It’s important to have rules around. Everyone benefits from general order and knowing how things are done calms the inner anxiousness inside many of us.
However, not all rules are sound in terms of their reasoning. While all rules might have a reason, not all reasons might make sense, whether it’s logical, practical or any other -al. And that might cause some social issues. But more on that later.
Anyway, this in turn urges some to protest against the rule entirely, and these people have recently shared some of the rules that irked them something fierce—so much, in fact that they regularly break these rules because they fundamentally disagree with them.
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Speaking ill of the dead. I'm not going to pretend that somebody was a better person than they actually were because they are dead.
I never understood the concept. Should we not "speak ill" of a******s like Hitler, Stalin, Mao or Pol Pot just because they're dead?
I hate how they give perfect attendance awards in schools.
If my kid is sick, going through trauma, or we have a funeral, they can skip a damn day
"Yes, Jimmy, i know that you're sick, and yes, i know that it's super-contagious, and yes, i know it's possibly lethal to some people, and yes, i know the doctor said stay home, BUT, think of your attendance award!"
Recently, one Redditor asked folks on r/AskReddit to share common rules that they break just because they fundamentally disagree with them.
Believe it or not, this is the second post in the past month that asks this question, with both of them collectively garnering 14,100 upvotes and generating a discussion of 12,500 comments.
Stole a pet frog that was severely neglected. Don't give a rat's a*s about stealing if they don't care about mistreating an animal.
Pluto is a planet.
Okay. Then so are Ceres, Sedna, Eris, Haumea, Makemake, Gonggong, Quaoar and Orcus.
They don't have moons though. Charon orbits Pluto.
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The official definition of a planet is that it has to be round(ish), and have an orbit free of other bodies. By this definition, Pluto is not a planet. I don't know why that bothers me so much. I just feel very protective of Pluto. Although, if the flat-earthers were right, Earth wouldn't be a planet, either.
That's exactly it - I feel protective. Shouldn't be any takeaways for planethood and Pluto should be grandfathered in!
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Pluto has not even made a full revolution around the Sun since I have been born. Pluto has not made a full revolution around the Sun in any of our lives. It takes 248 years. Imagine the tragedy of everyone not making it to their first birthday.
I believe Pluto was discovered, called a planet, and then declared not to be a planet before it completed one orbit.
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No it isn't. It hasn't cleared it's field of orbit and there are other large objects in the Kuiper Belt, although not as large.
No, it isn't. Get over it. Yes, it uses to be classified as one, but so did the moon and the sun, and the earth wasn't.
I want this so so badly, but have taken too many astronomy courses. It didn't clear it's orbit. Kinda ruins 'my very educated mother just served us nine pizzas'.
Weird to think how lifeforms on Pluto might feel about being named after the fictional lord of the underworld of a defunct civilisation on a planet about 5 billion miles away.
And what has Pluto ever done for us? It didn't even finish Solar orbit since it's discovery.
So, rules are guidelines created by individuals, communities, countries, what have you, which dictate a certain code of conduct among people and processes. These can vary based on social interactions, beliefs, governance, and the like.
The key idea behind following rules is to push away the tide of chaos and anarchy. Sure, they feel like restrictions, but they are the lesser of the two evils.
If it's a single restroom then I won't care which gender it is.
And if there is a line for the ladies' but the gents' toilet is free, I will go there. Shoot me dirty looks, but I just gotta go.
Elbows on the table. Why????? Unless someone’s in another persons space or their elbows are by the food, it’s such a silly rule. What’s wrong with setting my arm on the table???
It's historical. In the Middle Ages tables were trestle tables, set up for meal times. Leaning your elbows on the table could flip the whole thing. Etiquette (almost) always has a functional background, and then it was simply made into a rule.
I let the squirrels use the bird feeder. My fluffy bois are hungry too.
As such, rules provide safety as they limit certain bad behaviors and possibly encourage good ones. Same goes with protecting those who are disadvantaged—rules provide safeguards that ensure certain rights and guarantees for people or groups considered vulnerable to particular factors and influences. In that sense, it evens out the playing field so that everyone could have equal opportunities. Oh, and rules also lay the groundwork for malicious compliance.
I think Netflix and other streaming services should have the same contents worldwide. We live in the age of internet, borders don’t matter. If I wanna watch something that’s not on my version of Netflix, I’ll find it online at a pirate website. Most of the time they don’t even give me the option to watch it legally because it’s just not on any service in my country. In that case it’s on them, they only have themselves to blame.
