weird thing with some of my dreams. I 100% believe that when I dream about someone who died, it's a way for me to really see them again and be with them. I've only told a couple people about this, and when I did I think they tried to act like it was a real thing that I got to experience, but I don't think they really believe it. I get to dream of loved ones right after they die, and I normally only get 1, but with my grandpa I had maybe 4 or 5. I know they aren't here anymore in my dream, so I just tell them how much I love and miss them and kind of catch up, but I truly feel that I get to reconnect with them. I was told once that I was weird for thinking that, so I quit telling people.

NiceyMeany · February 2017

birdiejo · February 2017

@madamerwin that is so cool and I feel like you explained it really well especially for someone who literally cannot picture it.

Partyof6? · February 2017

I don't think I have anything to compare here, but I have a couple. I am an only child, my parents are both only children and my grandma is my only living grandparent. I had no cousins growing up, and we are a very close knit group of 4. After this baby comes, each of us can hold a kid and it is double the amount of us, which is crazy.

madamerwin · February 2017

@kswiger06 I have a similar thing, but only with the spinning part - if I turn one way to pick something up, I have to turn back in the opposite direction. But you take it to a whole new level with stairs vs. elevator, walking paths, which doors you enter and exit through, etc. I very often will walk up one flight of stairs in my work, across the skybridge to another building, and then down three flights of stairs to the ground floor, get coffee, walk outside back to the original building, and then take the elevator back up two flights to my starting point. That would probably drive you nuts, with the stair/elevator combination and not going back the way I came

kswiger06 · February 2017

Lol @madamerwin yes it would be something that I couldn't do. I'd end up going the opposite way at some point just to even it out. I've gotten pretty good at coming up with decent excuses if I'm with a group of people for why we should go back the other way haha. It's weird because it just eats away at my brain that I need to go the other way. It's actually quite frustrating at times, because I know there's no reason to do it.

leslie1331 · February 2017

I'm obsessed in Amish people. Like I don't want to be Amish, but I'm fascinated by them. When I see a buggy go by I almost run off the road staring!! And I read a mystery/thriller book series about them. Such a loser thing!

kswiger06 · February 2017

leslie1331 said:

I'm obsessed in Amish people. Like I don't want to be Amish, but I'm fascinated by them. When I see a buggy go by I almost run off the road staring!! And I read a mystery/thriller book series about them. Such a loser thing!

We live bordering Amish country and we see at least 1 buggy everyday!! It's become normal to us, but when we have family visiting they almost always say something like "omg!! We saw a buggy coming right down your road!" Lol you're close enough you could come visit and get your daily Amish fix

leslie1331 · February 2017

@kswiger06 I totally should!! I haven't been to Amish country, I totally am this summer though!

Partyof6? · February 2017

leslie1331 said:

@kswiger06 I totally should!! I haven't been to Amish country, I totally am this summer though!

Baby playdate? I want to come

MissMerciBeaucoup · February 2017

So my weirdness is that I often feel like an impostor. I have a great career, I love my husband, our house, our whole life - there is literally nothing to complain about. But I sometimes feel like a kid playing dress up and I'm not really qualified to have any of it. Like some day everyone will realize that I'm a fraud and that I'm not that special. My husband will realize that he could do better, or my boss will realize that I'm not really that smart or qualified to do my job, etc. I feel like I've convinced the world that I deserve all of these things, but I actually just lucked into all of it...

LivingLaVidaGinger · February 2017

I'm a left-handed ginger so.... there's that.

leslie1331 · February 2017

Partyof6? said:

leslie1331 said:

@kswiger06 I totally should!! I haven't been to Amish country, I totally am this summer though!

Baby playdate? I want to come

Yes!!! It's a date!!

Xstatic3333 · February 2017

Where to begin....Guys, I'm pretty weird.

I get obsessed with things. For one, music. Since 7th grade, when most were all about the boy bands, I was obsessed with Foo Fighters. Really obsessed. I still love them and have seen them 12 times. In high school I became similarly obsessed with U2. I think I've them 5 times, 6 coming in June. H is obsessed with a slightly lesser known band called Wilco and I've piled on that as well. We've seen them 12 times-they tour a lot more than the other two.

