As far as I know, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder is the only disease which can be channeled to good use. Just think, without a streak of this condition somewhere, there would be no census, no air traffic control, no zip codes, no calendar, no architecture, no Antiques Roadshow, no Ebay, no Jeopardy!, no egg cartons, no poetry, no beautiful repetition of form. There would be no museums, there would be no libraries, and there would certainly be no post-Katrina New Orleans.
We should use Clorox Cleanup wipes on the shared keyboards and shared phones not only when H1N1 is making headlines, but every day of the year. Move the furniture around, clear off your desk, defrag your disk, change the organization chart, analyze your dreams, repeat your fantasies, count ceiling tiles. Organize your day, stand directly in the center. Make sure you have enough money in your pocket, but not too much. In the long run these things will prove to be useful habits. At least we can continue to survive.
Do you think that letting the good times roll in post-Katrina New Orleans is unforced? Do you think we’d be rebuilding the city without collectively being somewhere on the sliding scale of OCD? Those of us who are still here never had any doubt about either praying for or manufacturing some patience, and those who left lacked that certain streak. The city is strengthened by newcomers with an obsessive desire to profit by, learn from, or enjoy this scripted stubbornness.
