Humans are curious creatures. Our craving to know and understand is the driving force behind our development as individuals and our success as a species. But we're also dumb.
So when Reddit user Ryyi23 posted this question on the platform: "What oddly specific rules have you seen that are probably only there because someone actually did it in the past?" the replies came flooding in.
From a warning not to fill a water gun with urine to a suggestion to remove a child from a piece of clothing before washing it, continue scrolling and check out some of the funniest ones!
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At my last job, we had a sign on the back door that said "you must walk trash all the way to the dumpster; DO NOT TRAIN THE RACCOONS!!!"
The story behind that is the facility I worked at does dog daycare and training, and Darcy the Human (not to be confused with Darcy the Poodle) didn't like having to walk all the way across the parking lot at the end of the night to take out the trash, and trained about three raccoons to drag the bags to the dumpster because he couldn't be bothered to walk 50ft to it. He got away with it for about a year, and even named them. The manager only found out when she opened the back door to throw out some boxes and saw a bunch of raccoons immediately run up and cart them off.
If the water between Denmark and Sweden freezes, and the Swedes walk over we (the Danes) are allowed to hit them with sticks.
It´s a old law, going back centuries when Sweden and Denmark was at war, if Öregrund frooze we could easily invade Denmark.
We managed to get in contact with Ryyi23 and they agreed to have a little chat with us about the inspiration behind the original post. "I had been talking to a friend about water parks and I remembered a sign at a water park that seemed obvious to me. It said 'Don't poop while on the slide.' So I figured there's probably plenty of odd rules and I wanted to know about them," the Redditor told Bored Panda.
"My main takeaway from the answers is that sometimes, common sense isn't common. Things that seem obvious to most people aren't necessarily obvious to everyone. The areas where rules were coming from seemed to be pretty diverse, but many of them involved job sites and there were a good number of answers from medical areas," they explained.
On an AirFrance flight from Morocco to Mauritania, the flight attendant gave the safety brief in French at first. My french is not good but my ears pricked up when I heard the words "feu de camp." I obviously discounted my translation as misunderstanding the brief until she went into the brief in English.
We were given the standard safety brief on all aircraft, but at the end we were specifically reminded that there are to be no cooking or camp fires lit on the plane at any time.
Can you imagine your seat mate getting hungry and deciding to start a fire on an airplane to cook up some snacks?!?!?
We once got a piece of clothing for one of the kids and right on the label, I kid you not, ‘remove child before washing.'
An excuse for Aunt Martha. She may NOT attempt to scrub spaghetti sauce out of your t-shirt with club soda while you're sitting at Olive Garden.
In my lease, I had a clause to properly dispose of my used tampons.
I asked why and apparently my landlord had a tenant that caused $50,000 of damage because she threw her used tampons into the cabinet under the sink. She rented the apartment for years and there were 3+ years worth of used, bloody tampons in there.
The, uh, blood caused a bunch of damage akin to water damage to the bathoom. The floor under the cabinet was rotted through. From bloody tampon storage.
The thought of a steamy, gelatinous glorb of blood gooping through the sh**ty linoleum and blooming a bloody Clicker from The Last of Us makes me want to actively die.
Ryyi23 isn't entirely sure how many of these regulations have actually helped. "If the rule is something so obvious that most wouldn't consider doing it in the first place, then the people who decide to disregard it probably don't read the rules anyway," they said. "I think companies might implement odd rules in order to punish anyone else who tries to do it."
At the end of the day, Ryyi23 is happy that some of the posts they've made on Reddit have gotten so much attention and sparked such interesting discussions. "I love learning about people's life experiences and their fun stories. [Sharing them] is a good way to help each other to look at the bright side of life."
In Florida " You may not have sexual relations with a porcupine".
In rehab our cottons swabs were taken away because a guy decided to jam one into his eardrum to get sent to the hospital and get painkillers. Every seemingly dumb rule we had in there had a backstory to it.
‘Absolutely no roller skates in the lab.’ My husband worked for a private lab startup and half the women there did roller derby. The lab was (as many are) a repurposed warehouse with nice smooth concrete floors. One of the women thought it would be fun to skate between machines. She got a lot done but the boss figured osha wouldn’t be too thrilled so the sign went up a few days later. You could still wear your skates in the break room.
“Don’t take (prescription drug) if you're allergic to (same drug).”
The Macomb Law Group acknowledges that warning labels on products can get a little silly but say there is a reason for it: companies continue to produce dangerous products.
"When consumers are hurt because something they purchased does them harm, [the law in many places] says they may be able to file a product liability lawsuit. These cases say that a product was unreasonably dangerous, but the manufacturer sold it anyway," the Macomb Law Group explained.
On a package of precision screwdrivers "Do not insert into penis."
I did have a patient years ago that had a knitting needle up his penis
Gummy worm, the sour kind with the acid on the outside.