FTR, this is a hill I’m willing to die on.
ETA: I know this isn’t Netflix’s fault, it’s the ppl that own the movies and series etc. They won’t get royalties when I watch it illegally, but if I can’t watch it in a legal way, they only have themselves to blame.
I refuse to say that somebody "passed away". They died. Ascribe a weighty word to a weighty concept.
The new trend I'm seeing is to say somebody passed. Not dies, not passed away, but passed. "Did you hear? Bert passed", "Passed what? Gas?"
And if that’s not reason enough, there’s also the consequences of rule violations to make sure they aren’t violated. These vary depending on the severity of the offence—after all, littering and stealing, while both crimes, don’t seem like they are on the same level of damage done. And both can be contextual too, as throwing a paper wrapper in a public park isn’t the same as throwing plastic bags into the ocean, but you get the point.
Don’t talk about your pay at work or at all. No, because finances are incredibly important and I sure as f**k would wanna know what a job pays. This is my life we’re talking about. Money makes it good.
If I'm working at some sort of establishment that throws food away, even though it's clearly still edible, im taking that s**t.
In my area, we have an app and a service called Too Good to Go where restaurants make food that is left over at the end of the night available for people to pick up at low cost. Food that otherwise would’ve been thrown out but is perfectly edible and fine. You reserve it on the app and then go and pick it up at your designated time. With this, you can even sample food from very expensive restaurants at a much lower price! Sounds like a great idea to me.
At my job, we aren’t allowed to go home on break. I live right in front of the store, three minute walk away. Yeah no, I’m going home.
But there’s also the other side of the coin. Why do people choose to disobey rules? Is it because taboos are fun to defy because of the reactions you get from folks, or is it because it’s time for change?
Civil disobedience is a great example of breaking rules in order to raise fundamental questions about anything from morality to civic obligation to government rule. All of this to drive needed social change.
The assistant manager always wants you to serve old fries at the end of the night. No. Once they go to the back office the last hour of their shift to count money and do computer things, I’m going to let you know it’s late and has been slow, but just for you I’m cooking your fries fresh, it will be about 3 more minutes. I don’t serve old, cold food. I get that you break down the fry station because it has to be cleaned. But placing a tray of fries on the sandwich warmer isn’t going to maintain taste and flavor. The fryer still works. On my shift you can trust I will get you fresh fries at 11:45 pm. Write me up. Idgaf. Ain’t nobody got time for cold fries.
Teacher: If kids are hungry, I let them eat. They can eat as much as they want. Even if they show up late, they can eat, if it’s in the middle of the day, they can eat while they work. Also, they can go to the bathroom, maybe they have to wait 3 minutes until I’m done talking, but otherwise go. It helps I have a bathroom in my room which would solve many problems for middle schoolers.
No food or drinks at the nurses station. I work ER and haven’t taken a full 30 minute lunch in about a decade, I’m definitely snacking at my desk.
The idea of civil disobedience can shed light on an issue that would encourage debate, rethinking and subsequent change of unjust laws, ways of thinking in terms of ethics, morality, culture or social norms.
And while it can go a long way, there’s an important thing to note with civil disobedience: yes, you are breaking rules for a greater good, but your cause still has to be just and follow a standard of just behavior.
I help homeless people on the streets by passing out food. Never know what they've been through. I've gotten tickets for it too , sad
Crossing the street in the middle is fine when there are no cars. Also it's okay to go diagonally at cross walks for the same reason
Consumption Dates: Eating food past its sell-by date, as you believe it’s often still good and don't want to waste food
It’s actually in the name—civil disobedience.
It has to be civil. And by proxy, the reasons behind the disobedience have to be backed up with just behavior—one that aligns with fundamental moral principles with individuals accepting and bearing personal responsibility for their actions and choices.
Getting around paywalls. I understand financially supporting journalism, but I can’t subscribe to everything.
Yeah, they are getting pretty ridiculous with this. Even my hometown paper has a paywall, which isn't too bright.
Loyalty to a company. P**s me off after 3 months? I’ll quit. 5 years? I’ll quit. 18 months? I’ll quit My family doesn’t give two s***s whether im somewhere for 90 days or 9 years. They just care that dad loves them and is there for them, and I never ever ever want them to be cold, hungry or in pain. And if I have to quit a job because even for a second that’s threatened, so be it
After the 3rd sneeze I stop saying bless you.
