No Medication Please

I have a teeny weeny bit of OCD. I have been known to get into my car, close the door, fasten my seat belt and start the engine, only to shut off the engine, unfasten my belt, and go back into the house to make sure I've turned off the stove, unplugged the iron, shut off the faucet, locked the door, etc. I have even driven  several blocks and returned home on more than a few occasions. However, unlike regular OCD folks, I don't tend to rinse and repeat the process.

Today I left at 10 AM to go to a tailgate party before a football game. While I was getting ready, I had turned on my curling iron to straighten my hair, but I finally decided not to bother, since my hair was going to be out in the sun and the wind all day anyway. So I turned off my curling iron. I remember watching the red light go out. I even set the iron on something non flammable and checked it to be sure that it was cooling off.

That didn't matter of course. When I got to the party I began to obsess a little bit about whether I had really turned the thing off.  I reassured myself that I had. Are you sure? Yes. Really. Shut up. Not wanting to go home, I called my insurance company's 800 number to make sure my insurance was up to date, just in case. If I had been only five blocks away I would have left the party and gone back home to be sure the curling iron was off. Even though I was already sure.

But there I was, a good five miles away, and I didn't want to miss having brats and sauerkraut. Or being late to the game. In my case, food and fun tend to get in the way of going back to double check and re double check for danger.

After the ball game I even went out to dinner. By the time I was finally heading home, it was after seven in the evening. I was no longer worried about the curling iron. My house was either standing or not.

That is why I had a moment of panic as I was coming down the road that leads to my street. From several blocks away, I saw flashing lights up ahead. Then I began to see emergency vehicles in the road. In fact, they were blocking part of the entrance to my street. And there were three big pumpers idling very close to my house.

Even better, I smelled smoke as I turned the corner to negotiate my way past the multiple firetrucks, emergency personnel, and yellow tape. Since it was getting dark, I wasn't sure my house was there until I actually got to my driveway. Wasthis just a wellness check disguised as a fire?

Nope, it was a real fire, only not at my house, thankfully. It was at the house where there are always lots of little boys playing outside. I can't wait to hear that one of them was playing with matches. Or building rockets in the basement.

No curling irons I'm sure. I checked. Mine was off.