ARE YOU O.C.D.?

I was at the doctor's office and after sitting for a short period, I began, as is my wont, placing the magazines in the rack in the slots by categories (all the Better Homes And Gardens in one slot, all the Golf Digest magazines in another slot, etc.) After finishing the task, I went to sit down but when I had walked in I had noticed a man sitting there who was swirling a lollipop stick in his mouth. I sat down across from him and he asked me, "Are you O.C.D.?" and although taken aback, I answered, "Yes, but today it just hurts to sit down." He kept swirling that stick in his mouth and by that time, he had fashioned it into a round shape with his tongue. He said, "I noticed you organizing the magazines; what do you think of that picture over there?" I answered, "It bothers me that it isn't symmetrical and aligned properly with the other one."

He said, "Do you have any other things you do because of your O.C.D.?" By that time, I found his questioning, although amusing, rather intrusive, and I answered by asking, "Is yours limited to twirling the lollipop stick?"

He said, "I do this to control my tics." I asked, quietly, "Do you have Tourette's?" He said, "You're as observant as I." We discussed Tourette's and he said that he'd read that there are similarities between O.C.D. and Tourette's in the same brain area. As we were discussing his tics and my compulsion, I was indeed sad that he was called to go in to see the doctor.

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