A Plague of Tics, by David Sedaris, really made me think about the way that I interact with people in my day to day life. I have people in my family with similar problems to the ones that he described, they don’t lick mushrooms or shake their head back and forth repeatedly, but the lights have to be all pointing in a certain direction and household objects have to be in their specific places, among other minor things. I’ve known that it’s not particularly helpful to tell someone to “just get over it”, but Sedaris helped to show me why. By recounting his own experiences and compulsions, he made it easier for the rest of us to understand and empathize with those who have certain “tics” and how difficult it can be from their perspective. Because