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As any nurse who has worked in an ER can tell you even if it doesn't fit, they'll try to make it fit!
Well, I'm sure the doctors and nurses here are not surprised! Especially if they work in emergency room they can share many interesting stories! I have one from a friend! Vacuum cleaner shoved up the ass! The guy showed up dragging a whole vacuum behind him
Yeah I heard about that... unsee juice please ; _ ;
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As a nurse, I have seen many odd sexual toys. To each his own insanity.
I just read a headline in the Daily Mail. Apparently the same warning needs to be added to USB cables. 15 year old boys need to be reminded.
The worst ones I saw was a young guy who rolled a whole pack of blu-tack into tiny sausages and poked it up into his urethra, we had to pick out all the bits from his bladder with a cystoscope, it took ages, and an elderly gentleman who inserted bathroom silicone sealant into his, he was trying to cure his dribbling incontinence, I felt real sympathy for him.
it's called "sounding" they make actual surgical steel devices to put in your urethrae. it's a very specific fetish.
I don’t know what this is, but I don’t think it can be worse than what I’m imagining.
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“Do not fill with urine” on a water gun.
Do not pick up this lawn mower and use it as a hedge trimmer.
According to the lawyers, product liability usually falls into at least one of three categories:
- Manufacturing defects (something wasn’t built to the proper specifications);
- Design defects (the thing was built according to specifications that contained a danger);
- Failure to warn (the manufacturer didn’t disclose an inherent danger in the product).
"Failure to warn is sometimes also called a marketing defect," the Macomb Law Group added. "The theory behind these cases is that, if a manufacturer cannot reasonably make the product safe, it can still be responsible for letting the consumer know about the dangers."
I wonder how many crazy lawsuits hide behind these rules?
My father’s hometown, Marion, Ohio, had a rule that you couldn’t eat a donut while walking backwards. If I remember correctly, it had something to do with attracting police horses to lure them away from the police.
At my company's picnic outing: "Anyone who jumps in the lake will be fired."
"Do not use for drying pets" on the microwave.
To be fair... in the 50s, Scientist's found out that you can revive a dead frozen hamster in a Microwave.
No rings on ship decks. They can get caught and deglove your finger, which is exactly as horrid as it sounds.
For my fellow scientists: Transferring chemicals by mouth (mouth pipetting) is forbidden.
This sounds crazier than it is. Old pipettes were extremely precise but there were no good pumps equally accurate. A long tube was attached to the bulb end and is fine IF the chemical being mouth pipetted does not have harmful fumes.... safer to just outlaw them
Pharmacy worker here. We have to specify to unwrap suppositories BEFORE insertion. Apparently someone thought the foil was part of it.
Remove baby before collapsing stroller.
You're not allowed to bring vuvuzelas into a Metallica concert.
I really just want to know the story.
You, shouldn't be allowed to bring them anywhere. They are horrible!
“Do not put 14 rolls of toilet paper in the toilet” -Walmart 2019
There's a town in Alabama where it's illegal to carry an ice cream cone in your pocket.
Last year’s company christmas party email specifically stated to bring an extra pair of pants if you will be urinating in the first pair.
Back in the 90s, I used to work in a convenience store in New Jersey. Once a year I’d have to go to the health department and get certified as a food handler. It is in this capacity that I learned that there is a law on the books in the state of New Jersey that you cannot store food under a leaking sewage pipe. You just know health inspector went into a store and said “what the hell?! You can’t store food under leaking sewer pipe!” And the store owner said “cite the statute!”
I've read restaurant inspection reports. Stuff like this happens, more often it's prepared ready-to-serve food on a shelf under dripping raw meat in a refrigerator.
Used to work in a big name book store. In the office we had a huge sign saying "no boiled eggs allowed in staff office"
Do not dress game (e.g. deer, pheasant) in dormitory kitchens.
I wonder who dragged a deer into the dorm and cut it up for venison...
Please do not add dish detergent to the water fountains.
this one seems like a strange thing my mom would say to me and my cousins at the annual family re-union.
Do not smoke when applying hairspray.
no, it's a good idea: you'll get some big ol firework (maybe without the work part but that doesn't matter) and it's perfect if you're really cold!
I worked at a video rental store and we had a big sign at the front of the store that said “CONTROL YOUR CHILDREN” because kids are an organizational nightmare
I worked at a bedding store. Every kids dream to jump on multiple beds. We had a sign that read "If your children jump on the bed we reserve the right to give them candy & soda"
In church, there was a sign above the votive candles that read:
"Light only one candle - $7 each."
Apparently, for $7, someone had lighted all 50 votive candles in the stand.
Imagine and hear me out here, a religion where you're allowed to talk to God, or even pray and get a result, if you believe in that sort of thing, FOR FREE....... why does the catholic church treat Jesus like a cameo star you gotta pay to have a 5 minute zoom call with????
