A Place for Everything and Everything in it's place

Symptoms of Type A Behavior:
1. An intrinsic insecurity or insufficient level of self-esteem, which is considered to be the root cause of the syndrome. This is believed to be covert and therefore less observable.
2. Time urgency and impatience, which causes irritation and exasperation.
3. Free floating hostility, which can be triggered by even minor incidents.

Maybe I’m not crazy or a bitch, it’s just my Type A acting up. I wonder if I can get away with that excuse.

“Sorry I ran into you, I didn’t see you there. It’s my Type A”.
“I would love to help you, but I can’t with my Type A”
“That’s a very flattering offer, thank you. However, I must decline due to my Type A wanting to flick you in the nose”.

I always thought of myself as “Type A” at work. My desk is an exemplar of organization. Everything is organized and stacked neatly. I’m a little ashamed to say if something is slightly off or if it’s been moved I get very distressed. At home, I’m not nearly as clean and organized, although my piles of junk are also stacked neatly and I know where everything is. I always thought “type A personality” simply meant that you were neat and organized. That you enjoyed the art of list making and checking things off said list. I had no idea it lent itself to so much more. Reading what Wikipedia says about it (listed above), I was surprised to see so many more of my everyday personality traits explained.

1. I don’t think I’m overtly insecure or have low-self esteem. Of course, we all have things we are self conscious of. My level of laziness and disdain for household chores has prevented me from entertaining company. I often joke that I clean my apartment once a year, right before my birthday since I know I’ll have company, but it’s true. Until November, I don’t even like hanging out there for too long.

2. Urgency, Impatience, irritation, exasperation. The site also lists “highly competitive, ambitions, and difficulty relaxing. Yea, that’s pretty much me. It has gotten harder and harder to cover my irritation with people. I love the line, “I hate people, but I love gatherings” (brownie points for naming that movie), and it sums me up pretty well. I don’t like being alone all the time and prefer going out to staying in, however, the level of stupidity and “laissez-faire” attitude I encounter when I go out drives me crazy. See also: previous post about beating people up. I’m an angry driver. I want to stab most of the people I meet in bars. I hate people who ask questions without waiting to see if it’s answered (most commonly found at the movies and in work seminars and trainings). Just be patient! All will be revealed.

3. Free floating hostility from minor incidents? Yea, I think I covered that.

I wonder if there’s anything I can do to correct this behaviour, or if there is, if I would even want to. These little bits form my personality, make me who I am. It’s like in High School when I took Prozac (come on, who hasn’t these days?) and it made me more disinterested in the world. What if I were nicer, more calm, relaxed? Would anyone even recognize me? Would I recognize myself?
I can’t wait to drop my “Type A” handicap on the next sad sack who pisses me off. On a scale of hilarity, I hope it’s a 10.