What Are Your Quirky Childhood Habits?

[BillTre]

Got a link to some instructional pictures or a video? I'd love to learn how to do that...

Here are a couple:


As you hang a new coil on one hand, alternate the way you rotate the other hand as you place the next coil in the hand holding the bundle.

It reminds me of DNA supercoiling.

 

[berkeman]

Thanks Bill, that's super helpful. I've tried all kinds of tricks, and this is the first one that makes sense. Of course, I had to pause the start of the video and get an extension cord from the garage, and play the start several times in a row, but now I get it.

Thanks!

 

[Stephen Tashi]

I don't pick up pennies that I see lying on the ground unless I know I dropped them. But I'll pick up nickles and larger denominations.

 

[DaveC426913]

I don't pick up pennies that I see lying on the ground unless I know I dropped them. But I'll pick up nickles and larger denominations.

You're young and thin, aren't you?

There is a direct correlation between the denominations of coins one will stoop to pick up and one's age.

There is a direct correlation between the denominations of coins one will stoop to pick up and one's body mass index.

 

[Rive]

I don't pick up pennies that I see lying on the ground unless I know I dropped them. But I'll pick up nickles and larger denominations.

I do (don't do?) that too. I mean, I too leave the clutter lying.
What I pick up are the components. Screws, wheel weights, other (small) stuff lying around the sides of any road with heavy traffic.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

I like to mess with waitresses and checkers at the store.

For example, when a checker asks me if I want to donate for breast cancer, I often reply with something like, "No, I'm against breast cancer."

If a waitress asks if I want soup or salad, I say "Yes, I'll take the super salad".

Usually I can make them laugh. All in good fun. Another I used to do was to pull out a five-dollar bill, hold it out and ask if I can have two tens for a five. You would be amazed at how many people will all but hand you the money before it hits them! But I had to stop that one because I learned it could be illegal - quick change artistry! It was just in fun but could get a guy in trouble!

 

[Borg]

When I'm at the doctor, they will usually ask if I'm allergic to anything. I like to reply with "just poison". I get a lot of double takes with that.

 

[russ_watters]

Why?

Because you could start an airplane by attaching the cord to the propeller and letting it untwist.

 

[DaveC426913]

I often try to keep my total rotations zero. That is, if I were to walk all the way around a block at some point I will turn myself around in the opposite direction to balance that. A relatively mild, benign compulsion.

Ahaha! I missed this first time around.

I used to park my car in an underground lot, and noted that, unlike most lots, this one you did not leave by the same route as you came in. The entry ramps were clockwise and so were the exit ramps.

I used to count how many "winds" I was making on my car each day (720 degrees, twice per day), and often wondered how many total winds my car would take before it overcame static friction and spontaneously unwound itself in a human-jam-making whirling dervish.

 

[DaveC426913]

Because you could start an airplane by attaching the cord to the propeller and letting it untwist.

 

[Stephen Tashi]

Nowadays, it might be considered strange behavior to press down the accelerator pedal when starting a gasoline powered car. I do it out of habit, but perhaps modern cars with their computers don't require this.

 

[PeroK]

I don't pick up pennies that I see lying on the ground unless I know I dropped them. But I'll pick up nickles and larger denominations.

I knew someone once who said that the money they found in the street was their main source of income!

 

[Bystander]

I knew someone once who said that the money they found in the street was their main source of income!

Doesn't everything else go to the IRS?

 

[JT Smith]

Because you could start an airplane by attaching the cord to the propeller and letting it untwist.

But my strange habit has to do with me rotating, not other things. Stuff all around is rotating constantly!

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Doesn't everything else go to the IRS?

Did you hear about the 1040 SuperEZ?

How much money did you make this year? $____________________
Please send it.

 

[jbriggs444]

I knew someone once who said that the money they found in the street was their main source of income!

They must walk in different neighborhoods. Around here, my wife and I only manage about $20 to $30 per year. A twenty a couple times, a five here and there, some loose change. Every now and again somebody will stop and offer my wife a fiver. [Presumably on account of apparent homelessness rather than classy gams]

It's nice to do, but picking up loose trash on the sidewalk ain't a paying proposition around here.

Still, if there is a can or bottle within 20 feet of a sidewalk, I'll pretty much always Hoover it up and ditch it at the next trash receptacle or recycle bin.

 

[DennisN]

I remember I had some strange habits when I was a child. Pretty normal, I think. At least I hope so :).

During some period I felt compelled to "balance" things, like if I touched something with my left hand, I had to also touch it with my right hand, to balance the "score" or something like that. Totally unnecessary. :)