Lab OCDness

Today in the lab I was having this conversation with my fellow post-doc about people with OCD. He was recanting his experiences working in a previous lab about some bloke who had what we would classify as borderline-clinical commitment OCD. Some examples:

When using pipette tips, this guy picked them out in line-order from his box compared with random selection. FYI: Apparently this technique is called the anal-retentive tip usage method (ARTUM).

Ordered tip-usage:


Random tip-usage:



Another example was the reagent bottles and microcentrifuge tubes on his bench would be perfectly aligned:



The best example was that if you needed to take one glove from this guy's latex glove box, you had to take TWO. Never one. Otherwise there would be an unpaired match left in the box. Ohhhhh! The HUMANITY!

Now I have a few friends who have either openly admitted to having OCD or have closeted OCD (they exhibit the behaviour but haven't admit that there's a problem). I know that this is a legit psychological disorder. However, personally I think everyone has an OCD quirk in their daily routine. I found out mine a few years ago. It has nothing to do with lab work, but personal grooming. If I notice an aberrant hair on my face, I HAVE to pluck it out immediately (otherwise it really annoys me for the entire day/night). As for lab OCDness, I'm more a of random tip-user and although I like keeping my microcentrifuge tubes in order, if one's facing the wrong way... eh. As for the glove box issue. I will have to admit that if I take one glove, I do think, "but that will mean an odd number of gloves in the box". But that doesn't stop me. I'd like to think it's more environmentally friendly. Yeah... that's it.