We’ve
all had to suffer through a date or two with someone who
possessed an annoying nervous habit.
One date told me he rambled when he got nervous, and that was
an understatement. After a night of listening to him take every
conversational topic way past the point of interesting, I was
trying hard to stifle my yawns. He wasn’t a bad guy, but I was
on the fence about him. His propensity to talk too much was
sending me over the edge. I went out with him one more time to
see if his nerves subsided, but alas.
Ash, 45, had the misfortune to fall for a shaker — a
leg-bouncer, not the religious order.
“She bounced her leg constantly,” he laughs. “I
literally felt the earth move whenever we were together — and
not in the good way! I really dug her, so I figured out a way to
cope. Now whenever she starts bouncing, I just gently place my
hand on her leg and she stops, at least for a while.”
What’s behind the behavior?
The most common habits are foot tapping or shaking, talking too
much, nail biting, picking at nails, fidgeting, chewing and
biting lips, cracking knuckles, grinding teeth, playing with
hair, giggling and sighing. Most are developed when we’re in
school and often continue into adulthood, triggered by stimuli
we learned to recognize as children. For other people, these
habits are outlets for pent-up energy.