i am neurotic.

I can’t stand when people put dirty clothes in the dryer to fluff them. Especially pants, that’s the worst. You have worn them all day and sat in so many places. There’s could be so many germs on them. Then you put your clean undergarments in there! I don’t fall for the heat kills germs anymore than I fall for the ten second rule. Don’t give that, well I’ll turn them instead out. Just wash them!

My mother once told me that if you accidentally put your undies on inside out it was good luck, and to change them the right way is bad luck. So i have to take them off and get a whole new pair. I just don’t wanna risk the bad luck!

When I was in elementary school, I heard some myth that if you put your shoes together next to your bed, it allows evil spirits and ghosts, and bad luck to get at you. But if you put your shoes facing opposite directions, it confuses them and they can’t get you. So now every time I go to bed, I HAVE to make sure that my shoes are facing different directions in order to even lie down.

I can’t eat with long sleeves on. If I can’t remove the shirt, I have to have them shoved up. If they fall, I won’t take another bite until I shove them back up. If I can remove the shirt with the long sleeves, I will, even if it means I’m cold until I’m through eating.

In the morning, I must coordinate my coffee mug with what I’m wearing. I have considered changing clothes when I feel like using the obnoxiously large one, but instead I just figure the universe would rather me not drink obscene amounts of coffee that day. It’s more important that I match.

I once heard that department store mirrors are 2 way, so security can watch to make sure you’re not stealing. Since then, I will always pick out one extra garment, the largest dress or skirt I can find, and hang it in front of the mirror before I undress. Then I try on clothes, only removing the garment over the mirror when I am “decent.”

I cannot stand people to have hoods inside out. If I wear a sweater with a hood, I check the mirror exactly five times before leaving to make sure it is not inside out. If someone has one that is inside out, I cannot make eye contact with them until the problem has been fixed. I find myself judging people I don’t know on this, and feel bad for making bad assumptions about them.

When I hang the washing out, the peg colours have to match the clothing colour. So a blue shirt would have the blue pegs. If there’s no matching colour then they get a colour that ‘goes’ well with them. So a yellow shirt would get the orange pegs. Oh and a male garment never gets the pink pegs and vice versa.

Every time I tie my shoes, I have to tuck the laces into the sides. I can’t stand it when the loops hang out, or, heaven forbid, when my shoes are untied. Whenever I see someone’s shoes untied, it drives me crazy to the point where I’m almost going around tying people’s shoes for them.

Every year before summer camp I must unpack and repack my trunk at least once a day in the week leading up to the first day. It’s partly because I’m afraid I’ve forgotten something, and partly because I’m still trying to come up with the perfect packing system. Of course once I get to camp my clothes become a wrinkled mess. However, when I first arrive every article of clothing fits perfectly.