Despite having had a rough day, while reading in the most secluded room in the house tonight, I couldn't help but smile at the weirdness of my brother's family's dog's behaviors during his nightly routine: attempting to dig a hole in the carpet next to the couch, daintily but vigorously nibbling itchy spots on his leg with awkwardly exposed teeth, looking at me out of the corner of his eyes like he's slightly self-conscious about this habit, fluffing and re-fluffing his bed and walking around on it in tight little prancing circles to get it just right, lying down, then repeating because it apparently wasn't quite right after all... These were all behaviors I haven't noticed during the day when he's eating, playing, napping, begging, or out for walks. These are the quiet little behaviors he does when there's nothing to beg for, nothing to eat, nobody to play with, no energy to go walking with.
As I sat watching bemused from the couch, I thought, "This is the stuff that endears me to the critter. ...Heck, this is the stuff that endears me to people, too." As much as many people seem to "have to adjust" to others' idiosyncrasies and quirky behaviors they do when they think nobody is looking or out of habit without realizing it, I've realized those are the very behaviors and quirks which often most quickly endear me to someone. I have a habit of people-watching, but I'm usually not so much making up stories about them in my mind as watching for their general temperament and gestures, or the quirky little things they do differently from most people. And as silly as it may be, I feel like I get to know someone more at one overnighter where I see their nightly routine or catch glimpses of their late-night, less-guarded demeanor somewhere between alertness and sleep than I will in three hours of lunch conversation in which they put on their best face.
In short, quirks aren't something I feel like I have to get past or overcome about people (except for those rare, uncomfortable ones like reaching into their underwear to scratch deep in their rear end then handing you a glass of water without washing their hands...those kind are not so endearing, even if revealing) but glimpses into a person which I look forward to seeing when I'm really interested in getting to know someone and which endear me to someone more quickly than just about anything they might say or do when trying to be as "normal" as they think most people want them to be.
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