Oh no, I will not stop. I will rob you of your last bit of sanity by blessing you for the 16th time. Preferrably in public.
The fact that a person is willing to stand by their choices and opinions, saying “no” to things they don’t believe in all the while adhering to that which is considered civil and human ultimately adds power to the protest.
Think of the greats—Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King Jr.—they all approached civil disobedience in a principled, yet effective way to achieve great things for millions, if not billions, of people.
Pirating something you've paid for previously. I didn't just buy the CD or DVD, I bought the right to install and view or use that material. Owning a physical copy of an intellectual property (music, videogame, film) implies a perpetual right to viewership and use.
Paying wildly overpriced medical bills. For a decade, now, I've just refused to pay, let them go to collections, and dispute them for ages until they finally give up. At worst, I make the collection agency waste money on the pursuit, then settle for pennies.
I'm a teacher, so we're not supposed to wear jeans. I think this is the most out-dated, nonsensical rule.
We know now that building relationships with students is the most important thing, and I truly believe that you are distancing yourself from kids if you come to school in some wack a*s "professional" office outfit. Who will a kid be more likely to bond with? Somebody who looks more like them!!
Also, I'm convinced that districts only keep this rule in place so that they can dangle a "jeans day!" in front of our faces every so often to try to keep us complacent. It's insulting.
I'm too afraid to break this rule completely, because ultimately I do love my job, but every Friday when we have a "jeans day if you wear a school shirt," I just wear my jeans with whatever shirt I want. It's my tiny, miniscule, absolutely microscopic taste of rebellion, lol
Miniscule: the odds that minuscule will be spelled correctly.
If something is no longer being published, I don't have qualms about copyright infringement
But it doesn’t have to be on an epic scale to count, though. It’s crossing the street when there is no crossing, but neither are there any cars. It’s pirating something that you’ve previously paid for. It’s writing the Oxford comma despite heated debates among language purists. They are all breaking some form of rule, but the context allows for it in a non-threatening and non-harmful way. And all of that is in the hopes that something will change for the better.
right now I pirate guilt free because streaming services suck more and more and you never know when some a*****e game service is going to delete a game you bought tomorrow
Polite conversation topics. I wanna talk about death sex and money
And this is why using a comma is important. You won't make friends with that topic, or you'll make very, very strange friends.
Work Dress Codes: Wearing more casual clothing to work than the dress code permits, feeling that comfort boosts productivity
I've never worked anywhere with a dress code, it must be horrible to have to wear certain clothes, unless they are for security. I get that coming to work in a mankini when you are an oil rig welder might not be the best Idea, but outside of uniforms that identify your job, it doesn't really make sense.
So, what are your thoughts on any of this? Share them in the comment section below.
Don’t have any thoughts? Bored Panda has other, similar places that you can be at—places like the social issues section.
Don't ever talk about your exes with your current partner. We're all adults, that's so dumb and silly
How much does your current partner NEED to know about your ex, and how would that be helpful?
The wash, rinse, and repeat. Surprise b****es, i'm only washing once.
Big Shampoo wants you to just repeat until you're out of shampoo and so have to buy a new bottle every day. WAKE UP SHEEPLE.
I share my Netflix password.
If I'm not very hungry, I order from the child's menu.
If they would let you... I do see this in some restaurants here where they offer a small portion, not specifically for kids, but the price difference is not usually massively significant. My wife's lunch ('Pela') at the Swiss mountain restaurant on Sunday was chf19.50 for a full size, 16.50 for the half portion, for example.
I clean the patient's bedside table first and foremost instead of emptying the trash first, as we're ordered to do.
I don’t tip until service is complete. As it should be.
Why would you? I would never use one of those services where you must tip upfront. Who want's to eat cold fast food, anyway?!?
Don’t gossip.
Eff that. Gossiping gives you tons of good info you can use. The trick is to just understand that all gossip is coming from someone’s particular and limited worldview /knowledge-base and isn’t necessarily objectively true
For the first 5 or so years I was in the USAF, uniform rules mandated wearing backpacks on the left shoulder only. It was the dumbest and most useless rule I had ever seen in my life and obviously caused tons of problems for the wearer. I openly and defiantly broke this rule every single day and didn't care who saw it. I took a lot of flak for it but still did it. Someone, somewhere FINALLY changed it to allow both shoulders instead of just maintaining the status quo.
