A Place for Everything and Everything in Its Place

Written by Mike Parker

It has been more than thirty years since Neil Simon introduced the world to those lovable, yet unlikely roommates, Felix Unger and Oscar Madison – better known as “The Odd Couple.” You may have seen the original telecast or caught the reruns on Nick at Nite.

Regardless, you may have groaned with the long- suffering, irascible slob Oscar as his apartment is invaded by his newly divorced, neat- freak friend Felix. We wince with the finicky Felix as Oscar throws his linguine against the wall and insists the mess be left alone. We sympathize, commiserate, and ultimately identify with the trials and tribulations of these two diametrically opposed personalities who are trying desperately to get along because we have all encountered people whose approach to their living environment is radically different from our own. And oddly enough, others have to put up with our idiosyncrasies.

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For better or worse, people make personal judgments based on the condition of our everyday life environments. Are you a “Felix” or an “Oscar” or somewhere in between? What does your environment say to others?

Felix

“Some people are just born organized,” says Barbara Hemphill, CEO of the Hemphill Productivity Institute and the author of Kiplinger’s Taming the Paper Tiger at Home and Taming the Paper Tiger at Work. “They are born with an innate sense of doing things in an orderly fashion. Being neat is not a difficult thing for them. It just comes naturally.”

The Felix personality adheres to the creed, “A place for everything, and everything in its place.” A Felix is thorough, conscientious, and accurate. His desk is clean, his car is washed, his clothes are freshly pressed, and his checkbook is balanced. Heaven help the person who moves his stapler or throws a gum wrapper on his floor.

A Felix is a stickler for adhering to established rules. He likes clearly defined standards and expects everyone to live up to those standards. A Felix is a great guy to have on your side if you want something done right, but he also tends to be overly critical of anyone who doesn’t meet his standards.

If you are a Felix, your friends might find you aloof, picky, and just a bit stodgy. To make yourself easier to live with, you might try to open yourself up to a little messy creativity. Take a class in painting. Go to a ball game and throw peanut shells on the floor. Spend a little more time listening and less time expounding on why your way is the right way.

Oscar

“Then there are others of us who are more scattered in our thinking and in our physical environment,” Barbara says of the Oscars in the world.

“'Organize' is a word that creates a lot of emotional angst for them because they think that they should be organized, but they just can’t be.” The Oscar personality adheres to the creed, “A place for everything, and that place is on the floor.”

An Oscar sees life as a series of challenges that need to be overcome, obstacles that need to be traversed, and enemies that need to be conquered. He has little time for the niceties of life. Piles of laundry on the couch don’t bother him, stacks of paper on his desk don’t intimidate him, and shaving more than twice a week is viewed as a colossal waste of time.

An Oscar is supremely confident in his ability to get things done. He doesn’t mind bending or even breaking the rules if it means that he gets immediate results. He loves new and varied activities, abhors a routine, and relishes risk-taking. He is a natural leader and a poor follower.

If you are an Oscar, your friends might find you impatient, inconsiderate, and perhaps a bit intimidating. To make yourself easier to live with, you might try toning down your assertiveness. Ask more questions rather than assuming your conclusions are always right. And put a trash bag in your car.

The Pigeon Sisters: Gwendolyn

According to the original play, Gwendolyn and Cecily Pigeon met Oscar when the three of them were stuck in an elevator together. These two artistic, fun-loving British lasses live upstairs from Oscar and Felix. “As a general rule, artistic people tend to be less neat. But there are other artists that are extremely precise,” Barbara says.

A Gwendolyn tends to lean toward the “less neat” side, as her personality type believes that there is a place for everything, but she just can’t seem to remember where that place is. A Gwendolyn exudes enthusiasm and charm, loves to entertain, and throws a great party. She thrives on getting everything just right for the big event, but has trouble motivating herself to clean up afterward.

Gwendolyn is a free spirit who rejoices in freedom of expression. She has a flair for decorating and accessorizing and has a personal style that is all her own. She is eager to please and fears social rejection or disapproval.

If you are a Gwendolyn, your friends might find you impulsive, disorganized, and perhaps a bit unreliable. To make yourself easier to live with, you might try to keep a personal organizer. Give others a chance at the spotlight. Try writing down your agenda rather than going with the flow.

The Pigeon Sisters: Cecily

The Cecily personality believes that no matter where she puts anything, someone will move it. A Cecily used to keep an immaculate desk, but found that people assumed she had nothing to do and kept piling more stuff on her clean work surface. She now keeps a moderate amount of clutter around her just to prove that she is really normal. Her creed has become, “Clean enough to be healthy, cluttered enough to be happy.”

A Cecily thrives on stability. She is a traditionalist who prefers to work with others rather than alone. She is calm, patient, and cooperative with an easy-going nature and a genuine concern for the rest of the group. She is the perfect foil for a Gwendolyn, as she has the ability to take a Gwendolyn’s grandiose plans and make them work. She’ll even stay late and clean up afterward.

If you are a Cecily, your friends might find you indecisive and easily manipulated. To make yourself easier to live with, you might try developing more confidence in your own ideas and allowing others to carry more of their own weight.

Why It Matters

“In my experience, there is an incredible amount of angst and unhappiness in relationships because of people not controlling their environments,” Barbara observes. “On a purely business level, research shows (that) the average worker spends 150 hours a year looking for misplaced information. Your ability to accomplish any task or reach any goal is directly related to your ability to find the right information at the right time. On a more personal level, if you are going to the theater and you can’t find your theater tickets, then you have just caused a crisis.”

Whether you are an Oscar or a Felix – or even one of the Pigeon Sisters – one thing remains crystal clear: the way you maintain your personal environment sends very specific messages to the people you come in contact with.

“It has to do with stewardship and thoughtfulness of other people,” Barbara insists. “I think that if what you do affects other people negatively, then as a Christian it is your responsibility to change it. That doesn’t mean you have to become a neat freak. I think it is more about give and take, and about having respect for one another.”

This article courtesy of Christian Single magazine.

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