I'm also obsessed with scuba diving and have made some horrible financial decisions in service of the hobby. I used to crawl out of my skin if I couldn't go every weekend (I do it locally, not as a globe trotter). Clearly that will end (the horrible decisions, not diving) now that I'll be a parent.

Pregnancy has paused many of my standard hobbies and obsessions but I have found substitutes, namely collecting things. For one, I've become a weird accumulator of cloth diapers. If I don't stop now, we're not saving money. I've also been obsessively hoarding beer, particularly special releases from local breweries. If you open my fridge right now it's full of beer, but H isn't allowed to drink any until I pop and can share it.

PerraSucia · February 2017

I'm pretty weird.

I'm a completionist in an obsessive kind of way. Like I've read 8 books in a series that I hated just because I've already started. It makes me amazing at researching things on the internet and terrible about not eating a whole bag of snacks.

Wait I asked H for everyone and this is what he said:

"you really hate garnish on your plate and once asked for your breakfast without any decorative items

you are really particular about your coffee ratio and won't let them top you off until you've finished your cup

you inist on singing songs you only know like 4 of the words to "

lfrank12 · February 2017

Two things that make me pretty weird:
1) I can't burp on command. I honestly almost never even burp in general, it maybe happens 5 times a year and they are pathetic baby burps
2) There are a ton of foods I can't eat due to their textures. Mostly vegetables and fruits. The actual taste of the food is fine but the texture makes me want to spit it out immediately. Some things I've gotten over since getting older (like yogurt). Worst offenders are raw onions & tomatoes and apples

sunshine2417 · February 2017

@MissMerciBeaucoup have you talked with someone about that? That sounds exactly like Imposter Syndrome, actually. You should look it up.

Essentially it's defined: "Impostor syndrome (also known as impostor phenomenon or fraud syndrome) is a concept describing high-achieving individuals who are marked by an inability to internalize their accomplishments and a persistent fear of being exposed as a "fraud" Impostor syndrome can be defined as a collection of feelings of inadequacy that persist even in face of information that indicates that the opposite is true. It is experienced internally as chronic self-doubt, and feelings of intellectual fraudulence."

I was screening applications once where someone talked about working through their struggle with Imposter Syndrome.

MrsDramaK · February 2017

TeacherMom2517 said:

@MissMerciBeaucoup have you talked with someone about that? That sounds exactly like Imposter Syndrome, actually. You should look it up.

Essentially it's defined: "Impostor syndrome (also known as impostor phenomenon or fraud syndrome) is a concept describing high-achieving individuals who are marked by an inability to internalize their accomplishments and a persistent fear of being exposed as a "fraud" Impostor syndrome can be defined as a collection of feelings of inadequacy that persist even in face of information that indicates that the opposite is true. It is experienced internally as chronic self-doubt, and feelings of intellectual fraudulence."

I was screening applications once where someone talked about working through their struggle with Imposter Syndrome.

Aka

MissMerciBeaucoup · February 2017

@teachermom omg! I've only spoken with some of my female colleagues who have similar feelings. I thought a lot of it stemmed from working in a male dominated field starting as a young woman... But I didn't know it was a real thing, I'll have to look into it more!
@MrsDramaK haha ouch!!

krob · February 2017

@PerraSucia i love you even more after hearing about your weirdness! especially the ones your hubby added.

i am also and internet searching fanatic. i believe the answer to anything is on the internet and if i can't find it then i am just not using the correct search words.

i used to have to sleep with all doors closed to our bedroom. but 3 years of living in a loft with no doors cured me of that one.

madamerwin · February 2017

@MissMerciBeaucoup imposter syndrome is actually relatively common, especially among women. I also have it, and didn't realize it was an actual thing until I brought it up with a therapist a few years ago. It's crazy how many people that I've talked to have it!

kswiger06 · February 2017

@krob I had a weird door thing as a teenager, that I feel like is "fixed" as an adult. As a teen I always had the fear that someone was hiding in my closet. I would open it up every night and inspect it before bed. One night I heard a noise in there, and it ended up being my cat. I immediately took the closet door off and my parents didn't get it put back up until I moved out of the house. Now, my husband and I keep latch hooks on all our random doors. (Basement, attic, closets) and with the hooks latched I haven't had any worries. ---- We keep them latched just to ensure the kids aren't going anywhere we don't want them going because they can't reach the hooks so they'd have to rip them out and we'd obviously notice that.

kirstynikole · February 2017

LivingLaVidaGinger said:

I'm a left-handed ginger so.... there's that.