Oh, there are so many ways we in the military creatively break or bend rules and regs~ I never wear my belt properly, the regular size is too tight and the XL is too large, so mine is configured in a way that's not in regs but works for me. I almost never wear regulation black socks under my boots (nobody ever sees em anyway). I am out of control.
If something has been in the lost and found for a month, then it’s ok to take.
Being on time for work. It affects exactly zero people if I show up 25 mins late and make up for it at the end of the day. Doesn’t work for some jobs, but for mine, it’s fine.
At the convenience store, I always take a huge drink from my cup at the soda fountain and then fill it back to the top again.
Yeah, soda is literally just carbonated water with cheap syrup in it, I don't feel that bad refilling.
Coming to a complete stop at an empty intersection with no other cars, bicycles or pedestrians where I can clearly see every cross street and sidewalk.
Pretending to be a human when I'm actually a cyborg sent from the future to break the no time-travel rule. Oh, and jaywalking
Now that my company is forcing us to come into the office after 3.5 years of working remote, I have no qualms about cheating my time sheet. I take as many paid breaks as I want and punch myself in early regardless of what time I get there.
The way I see it, they cut my compensation by making me pay for lunch and train fare. I'm just evening the score.
Self-entitled much? You were hired to work in the office prior to covid. Get your a.s to work.
People say don't spoil your kids. F**k that, I break this rule constantly. They're great. Hard workers. Sweet. Gracious and generous. Good sharers. When they want something and I think they deserve it and it isn't some dumb toy or tchotchke, I will give/do it for them. Can be as simple as dropping what I'm doing to play catch, buying them something when we are at the store, giving in to McDonald's ice cream requests before dinner, signing them out of school early to surf with me and getting them big gifts at Christmas (surfboards/halfpipe/two person boogie board, etc). They are always so excited and I love seeing them smile and kicking it with them and giving them a good childhood. I feel lucky.
TV license in the UK. Stopped paying about 15 years ago.
Speed reading terms and conditions like it's a new Olympic sport
No mattress tags will survive in this house
Nice try Fed Boy, you'll never catch me
I don't break the rule/law but I think it's ultimately idiotic and causes more accidents than it ever hoped to prevent. I drive a school bus and in NY we are mandated to stop at every railroad crossing whether it has gates and lights or not. It stems from an incident from 50 years ago where a driver ran a stop sign at a line that was hardly ever used. 50 years later, at least where I live, every crossing has gates and lights to prevent drivers from crossing, and I've never heard of one incident where someone was struck by a train because the gates didn't work. And today we have people who text while driving and are not looking where they are going. At least once a month our yard has an incident where a bus is rear ended at a RxR crossing. People are hurt, and thousands of dollars in damage are incurred. If it is so important to stop at RxR crossings, why don't parents do so in their private cars? There, I got that off my chest.
Being responsible for someone else’s children is what makes this a bit different than saying private cars don’t all do it so I’m not gonna do it when I have 100 little lives onboard. Even if it’s never going to result in a train incident, a cautious school bus driver is part of the gig.
Zoning Regulations: Building minor, non-intrusive structures without a permit, seeing the process as bureaucratic and unnecessary
That's assuming that everyone is intelligent enough to build these structures. You know that's not the case, unless you are one of them...
Max 20 items in self checkout. I used to work at said grocery store and know what I’m doing.
The other customers know what you're doing too...and it's not right.
Smoke two joints in the morning.
Smoke two joints at night.
Smoke two joints in the afternoon.
Make me feel alright.
Taking small valuable things from multi billion dollar corporations
When I was in university I handed in all my assignments at least a day late because the rule was only a 1% deduction per day capping at 10%.
Speed limits. They're more like speed suggestions, am I right? Especially at 3am. My car thinks it's a spaceship and honestly, who am I to crush its dreams?
Dog Leash Laws: Letting a well-behaved dog off-leash in public areas where leashes are required, feeling it's better for the dog's happiness
I don't want to be greeted by unsupervised off-leash dogs, no matter how well-trained your furball is. It's uncomfortable because a strange dog is always a strange dog. Even though I'm not afraid of dogs, these people don't think at all about the people who are afraid.
Since finding it is still illegal in England "to carry a Salmon in a suspicious manner along the High Street" I often take my pet fish for a walk into town whilst constantly looking over my shoulder. Sticking it to the man!!
Since finding it is still illegal in England "to carry a Salmon in a suspicious manner along the High Street" I often take my pet fish for a walk into town whilst constantly looking over my shoulder. Sticking it to the man!!
