Creatures Of Habit

I came down to the dog park one afternoon, and noticed about half of the men and women NOT sitting where they usually sit.  We have about 20 regulars at the park, and about half of them sit in the exact same place every day.  The others sit on a bench, almost always on the same bench.  I mentioned this to the group, and here's what I got.

One person told me that she goes to church every Sunday, and there too, everyone sits in almost the exact same seat every week.  Another person mentioned she was taking a class, and that the students always sat in the same spot.  A man told me that at his men's group meetings everyone sat in the same place.  I  belong to a discussion group which has been meeting for 18 months, and every time, we all sit in the same place.

For the 22 years that I taught school, we would all have lunch each day in the teacher's lunch room.  We all had our favorite seat, and rarely, if ever, did we stray from that seat.  The only time we did was when a substitute, who didn't know everyone liked a particular seat, was there, and would take someone's seat.  When going to the movies, if it's not crowded, I always go to the same seat.

Why do we do this?  I really don't know, but it probably has to do with the fact that the familiar feels comfortable.  We are definitely creatures of habit.