yesterday i was asked by a customer/friend to go to his room to help him carry some of his stuff away. he lives in a room no larger than eight by ten feet with an attached bathroom. i met him at ten out side his building and he led the way to his room. as we approached his room i could smell a very strong smell of ethanol . when he opened the door to his small room the smell of alcohol mingled with all kinds of other repugnant smells would have knocked me unconscious were it not for the shock of seeing the inside of his dwelling. piles and piles of newspapers and magazines covered the floor of his room. each pile between two and four feet high. there was only a one- foot path in the middle of the room separating the mess into two halves. his bed could not be seen under all the piles of printed paper. in the same way his bathroom and toilet were covered and unusable. to my horror i saw some opened jars and cans of baby food and cat food as well as three or four glass jars filled with urine. I could hardly breathe. tears had filled my eyes and i did not know whether it was due to my emotions or the stench of pee and dried up cat food, mixed with god knows what else. I took the two plastic bags given to me and left the room not looking back. as i walked down the stairs with my head heavy with the fumes of obnoxious gases and scents i wondered how could anyone live like this. this is the ugly face of a mental disease known as obsessive compulsive disorder, or OCD for short. while i was in his room i was not allowed to touch anything since my friend could not live with the “disorder” if i moved any article as he had carefully placed them. to me everything in that room was nothing but a mess but to him every single item was placed there in an orderly and proper manner and to keep and protect that order was of paramount importance.
