‘The Fruit at the Bottom of the Bowl’

I suffer from Obsessive–Compulsive Disorder (OCD), only self-diagnosed for the time being. Take the following as evidence.

I bought the sanitizer because I don’t always trust that everything in a hotel room has been cleaned thoroughly: door knobs and handles, light switches, the remote control, taps and I’m sure a number of other things I haven’t even thought of yet.

So I would check into a room and diligently start cleaning. The problem is that usually I arrive late, so I am not in much a cleaning mood. Also, the next day I would realize I had not cleaned this or that and have to take the sanitizer out and wipe things down again. I’ve stopped doing this (too complicated and time consuming), but I still do the following:

I put the TV remote control in one of the zip-lock bags I’ve picked from the airport. However, I shouldn’t bother with the remote at all; I’m trying to watch less TV. For one week, I didn’t even turn on the TV once. I just wanted to see whether I could do it and it felt really good, so quiet and peaceful no noise whatsoever. I enjoy sitcoms but they are still noise. Now as I am writing this I realize I should really stop switching on the TV (not even for 5 min. to see what’s on!).
In my delusional world my future hotel(s) will not have any TV (only in the lounge) and perhaps not even Internet (the same, only in the lounge, but this might be too harsh).

I also have my own hangers (colour-coded: blue for coats, white for shirts, for the pants I use the hotels’ hangers) – yes, I know, it is pathetic – but do they ever clean the hangers? I very much doubt it. I don’t carry them with me as I leave them in a bag at the hotel where I check-in on a weekly basis.  However I would, if I could find some light, fold-able ones. I am sure someone must manufacture them by now.

So what does the title of the post have to do with all this? It refers to a short story by Ray Bradbury.

From Wikipedia:
Mr. Acton begins the story standing over the body of Mr. Huxley, whom he has just killed. While attempting to cover up his tracks, he has flashbacks of his encounters with Mr. Huxley, with whom he is having an altercation over a woman. These flashbacks reveal to the murderer that there are more and more of his fingerprints all over the man’s house, because he thought that he had touched so many different objects. His frenzy to remove all of the evidence distracts him from his actual objective, to get away with the crime, and he is eventually caught after polishing the entire house.

So there is some connection between the abovementioned story and the post. I don’t think I’m quite this bad, yet.

Can’t help it, from the sitcom ‘King of Queens’, the episode ‘Lost Vegas’:

Doug:   So, uh, is the tv in the other room, or does it pop out of something? 
Hotel Employee: There’s no tv. 
Hotel Employee: We believe that tv is the gateway to negative thoughts and sadness. 
Doug: Not if you have the football package. 
Carrie: Honey, you’re gonna love the bathroom. 
Carrie: They have a tub you can land a plane in. 
Doug: Ah. that sounds like a lot of fun. 
Doug: So is the, uh, tv in the bar? 
Hotel Employee: We don’t have a bar. 
Doug: I need to speak to your supervisor.