Things you would never admit to IRL because they'd think you were weird!

[HiddenBooks]

This is a topic that's been going round in my head lately as a thought popped into my mind a few weeks back and is becoming the itch that can't be scratched!

As I was driving home one day, I saw a random lorry with a place name on the side that I didn't recognise, and I thought "I wonder where I'd end up if I just followed that lorry?"

This has now become a regular topic of thought, wondering how long I'd drive for before I gave up following someone and just went home. Or wondering if they might see me driving behind them and realise I'm following them (that would be an awkward convo with the police - "why are you following that vehicle", "Well, officer, I was a bit bored and just wondered where they were going and thought I'd tag along"!)

In my head I've even gone so far as to thinking that if I were single it could be a nice day out! Pack an overnight bag, hop on the motorway and choose a vehicle to follow to see where I end up. Eventually give up and find a hotel for the night (or give myself enough time to drive home again if I couldn't find anything).

So... I realise I am weird for thinking this, but MN is a "safe space" where we can all admit our oddities without being outed, so what are yours?!

I also do this! Try to memorise clothing, footwear, height and any other distinguishing features.

Makes me feel a bit better that this and my weird 'only-doing-exercise-to-survive-a-zombie-apocalypse' exercise regime are not so weird after all ! Thanks Mumsnet!

I get a lot of intrusive thoughts which I generally don’t talk about as some of them are very fucking weird. Some of the ones I’m prepared to admit to are: worrying that I will lick my fingers while handling raw chicken. Worrying that I might throw my cup of tea over the person I’m talking to (especially if it’s someone I don’t know very well). There are loads more. I think this kind of thing is actually quite common but I expect most of us don’t tell others about them.

Laiste I think you may have Tryophobia. Do not google this, you may throw up or get all itchy. I have it and can't stand plants with holes, clusters of dark eggs etc.

Ooh that’s pretty mind boggling!

Another weird thing I wonder is what traces of me have been left behind in houses I’ve lived in or grandparents houses. Is there a hair bobble or clip from 5 year old me under a garden bush somewhere or wedged between a skirting board or the floor? Would forensics find traces of me in the house I moved out of when I was 3 with my family? Bits of hair, blood or whatever. Some trace of me from over 40 years ago. Is there a sweet wrapper in my old primary school or rubber I dropped in a classroom which has fallen down a grate in the floor…

When it thunders I.pretend that it's a T Rex walking about outside.The sound is v similar to the water in the glass shaking scene from Jurassic Park.

Lovely not.

Would be interesting to find out. I've never met anyone else who has the same superpower. I can't remember most of the words until I say them and get the different tastes.

When I'm walking my dog I imagine I've come across a body because a lot of bodies are found by dog walkers apparently.
There is a really convenient place on my regular walk where the murderer could park in the secluded church car park and go through the kissing gate at the top to leave the body in the undergrowth.
I run through the 999 call in my head and the ensuing events when the police turn up.

There have been quite a few threads on synaesthesia in the past - some of them might mention it. From a very vague memory, I think people often have different tastes/colours, however it manifests.

It’s so hard to explain until you meet someone else who understands it!

First examples I can think of:

‘February’ has a strong raspberry flavour.
’Tuesday’ tastes like Curly-Wurly.
’March’ tastes like Twix.
‘Louise’ tastes like ready salted Hula Hoops

@flapjackfairy - thank you for explaining I find it so interesting the way our minds work.

@Poachedeggavocado - i so want to google it 😳😂 The feeling these things create is so strange. They must all be a hangover from back when pure instinct to stay away from certain objects/creatures kept us alive i guess.

I’m always amused by Heavy Plant Crossing. I have visions of ten-ton triffids stomping across the road.

If I am out, and walk past someone else, I keep my mind blank... in case they are a mind reader.

@OlympicPimples if you had any connection to the victim then leaving them in your home county would be an own goal.
Different before psychologists got involved.
Best to leave them somewhere you've never been (or under your patio al à Mumsnet 😁)

I too have intrusive thoughts.
If I'd seen someone bending over I'd want to kick them. Or someone holding something in both hands, like a tea tray, I'd want to slap it from underneath.
Others are between my and the psych but can be very disturbing indeed.

