Ostomy Memories of Being Anal Retentive

BECAUSE, IN MY JOB, I TENDED TO BE DETAIL ORIENTED, I have been accused of being anal retentive.  I can’t tell them, of course, that having no anus, I can’t be anal retentive, at least not if you take the term literally. [Counter argument:  no anus is the ultimate achievement in anal retentiveness.]   In addition, I’m not sure Freud has that much currency anymore.  This, as you all know, is a term from Freudian psychoanalysis for someone who is excessively orderly and fussy, supposedly owing to conflict over toilet training in infancy.  Not being capable of recalling my infancy, I am not exactly in a position to contest this weird hypothesis.  A truly anally retentive person, I read, pays such attention to detail that it becomes an obsession and may be an annoyance to others.  There is a compulsive element to it, and perhaps a degree of obstinacy.  So the term is pejorative in that sense.  But I have always been rather proud of the efficiency I brought to my job, notwithstanding that I knew some others might be annoyed by it.  The default approach of many people (lawyers especially) is to want to delay things.  Often, it is the only defense their client has.  Thus, a term such as ‘continuance denied’ in a criminal court context might mean that justice, whatever that is, is coming, and on the date scheduled.