Have you ever noticed how we all are a creature of habit? Nothing wrong with it, it’s just what we do. Every day we do the same things over and over, and very little changes, and if something changes, it has a tendency to drive us crazy. That’s like when you’re getting your clothes out of the drawers; couldn’t you do it in the dark if you had to? Probably and never think about it. Shirts in one drawer, underwear in another, then your shorts, it never changes, well most of the time anyway. Once just after we got married, Mel got on a changing things around kick, and after I woke her up at four in the morning because I couldn’t find any underwear, well from then on she left my stuff where it was.

That’s like your socks, have you ever noticed which foot you put one on first? Me I’m a lefty, don’t know why but every time I put socks on I always put on a left sock first. I know I have such an interesting life when I notice stuff like that. But it’s like I’m off balance if I do it any other way. Same with pants, left leg then right leg. It’s like if I do it any other way, they just won’t fit right.

How about a button-up shirt, for that I’m backward. Right arm then left arm. Though, when it comes to t-shirts, I just kind of snatch it over my head, every time I don’t do that, I just wind up getting tangled up in it. And you know what that means, I got one arm in, my head is caught up in the other arm hole, and I’m trying to stick my other arm in the neck, don’t laugh I know I’m not the only one.

Have you ever thought about how you eat a sandwich? Do you start in the middle or on the side? Now you crust cutters, I’m not even attempting to go there. If you start in the middle, which way do you go from there? Do you go left or right? Got you thinking now don’t I? I know somebody who starts their sandwich on the right side goes all the way to the left, then when they reach the other side, starts back again. But this time, from the left then to the right. Every now and then I dare them to eat it the other way, but this person can’t do it, when they try it’s as if they forget how to eat a sandwich to start with.

And that’s like cheese, I know someone who, every time they get a piece of that plastic wrap cheese, has to fold it long ways then fold it long ways again, before they can eat it. No reason, that’s just the way they eat it. Drives me crazy, to the point where I’m doing it now, myself. It doesn’t taste any different; I just do it before I can think about it.

That’s like when you get in your car, do you crank it up first, or do you put on the seatbelt first? Or when you’re pulling out your drive way, do you look left first, then right, or do you do the opposite. I bet you look left, then right, and then left again. When we were taught to drive we were all taught to look left first, then right, but back in our minds, we still have to look left one more time, we just can’t help it.

How about when you eat supper, do you sit in the same place EVERY TIME? Me, we have been living in the same house over twenty years, and every time I eat, it’s the same place. When we have company over Mel wants to eat at the dinner table, we always eat at the bar, and I have to catch myself, “Y’all go ahead, I’m going to eat in here.” The thing is I can reach every thing at the bar; I don’t have to waste all that time saying, “Please pass me the macaroni and cheese”. Seems like it’s just a wasted effort, at the bar I can reach my own macaroni and cheese.

How about when you go to bed at night, I’m willing to bet, you have YOUR side of the bed. Your lamp, your pillows, and your groove in the bed that fits you and you alone. Most nights Mel goes to bed before me, and some times before I get there, she’s on my side. Now I’m willing to give up a lot for a marriage, but my chair and my side of the bed, well sorry about that Mel, but you’re just going to have to move. I hate it, but me trying to go to sleep on the wrong side of the bed, I’d hate that even worse. And besides, I doubt she could sleep much any way, with me staring at the back side of her head all night.

And last but not least, do you close the bathroom door, when you’re the only one home? Have you ever thought about that, there isn’t any body there, you’re all alone, but that door’s got to be shut, just in case the Boogeyman shows up while you’re indisposed. Think I’m crazy, yeah right, have fun staring at that door from now on.

So what is the moral behind this column? Nothing really? It’s just that I keep hearing how people are so different from each other, but if you really get down to the nitty- gritty of it …

We’re all the same.

You can reach Robbin Bruce by e-mail at robbinbruce@yahoo.com.