I'm not crazy. You just don't do it right.

Some time ago, Sis1, Sis2, Aunt Debs and myself were swapping stories about how anal retentive particular we are about certain things.
How our clothes are ironed. (Come on, you gotta iron the lining. And pockets. And the lines have to be perfect.)
How pots and pans are stored. (Sets go together. Biggest at bottom, smallest at top.)
How books are arranged. (By genre. Then by author. In my case, by publisher.)
How clothes are hung to dry. (By type and colour. And facing the same way.)
How cans are placed in cupboards/shelves. (By product, by type. Labels must face front.)

And...the list goes on. And on. And on. And so on and so forth. And then some.

Bro-In-Law2, who is within earshot, shakes his head and comments that it sounds as though we're all competing to see who's craziest.


Last night, I was chatting with Mum. It was lovely to sit down and talk with her; we haven't had a proper chat in ages. But anyway. She told me about what Aunt Debs mentioned earlier in the day.

OCDish people like us are process-oriented. Everyone who does it "wrong" is goal-oriented.

At the end of the day, we achieve similar goals. Cans are put away in cupboards. Clothes are hung up and get dry. Books are on the shelves. But it's HOW we do it that's important.

And you know what? People think we're crazy for doing things the way we do. Why should it matter if money is arranged in my wallet, not only by denomination, but also by all the notes facing the same way? After all, it's still money.

I assure you: There is a method to our madness.

First and foremost, arranging things properly? It's aesthetically pleasing!

And well...It makes perfect sense. It makes life so much easier. It puts order in an otherwise chaotic world.

When I open the kitchen cupboard, I can see everything at a glance.
I can close my eyes and pick out whatever book I want from my shelves - and at most, I'm only one book off.
When I'm at work, I don't have to look for things - I automatically pick up whatever I need, because I know exactly where they are.

So go ahead, call us crazy. OCD. Anally retentive. High maintenance. Call us whatever you want!


We're still doing it our way. And our way? It's the right way.