I had the same Biology professor for Bio I and II.
Because of me, the Bio II power point included a new excuse that wouldn't be accepted for missing/late work: "My drunk room mates threw it out while cleaning!"
I work as a counselor at a boy scout camp that happens to have coconut trees. One of the rules I have to read to the scouts is "Do not take a coconut and stick it between your legs and try to stab it with your pocket knife" this is because at least one kid some time ago did this resulting in an emergency hospital trip
I blame Johnny Knoxville for this, but "toilets are for display purposes only".
I was a nanny for a while when I was younger. I was accompanying the mom on a trip to the hardware store because I was much more experienced than her at diy. Suddenly we heard this loud shout from her 4 year old (who was meant to be with her) "MOM! I'm ready to wipe now!". Bless his heart for trying I guess.
Since Covid and things going digital, we now have a ‘You must wear clothes’ rule…and we already had a pretty casual dress code.
My all time favorite, in the Taco Bell i frequented as a teenager:
"Please do not spit on the managers."
It wasn't even a freakin paper, it was a plaque, someone got spit on enough times to go out and pay for a plaque.
Worked at a call center, as it was moving towards shutting down they weirdly got super stringent about rules. Couldn't have pen and paper so I brought putties and non-sticky slime to give myself something to do during downtime. Email goes out, no putty or slime. Okay, I'll finally learn to crochet. Bring in yarn and needles. Email goes out, no crochet or knitting. Fine, l write as a hobby so I'll type up some blurbs on Word. Maybe make an 'annoying customer' bingo sheet on Excel. Email goes out, no longer allowed to use Word or Excel.
Every email was sent like a week or less after I started doing the thing, with the exception of the putty. Timeline made sense to me and my friends, kinda, but I'm sure for everyone else in the call center they were bewildered as hell.
In Arkansas, it's illegal to keep an alligator in your bathtub.
Worked at an auto body shop. The break room microwave sign said “no fish or birds”.
There were a few Vietnamese guys working there. The guy who worked in the wash bay detailing the cars before they were given back to the customers was about 60 years old, and he always had “weird” stuff for lunch. I’ve seen him with bags full of fish heads, entire birds (feathers and all), mystery bags of unknown meat, etc.
Apparently he had used the break room microwave to cook these sorts of random things and made the entire office reek for days at a time. They ended up putting the old break room microwave in the wash bay (which was in an unattached building) so he could cook all the nasty sh*t he wanted to eat without disturbing anyone else.
There was this one residence hall on campus where we had to inform students on move-in day not to twist their apartment room key a certain way into their bathroom door otherwise they could possibly get locked in if closed. They were encouraged just to use the inner lock bolt body system. Students got charged $5, after one free pass, if a staff member got a call and had to rescue them from trapping themselves in their own bathroom. Working in that hall for two years, I rescued students 7 times and 4 of those times it was the same girl.
Charging people for aclear building mistake that must be fixed? That's new...
In California "it is illegal to hunt deer with explosive arrowheads"
Caution: Do Not Hold Wrong End of Chainsaw
I worked for a company that would send us out of town and put us up in hotels for weeks. We had per diem for food but they told us we could absolutely not use it on alcohol. Found out the company use to have an open bar at the hotel for employees until some former employees got so drunk they hired prostitutes and ended up doing cocaine and were killed out of the hotel and arrested.
Worked as a substitute teacher. During training there was a good 30 minutes reviewing strange rules. One he heavily specified was how we are not allowed to take home class pets. Turns out a sub the year before had taken home a class gold fish because the tank was too small and then ransomed the gold fish to the class until proof of a larger tank.
At a 7-11, I saw a sign on the chili dispenser for hot dogs that read, “Do not fill Big Gulp cups with chili.”
In a supermarket, by the cherry display: "For the safety of employees and customers, please do not discard cherry pits on the floor."
Couldn't figure out why it didn't just say "please don't eat the cherries" but I'm sure there's an injury lawsuit involved!
A fairly small apartment complex pool (indoors) that had a sign reading:
No Running No Diving No Smoking No Kayaks
I've been trying to buy a house and at several open house inspections, there have been signs asking people not to use the seller's toilet.
I went to work in a remote part of Alaska as a line cook. They had a mandatory drug test and very extensive background check with several interviews held by various admins in the company. This doesn't seem weird until you consider the type of people who work seasonal jobs. Especially remote seasonal jobs several hours from the closest 'town'. It takes a special kind of weird to even be interested in spending 6 months there.
When I finally arrived in camp and asked around, I found out the previous summer they had some issues with one specific employee.
Before that summer, employment with the company was very liberating. You show up for your shift, you're good. Not much else to it. You're also surrounded by wilderness for 100s of miles and purposefully scheduled 3 day weekends so you can enjoy it.
