It is appropriate after a week of talking about people watching that we look at how our culture makes up meaningless rules that we may choose to obey or ignore. It is not the nature of the rules that is fascinating as much as it is the behavior of people who make and follow them. People who are in a position of authority can sweep out the old rules in favor of their own personal set of standards. Those who want to give the appearance of being in control will add arbitrariness to their rule making… because they can. This leaves a confusing set of rules that can be questioned as authentic, dismissed as being frivolous, or followed in lemming-like blind obedience. Introspectively, we become creatures of habit through rules we make up for ourselves, like the order of getting dressed in the morning. The classic episode of the old All in the Family TV series, where Archie explains the reason for putting on both socks before putting on shoes, is not so far from the way all of us make choices.
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Made-up Rules: Mindless or Meaningful –
My mother had a set of unwritten rules which my sister and I learned to respect and never question. One such rule was not to slam the screen door. “Tommy, you go outside and come back in again without slamming the door this time!†There was no defense. It made no difference that my father had installed a spring powerful enough to launch that door into space. The ultimate control over the slamming door was the responsibility of the last child to enter. – more –
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HR and Made-up Rules – Here is the rule for making a sandwich with Swiss cheese: There is a two-slice minimum. The second slice must be rotated into such a position that there is no exposed gap from a hole beneath it in another layer. To do otherwise would degrade the flavor experience of enjoying the taste of Swiss cheese with every bite and adversely impact the quality of the sandwich-eating experience. – more –
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Lather, Rinse and Repeat – I read a very cynical article last week by a man protesting the instructions on his shampoo bottle. Perhaps he is forming an OWS (Occupy Wall Showerstall) movement. According to his account, he violated the cardinal rule of lather, rinse and repeat with no noticeable difference in his hair. He did not elaborate on the tests performed to verify his opinion, but an unfounded claim can still be true. I am constantly preaching against made-up rules, so is this really one of them? – more –
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