O. C. D.?

     At what point do little habits, preferences, if you will, qualify for obsessions?
     Is it when we are driving to the post office to drop off some bills and when we get there I go ahead and pull up to the second big mailbox because I know if I stop at the first one I will not be able to wrench the envelopes out of Dennis's hand? They MUST be deposited in the second box. Maybe he was scared by a mailbox when he was a little kid. Who knows?  All I know is he will never, ever use the first box. See, he may have an obsession.
     Or when Dennis has some pills to take. He takes a multitude of pills a day, unfortunately. He takes the pink one. He waits two minutes, at least. He takes the brown one shaped like a football. He waits the same amount of time. He takes the little brown one. He waits. Same thing with the little yellow one and the  red and white capsule. You see where this is going. I have tried to tell him it doesn't matter if he takes them all at once. He disagrees and waits some more.
     When he has an appointment I have asked our doctor, who is a professional and he has seen her at least every three months for eight years and she has never steered us wrong, if it is okay for him to take his pills all at once. She says "Sure." Dennis nods but the next time he goes to take his pills, he takes them at the same interval between each pill. Just think what he could do with that extra hour or so a day.
     I have asked our-son-the-doctor, who has had four years of medical school, five years of residency and has been in practice eight and a half years, to explain it to him. He says, "Dad, don't be ridiculous." Dennis gives him The Look that says,"What do you know?  You're a kid," and continues to take his pills the same way he has for years. This is rooted in his past, I'm sure. I remember his mother doing the same thing, but somebody might say it's a compulsion, or something.
     I, of course, never do such arbitrary things. There are perfectly sane reasons why I do the things I do. Take car keys, for instance. No matter how soon I get out of the car after putting my keys in my purse, I have to reach back into my purse and touch them before I can lock the car. I tell myself while I am doing this "You just put them in your purse. You don't have to touch them." But I know if I don't touch them they will magically jump back into the ignition and I will lock them in the car. I don't have a spare key hidden in my wallet anymore because the car manufacturers kindly killed that option unless you want to pony up another $230 for an extra key. I've only locked the keys in the car once in the last couple of years. But then I sat and waited an hour for the locksmith to come with something that looked like a whoopee cushion and a bent coat hanger and opened the car for me in about thirty seconds. (Which is pretty scary in itself .) So, it's important to be careful about the keys.
     And there's the cell phone. To overcome my fear of leaving home without it I must touch my cell phone in my pocket as I am walking out the door. Except for when I'm talking on it as I am heading for the car, reach in my pocket to see if the phone is there and then.... "Oh! My! Gosh!! Where is my phone?? I have to go back and look for it!" At which point my daughter-in-law, Jerilyn, who is usually the one I'm talking to at these times, waits patiently, thinking, "Check your hand. Are you holding it up to your ear? Is there anything in that hand?" but she's too polite to say it. I figure it out but I'm still uneasy as I get into the car because my pocket is empty.
     Okay, there is that thing where I can't sleep at night until I have decided what I am going to wear the next day. Never mind that the only person who may see me that day is Dennis and he is almost legally blind so who cares, but I need to know. I may even get up out of bed, consult the closet, and only then can I go to sleep. But have you ever had that dream where you are walking down the hall at school and not only have you not studied for the exam you are about to take but you are also naked?  Okay, I have too, but I have never yet actually gone to school or any place else naked because I am prepared by knowing what I am going to wear the next day. See, planning ahead is important.
     I think other people may have the odd obsession here and there.  I'm pretty sure I'm just being careful.