Right Place

Since the last video and commentary were a bit on the serious – even sad – side of life, here is a focused look on a disorder, though viewed through the rosy lens of humor. Our Japanese clerk suffers from typical OCPD, commonly known as Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder which, yes, is a different condition than OCD, i.e. Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder.

The latter is related to an inherent anxiety, which requires the individual to perform certain “rituals” (as in “repeated, simple actions with inherent symbolism to the initiator”, NOT voodoo, wicca or what-have you; pinching your eyes closed repeatedly, craning your neck, counting things in prearranged sets – twos, fours etc – are all valid examples); the person suffering from OCD fears that not performing the ritual may have dreadful consequences and whenever their thoughts veer towards the object (or objects) of their anxiety, the rituals kick in. In truth, it is a much more complex disorder than the above simplistic description; however the goal here is not to bore you to death with Psychology 101. If you want the poster child for OCD, check out Melvin Udall, as portrayed by Jack Nicholson in “As Good As It Gets”.

Our OCPD clerk suffers from a much more mild condition, related to his sense of perfection. It derives form the fact that, when things “do not seem right”, they cause him anxiety, thereby driving him to correct them, just like our clerk does. Furthermore, the person suffering from OCPD cannot be dissuaded from what he does and is very rigid about the correctness of it. In effect, the video’s name is absolutely correct and in a completely metaphorical manner, so is its ending (setting bones is effectively, “putting them in their right place”). Well, the socks are a bit of a stretch, but it is the time-honored tribute to everyone’s lolita complex.

In any event, very fun to watch.

Speedgrapher

A little note from ergo proxy:

As you might have noticed the website now has a new writer! I would like to welcome Andreas Michaelides (Speedgrapher) aboard and to thank him for contributing his eloquence to easy subjugation. Also the commenting system now works so feel free to leave any messages with your ideas comments and opinions. That’s all from me… Enjoy