Well one guy brings his son with him. Apparently that's not too weird at the time. The son starts stealing personal items of female employees and stashing them under his mattress. The dad is also getting coke smuggled in by either a trucker or the mail. It all culminates with one big episode that no one really wanted to discuss.
After that... mandatory drug tests and very detailed interview process with background checks.
To me, employees must wash hands before returning to work..... Who the hell doesn't wash their hands after using the bathroom, especially working in food service.
When I worked at a warehouse, I was told that we can't ride pallet jacks like scooters.
I live in student accommodation, on the back of the bathroom door there are diagrams of the right and wrong ways to sit on the toilet.
Seen a lot of these signs in India where squat toilets are also a thing.
"If you've had diarrhea in the last 48 hours, please do not enter the pool water."
In Little Rock, Arkansas, I believe it's illegal to walk cattle down Main Street on Sundays.
There was a sign in one of the bathrooms at my college "Please do not dump coffee grounds in the toilets." It was only in one wing of one building, so I'm sure something happened.
I had an English teacher that had an ironclad rule about no one touching her classroom door except for her.
Rumor is that some kids super glued her classroom door shut a few years ago.
This led to some of my classmates rubbing themselves all over the door when she was absent for a day and when she went on maternity leave.
Bathing a donkey this is a law because in a hurricane as a donkey was taking a bath it went missing and people had to look for him
My father's hometown, Marion, Ohio, had a rule that you couldn't eat a donut while walking backwards. If I remember correctly, it had something to do with attracting police horses to lure them away from the police.
Anyone else notice the number 1 after every reply??? Is this a new BP Thing?1
Same, at first I thought those were parts of the posts!
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Every comment ends in a 1. Why? Why does it end like that? The end of a comment has a 1. Am I going crazy? Help.
When I was dating my now husband he was a choir director at a state MENSA convention. On the brochures it very plainly stated a rule. "Clothing is not an option." Apparently that was needed in print. Must have a great backstory.
Clothing is "not an option" or clothing is "not optional"? Big diff
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Where is the perennial classic from Toyota owners manuals "Do not drink contents of battery."
Here’s one: in Arizona animals have vehicle rights. If you ride a horse, you still have to follow all traffic laws!
Or there’s always the obligatory “don’t use a hairdryer in the bathtub”, “don’t eat dessicant packs”, “don’t eat tide pods”, “don’t eat” most anything other than food, and “this bag of nuts contains nuts”.
My lease specified that I'm not allowed to hire anyone to clean the exterior windows and I'm still not sure why....
That is incredibly specific and odd. I wonder what has happened to your landlord to make them feel the need to say that? The mind boggles 🤔
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In Detroit, It's illegal to let your pig run free unless it has a ring in its nose. Badass.
On flat little FedEx envelopes, it has a warning not to ship blood in it. Yeah. I can't even imagine the horror of the poor delivery person who first discovered the need for that rule.
They didn't include the toilet pic! That one pretty clearly had someone used to squat toilets misuse a sitter.
That sign is in nearly every public restroom here in Japan (mostly to show Chinese people how to use it properly).
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There are always a funny story behind these ones, or several sad ones...
Anyone else notice the number 1 after every reply??? Is this a new BP Thing?1
Same, at first I thought those were parts of the posts!
Load More Replies... Every comment ends in a 1. Why? Why does it end like that? The end of a comment has a 1. Am I going crazy? Help.
When I was dating my now husband he was a choir director at a state MENSA convention. On the brochures it very plainly stated a rule. "Clothing is not an option." Apparently that was needed in print. Must have a great backstory.
Clothing is "not an option" or clothing is "not optional"? Big diff
Load More Replies... Where is the perennial classic from Toyota owners manuals "Do not drink contents of battery."
Here’s one: in Arizona animals have vehicle rights. If you ride a horse, you still have to follow all traffic laws!
Or there’s always the obligatory “don’t use a hairdryer in the bathtub”, “don’t eat dessicant packs”, “don’t eat tide pods”, “don’t eat” most anything other than food, and “this bag of nuts contains nuts”.
My lease specified that I'm not allowed to hire anyone to clean the exterior windows and I'm still not sure why....
That is incredibly specific and odd. I wonder what has happened to your landlord to make them feel the need to say that? The mind boggles 🤔
Load More Replies... In Detroit, It's illegal to let your pig run free unless it has a ring in its nose. Badass.
On flat little FedEx envelopes, it has a warning not to ship blood in it. Yeah. I can't even imagine the horror of the poor delivery person who first discovered the need for that rule.
They didn't include the toilet pic! That one pretty clearly had someone used to squat toilets misuse a sitter.
That sign is in nearly every public restroom here in Japan (mostly to show Chinese people how to use it properly).
Load More Replies... There are always a funny story behind these ones, or several sad ones...
