Okay, Listen Here

Okay, Listen Here

Thursday, July 15, 2010

Rules Rule!




Okay, so as a kid, did you ever break the rules? Are you one of those people who think that rules are made to be broken or are you a person who thinks that rules exist keep order in the world?


It has been my experience that people fall into one of these two categories. As you might guess from previous blogs and knowing that I am a plotter, I fall firmly in the latter view of the rules. I think rules exist to help us. If everyone followed the rules then there would be more order in world which would be a good thing, in my opinion.

There are rules for almost everything in our world. Some rules are written and we can study them--traffic rules, for example. Okay they are technically laws, I guess. I don’t know about you, but I studied hard for my driver’s license test. Everyone knows the rules for driving (not to be confused with the Rules of the Road by you Kevin Smith fans). Yet, every day I sit at my desk and watch person after person run the stop sign at my corner. It says “Stop” for heaven's sake. Even if they don't know the traffic rules, one would hope that the drivers can at least READ. I am guessing that the folks who don’t stop fall into the “rules are made to be broken” category. Some rules aren't written--like you should be quiet at the funeral home.

Yesterday in Alabama we had a run-off election. It was the result of the primary elections that we had a bit ago. All day long folks kept asking me to go vote in the Republican Run-off. I kept telling them that I couldn’t because I had voted in the Democrat’s Primary Election. This is a very odd situation because, apparently, the Republicans and the Democrats in Alabama have two different sets of rules governing their Primaries and Run-off elections. WHAT!!! How can there be two sets of rules about one thing? And even more important, which set should I go by? I have to know the rules. In this case, by voting in the Democratic Primary, which is where several local elections were decided since there wasn’t a Republican candidate in the race, I agreed to only vote in the Democratic Run-off. I couldn’t believe the number of people who said to me yesterday, “But who would know if you switched?” The answer to that is, "I would know."


This got me to thinking about all the times that I follow the rules because they are the rules. I mean as an adult it isn’t like the rules' police are gonna swoop down and kick me off the playground. I think it all goes back to personal outlook on the rules.


Are rules made to be broken or to help make your world a better place?

11 comments:

  1. I cannot break rules - I'm too afraid of the consequences. I had a grandmother who staunchly believed in following the rules; including no work on Sunday. Every time I visited her on Sunday and was doing cross-stitch or crocheting, she would tell me that for every stitch I would "chunk" a rock in Hell. From her and my parents, I learned to follow the rules- fear is a wonderful thing! I guess today people aren't really afraid of the consequences but I just can't shake the image of me picking up rocks and tossing them in a very hot climate.

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  2. Rules are not meant to be broken. That's just my .02. When they are broken, chaos results. If everyone on this planet followed the rules, we'd live in a better world. Animals wouldn't go into extinction, people wouldn't get hurt because someone didn't use their blinker while switching lanes, no one would have to lock their doors while they sleep. But humans have been given 'free will'. And there are some people who always feel the need to buck the system.

    Take writing, for instance. We are told there are rules to follow. And then we are told it's okay to break the rules every now and again. That's confusing! The planets will not fall out of alignment if these rules are broken here, but it may well cost a second look at a manuscript or a publishing contract. Or it could very well be a trend-setting affair.

    We all have a conscience. I listen to mine. It has never steered me wrong. 'Do unto others' is a great model to live by, in all things. And so, I follow the rules and freak out when I have broken them.

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  3. For all that I am a pantster, the rest of my life tends to be rigid.

    Rules are to be followed. Period. If you don't like a rule, work to change it. Write to city hall, congress, the president. Hire a lawyer. Picket. Sell your house and launch a full scale media campaign. But until that rule is changed, follow it.

    Every time someone breaks a rule, it makes it harder on the rest of us. It is because of rule breakers that we can't buy cold medicine without being interrogated, get on plane in a reasonable manner, and enter the courthouse without going through a metal detector.

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  4. Hello all! I try to follow the rules as much as possible--indeed, fear is a wonderful thing. I always consider the consequences and the possible ramifications of not following said rules. Now...having said that, there have been times when minor infractions simply could not be helped...

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  5. I love the new blog look. Fabulous. As for rules... get me a few glasses of wine. We'll talk....

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  6. Christine,
    Thanks for the compliment. Kathy, Jean and the Guy have worked hard. It does look great.

    I would love to share a couple of glasses of wine with you and chat...Orlando??

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  7. Hmmm...I'll never tell...

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  8. There's hardly an Earl alive who didn't have it coming. Right, Crystal?

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  9. I think you know my mind on this matter. So you can imagine how my amusement when I heard that someone said they believed I was too strict in my interpretation of our organizational policies because I was so new to the job, and that he hoped I “loosened up” as my tenure progressed. He felt my predecessor had a much more “sense of humor” about it.

    I'm thinking about sending him a personal invitiation to the class I'm teaching this weekend regarding our organizational policies. In fact, I think I will do just that.

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  10. Oops...can't edit my post. That should read: "imagine my amusement".

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  11. Oops, can't edit that post but that second sentence should read: "So you can imagine my amusement..."

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