Word of the day: "ataraxia"

Today's dose of weirdness:

My company pantry is staffed with Cantonese-speaking Aunties (CSAs) who assiduously keep the fridge stocked with soft drinks, and the biscuit cans filled with - surprise, surprise - biscuits. I was ambling there for my usual shot of electrolytes (100 plus - the substance which has come close to ruling my life these days. That, and citrus-flavoured Listerine Oral Strips. Dissolving ten oral strips in a can of 100 Plus actually creates a tangy, fruity revitalizing infusion which keeps me going in the mornings - but I digress), when I beheld one of the CSAs standing by the biscuit tin with her wizened features bunched up in extreme concentration.

She was taking cream biscuits from the can (the type that consist of two crackers with lemon cream adhering them together), methodically separating the crackers, and repasting them together. Her features were reminiscent that of a Florentine sculptor preparing a masterpiece for St. Peters' Basilica; or a golf pro at the US masters sizing up a 10m championship-winning putt.

I watched her for some minutes in sheer, horrified fascination. Unable to resist, I asked her why she was doing that.

Her response (in Cantonese) were that they were not "properly aligned" (sic).

I sincerely hope her behaviour was out of OCD or sheer ennui; it would be a terrible alternative if she had been berated by some big fuck structured products dealer who chewed her out for delivering him a plate of "mis-aligned" biscuits and was now acting in fear for her employment. Or if it was actually part of her year-end objectives - ("ensure that cream biscuits in can are properly aligned within 2mm diameter tolerance")