It must be that eclectic thing

The other day Barb was helping me unpack my stuff at the new clock tower. She was out of sight for a while then came back, walked up to me and said, “You have 242 shirts.”

“And your point is?”, I asked. No verbal reply. There was some body language but it was indecipherable to me. Okay. Whatever. Her Match.com profile did say she was eclectic* so maybe this was an example of this. I thought maybe she just liked to keep count of things like that. She has a great head for numbers. So I asked, “Did you include the ones in the dirty clothes? And I think there are some I left at your place.”

She had not included those and a couple of days later she reported, “You have over 250 shirts.” Again I asked, “And your point is?” Again I got silence and that indecipherable body language.

I thought about it a while and thought maybe she was trying to say I had too many shirts. So I went into my closet and looked. Nope. I still have room for more:

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Today she told me she was going to count my gloves.

It must be that eclectic thing again.

Update: Okay. To cut down on the comments and private email telling me to “watch it!” or “run away!” keep in mind that 90% of this post was intended to be a joke. Barb laughed at it as much as I did. I deliberately withheld a lot of context and dialog to make it funny. There are no “lies” in it but there is a great deal of deception in it for dramatic and humor effect.

Thanks for all the concern but I really think people should “chill” just a little.


* Originally it had said, “eccentric” but her daughter suggested “eclectic” instead and so it was changed before I saw it.

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17 thoughts on “It must be that eclectic thing

  1. What does it matter to quote a shrill shrew. My mother asked me once how much ammo I had. I told her not enough. My eldest spoke up by reeling off 1200 rounds of this, 650 rounds of that, 220 rounds of something else.

    Mom asked me if that wasn’t enough what was.

    I still haven’t figured out the upper limit but it’s somewhere above 15k rounds for each caliber I shoot.

    🙂

    • I’ve been asked how much ammo I have, or how many guns I have. I honestly say “I don’t know, but if for any reason the cops have to show up, I’m sure it’ll make the news and they will give up counting and just say “thousands and thousands of rounds.”
      I can’t think of any caliber I’ve only got 220 rounds of. Well, except maybe for something I don’t have the gun to shoot it in, like that left-over 8mm Lebel ammo I inherited from a friend.

  2. It almost sounds like a benign form of CDO…which is kinda like OCD only alphabetized… *as* *it* *should* *be*.

  3. The direction that this (and the previous hat thread) line of conversation is taking is getting a bit scary. People tend to be on their best behavior during the “getting to know you” period. Once past that, the “trying to control you” behavior starts to sneak out.

    Watch yourself, Joe.

    • Thanks for your concern but I left out a lot of context that completely changes the intent. This made things far more simple and amusing. I’ll explain in a private email tonight.

      • Well, I was going say something akin to Defens’ comment and add “Run!”, but if the bigger picture is less scary, all should be cool. Still raises the hair on the back of my neck, though.

  4. First they do an inventory “just for the sake of obtaining information, in case we need it” and before you know it they’re engaged in full scale confiscation.

    I tend to agree with Defens; any time someone takes a particular interest in how much of this you have, or how much time you spend doing that, regardless of context, it is because they feel the need to change it. Any. Time. You’d best nip that one in the bud.

    • Eh. I’d have to disagree. I’ve dated people who have the largest/biggest/best collection of X (fill in the blank) and I’ve never felt the need to change it and I sometimes find it very interesting.

      • I think the point, Ubu, is if you interrogate them about the quantity of items or make a big deal about it.

        Big collections of anything can become an issue for either the collector or the person living with the collector. Maybe it’s a red flag for some sort of compulsive behavior? Maybe it just indicates that the collector doesn’t want to throw out some old clothes. And sometimes it indicates a real controlling personality in the person taking an unusual interest in an bunch of old fishing lures (or whatever).

        • Well, that could be true too. I guess it depends on a) what the person is collecting; b) how obsessed the collector is; and c) what the collector’s “other” thinks of the collection.

          If the other person finds the collection interesting, I don’t think it’s a big deal.

          • If the “other” feels the need to take an inventory, while the “collector” does not, that’s the red flag. And there are various levels of being an “other”. A spouse is not the same, and has different interest and commitment levels, as a “significant other” or some such version.

            And I don’t care who you are or what you say your motivation or interest; you don’t come into my house and start taking inventory of anything, for any reason.

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