Counting steps
I suppose you could call what I am about to describe an OCD impulse. I have a tendency to count steps. It used to be a conscious thing, in that I got distracted and couldn’t focus on much of anything else whilst counting. Now, it’s reached the point where it’s subconscious, and I don’t even realize I’m doing it until I step off that last stair and I have the total number of stairs ascended/descended sitting front and center in my mind. It’s a fairly meaningless number. I could tell you how many steps any variety of staircases I use regularly have. I suppose nobody’s going to be able to pull one over on me by secretly adding or removing any height between floors. Lesser folks might not notice that difference at all.
Luckily for me, this propensity for counting things isn’t as rare or bizarre as it sounds. The main character in Stranger Than Fiction, for instance, has the exact same thing. And I can’t help but think that a good number of people reading this can at least empathize with what I speak of, even if they don’t do it all of the time. Let’s face it, climbing stairs is boring and fairly exerting (at least in comparison to normal walking); counting the steps is a methodical process that helps one focus the mind on something else.
My dad is aware of my habit (I suspect he has it too, to some degree) and will occasionally ask how many steps we just climbed, just to compare our results, or see if I’m still counting (I am!). One time he asked me for a number after an escalator ride. I didn’t really have a good answer for that. I haven’t yet figured out a way to count moving steps.