You and my son seem to have that in common. At least so far he's a pretty strong lefty.

MrsDramaK · February 2017

As long as I don't have to pay for it, I'll do almost anything once just to prove that I will.

Also my food can't touch on the plate and sweet things cannot be part of my meal.

And when someone touches silverware together I cringe cause I hate the sound.

kirstynikole · February 2017

I've got some weird OCD tendencies as well. One of them is that volume has to be even numbers or intervals of 5 and intervals of 5 have stronger pull than even numbers. So even if the perfect volume is 23, I'd rather it be 24, but really to satisfy the weird habit, 25 is best. Weird thing is 22 would work or 26.. it's really odd. My H likes screwing with me about it.

Vastra · February 2017

Due probably to a lifetime in musical theater, one of my coping mechanisms is to picture everyone around me bursting into song (ala the opening numbers of The Muppets or La La Land). This is especially fun on the subway in NYC; my brain can turn any surly commuter into a pole-dancing, lindy-hopping star. Sometimes the song is something I'm listening to on headphones, most of the time it's whatever I think would be funny. My assboss from a couple of years ago frequently starred as a Newsie.

kswiger06 · February 2017

Oh oh I'm full of weirdness... I'm getting ready for bed and this reminded me of it. If I am going up a set of stairs in the dark, I get super anxious and get freaked out. I try to stay calm, but I always end up running up them as fast as I can. I usually try to get up the steps faster than at least one of our dogs so I'm not in the "back".

Gretchypoo · February 2017

You all are freaks and I love it so much :-)

I have a thing about stairs/escalators. I don't like them and have a huge fear of falling down them. So when I am walking down stairs I have to count them. If I carry something downstairs it is worse. And I can't talk while walking down the stairs bc I'm concentrating and counting. I will hold up the line on an escalator so I don't step on the line. My foot has to go in the center of the step. It got really bad when I worked at Crocs and heard stories of kids getting their shoes stuck in escalators. So my fear is both falling down and getting stuck in the "teeth" of the escalator.

Also, every time it snows, rains or gets icy and I drive, my brian creates elaborate scenarios in which H or I dies. I can't stop them once they start and about 30% of the time they make me cry while I'm driving.

Spicyweiner · February 2017

I cannot stand my feet being touched.

leprechaunlady · February 2017

I have quite a few already mentioned, like the volume being an even number or multiple of 5, cant stand feet being touched or being touched by someone elses feet, a touch of imposter syndrome (i also didnt know it was a thing & work in a male dominated environment) but have more ocd tendancies with food. Certain foods cannot touch on my plate & with sweets that have several colours like say skittles i have to empty out the packet & seperate them into their colours & eat them in a certain order. I also dont eat green or yellow sweets as i think they taste like the smell of washing up liquid (like when you sqeeze the bottle and the air from the bottle goes in your mouth).
i also have a bit of a rainman thing about car regustration plates, i could tell you every plate my parents have had since i was little & any ive had myself, i recognse people when i pass them on the road not because i see them behind the wheel but because i recognise the number plate. I use them as passwords for things as i know ill never forget them!

birdiejo · February 2017

Spicyweiner said:

I cannot stand my feet being touched.

This was the one I was considering using ! Although I'll add to mine that if you do touch my feet, you risk bodily harm because they are so ticklish I cannot control what happens in order to get them away from said touching.

MommaBean · February 2017

I thought of another one: if I'm wearing a coat zipped up and the zipper gets stuck, I get totally panicky and have to get out of the coat NOW. Same thing when my seatbelt locks but that's easier to escape from.

Xstatic3333 · February 2017

@MommaBean seatbelt locks are so panic inducing. I also panic when boots are too tight and I can't wiggle my toes.

Starfish113 · February 2017

Janefelicity said:

i also have a bit of a rainman thing about car regustration plates, i could tell you every plate my parents have had since i was little & any ive had myself, i recognse people when i pass them on the road not because i see them behind the wheel but because i recognise the number plate. I use them as passwords for things as i know ill never forget them!

This is so me!! I know EVERYONE'S license plate number and everyone thinks it's super weird. But they just stick in my head and I always read them when people pass me so I know if it's a certain friends car or not!!

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