Addictions are strange and funny things. Not funny as in “Ha, ha” rib-tickling funny… but more like “I just ran face first into a brick wall” funny.

“Well, no kidding, genius” you might say.

Addictions cause pain and suffering. They can be severe, intensely painful affairs with intense with bouts of depression, weight-loss and binge eating.

On the face of it, this analysis is probably true

When most people think of additions, they think of their strung-out, longhaired, needs-to-move-out-and-get-a-job nephew, or perhaps their neighbor who is hooked on something heavy like cocaine or alcohol.

Most people never stop to think of themselves as being addicted to the more mundane things in life.

Things like daytime soaps, teapot collecting or racking up speeding tickets.

Damn that lead foot of mine.

Webster’s Dictionary gives the definition of addiction as “dependence on or commitment to a habit, practice or substance to the extent that its cessation causes trauma.”

One hot summer, a buddy and I were drinking an entire two-liter bottle of Pepsi a day, every day at work.

On a dare, we decided to quit drinking Pepsi, just to see if we could do it.

Within a week, his diabetes sent him into sugar-shock and I was bouncing off the walls.

Addictions can be painful but they can also be pretty funny if you know how to play your cards just right.

Other people’s compulsive and irrational behavior is not your fault, so why bother getting in their way?

So, when a fatally polite person always offers to pick up the check, no matter how expensive the restaurant, you should go ahead and let them indulge themselves.

Trekkies can be a whole world of fun all by themselves, just try taking one to the next Sci-Fi convention.

Hours and hours of fun can be had watching the wretched creatures run themselves ragged trying to find Mr. Spock’s stunt double’s second set of prosthetic ears, or something of similar worth.

Try inviting a neat freak to your house the day after a wild party has trashed your house.

Give him or her a sponge, a mop and get out of the way!

As for myself, I am trying to break my last remaining bad habit, no matter how painful it might be.

Those high-maintenance women I date are really putting a dent into my wallet.