Omg me too! I read a book years ago about this happening to someone; now whenever I'm walking the dogs in the woods I wonder if someone like The Witcher or Rob Stark from Game of Thrones will appear because I've suddenly gone back in time.

I've spent my whole life - or as long as I can remember - believing that I'm being watched.

And if someone gave me something, say a book, they could see me the whole time the book was in view. I couldn't have taken it in the bath for example, and I'd be convinced they were watching me.

When I'm driving through bushland I keep my eye out for fairies or unicorns, just in case. Or if i see hills I imagine a dragon flying over them. This is more wishful thinking than a real belief. The world would be a better place with unicorns and dragons!

If I'm making a meal from complete scratch, say a curry or a sweet and sour, I narrate what I'm doing, as if I'm hosting a cookery programme! I have done this for years, but only if I'm alone!
I have two homes in my mind, that I escape to when I need to chill. One is a walled private area, in the woods, that leads down to a lake with an island in the middle. My log cabin and 3 car garage/workshop sit overlooking all this! I have electric gates and anyone that I know well, who visits, has their own fob to open them. All the rooms are laid out exactly how I want them, even down to things like crockery, cutlery, plates, glasses... I know that house inside out! I have a huge decking area outside the huge glass doors in the dining area and I host lunches for anyone I want, friends, celebrities etc.
The other one is a 16th century coaching inn that I used to visit with friends for meals for years. It was closed down and is now apartments. So I have taken the interior of the pub and made it into a large living space, completely different to the log cabin. And when I visit there, it's always in thick snow and snowing heavily. I sit in a big fluffy dressing gown, with a hot chocolate, in the seat in the bay window and watch the quiet street.
I have only done this in the past 3 years, I suppose as an escape...
I will also be driving along in the car and I'll maybe see a hill... Then I think, I'll never set foot on that, which leads me to thinking of the fact that there are millions of places and sections of the planet I'll never set foot on. It's quite an overwhelming thought that not one person in the world will ever step on every single part of our Earth! If you take one field for example, you would have to walk back and forth and up and down, for your feet to touch every single part of it, apply that to the Earth itself and it's mind blowing!
I also sometimes think of exactly what part of the world is directly underneath me when I'm sat or stood somewhere!
I need to get out more!!! 🤣🤣🤣

I was spooked by the TV series Survivors many years ago. (The birds spread a disease that killed most of the people in the world). Edited to say I’d worried about what I’d do if this ever happened in real life and had a plan in mind.

I don’t know where I read it but before Christmas in 2019 I’d read about something about people being ill and it spreading around the world. I know it was before Christmas because the freezer was full and i thought I’ll fill it up properly after Christmas. By the time February came round I’d organised my freezer (including freezing eggs), stocked up on milk powder and a lot of other things.

DH sort of clicked at the beginning of February and thought I’d was totally mad and I owned up to what I thought. He was very dismissive but he did apologise not long after the word Covid appeared in our lives. I was relieved when lockdown happened as I’d been on high alert since Christmas and it was really doing my head in.

I have ‘written’ two books in my head. I spent weeks on each chapter and often dip back to previous chapters to make sure I can still remember them. I have been doing this for about ten years. I do this just before I go to sleep, or when walking the dog or on my own on the train or bus. I’ve tried writing it down but can’t get the words to flow so I have written bullet point notes in random notebooks.

I have a form of synaesthesia where names have arbitrary images or sensations attached to them. They have no connection to the actual name itself and I have no recollection of ever making the connection, but they've been there for as long as I can remember.
Kelly is a high heel scraping across the ground
Zoe is a ball of wool
Rachel is a door handle
The last name Colman makes me feel like I have a foot blister
Sharon is a shower head and Ben is a shoe buckle

To name a few!

My husband and I did that once. We were very lost and we were trying to get to a ferry port. I saw a car with lots of luggage so we decided to follow it. Sadly they just drove to a MacDonalds and parked up so we had to turn round and drive off.

I see colours when I say certain letters, words. Like r is purple, s is red etc. But the taste one is really intriguing. There's a name for this but I can't remember it.

Synaesthesia

Me and a friend followed the car in front coming home from the pub when I was about 18. We were about ten miles from home and it turned out they lived on the next street from me.
It got funnier as we got closer to where I lived.