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Some say that rules are meant to be broken, and so broken they will be, be it traffic regulations or the dos and don'ts of playing Uno.

These are just a couple of examples of rules that some people break regularly. And while the reasons for doing that might differ with each person, some do it simply because they fundamentally disagree with them.

Members of the ‘Ask Reddit’ community recently shared what rules they refuse to follow, because of said reason, after redditor ‘RGDJR’ started a thread about it. Covering everything from orders and regulations to expectations and social norms, netizens assembled quite an extensive list of rules that, in their opinion, should be broken, so scroll down to find them, and see if you agree with any of them.

Below you will also find Bored Panda’s interview with the person who started the thread, user RGDJR, who was kind enough to answer a few of our questions.

#1

“What’s A Common Rule That You Break Regularly Because You Fundamentally Disagree With It?” (45 Answers) “Breakfast foods.” Ive had coworkers walk in on me eating steak and mashed potatoes with asparagus at 7 AM for breakfast. When questioned I always respond “I don’t subscribe to societal norms of proper meal time foods”

Edit: I woke up to a ton of people agreeing with me so it’s clear ive been chosen as the leader of the rebellion. We march on Kellog’s headquarters at dawn

TheDUDE1411 , Sarah Stierch / flickr Report

#2

“What’s A Common Rule That You Break Regularly Because You Fundamentally Disagree With It?” (45 Answers) Automatic respect because someone is elderly.
They get common courtesy, but everyone has to earn respect/authority before they can start bossing people around.

SafariNZ , Rene Terp / pexels Report

#3

“What’s A Common Rule That You Break Regularly Because You Fundamentally Disagree With It?” (45 Answers) My state says I'm not allowed to provide alcohol to my own children until they are 21.

I will not let them be carted off to a bar on their 21st birthday unless they are already very familiar with alcohol and how different ABV% affects their bodies. I do not care what the law says, their first drink will come from me in the safety of their own home.

Finn235 , Any Lane / pexels Report

In a recent interview with Bored Panda, u/RGDJR shared that the thing that encouraged him to ask this particular question was a rule that he himself breaks on the regular. “I had just returned from some travel with a colleague and found that she and I differ on the need to put your phone into airplane mode before takeoff,” he said.

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“She obeys this rule religiously. I, on the other hand, have never put my phone into airplane mode. My position is: if it's actually important, the airline wouldn't just ask people to do it, you'd need to show the flight attendant proof… or your phone would automatically switch to airplane mode when it sensed that you were moving at a certain speed. In any case, I don't buy that it's actually necessary. And it was this debate with my colleague that inspired the question. I was curious what other rules people break willingly.”

#4

“What’s A Common Rule That You Break Regularly Because You Fundamentally Disagree With It?” (45 Answers) Tipping everywhere. Not exactly a rule but I ain't gonna tip where I haven't received an actual service where someone has to go out of their way to do something for me. I don't care if I get mean looks for it.

FaultFinal5248 , Iain Farrell / flickr Report

#5

“What’s A Common Rule That You Break Regularly Because You Fundamentally Disagree With It?” (45 Answers) Account sharing. I bought the game, service, movie, etc, I get to decide who uses it

zane411 , Matilda Wormwood / pexels Report

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The OP admitted that the volume of answers from the redditors caught him off guard; what surprised him even more was how many of them he agreed with.

“In fact, the top response is one that I'm aligned on wholeheartedly,” he said. “The idea that people shouldn't discuss their salary with each other is bulls**t. Talking salary helps to ensure pay equity. I have a team of people who work for me and I would never dissuade them from talking about what they make.”

#6

“What’s A Common Rule That You Break Regularly Because You Fundamentally Disagree With It?” (45 Answers) YouTube TOS says I can't block ads. The day they can stop me is the day I stop watching Youtube.

Edit: 8000 upvotes and yet there's a lot of copium in this thread over me still blocking ads.

drdildamesh , freestocks.org / pexels Report

#7

“What’s A Common Rule That You Break Regularly Because You Fundamentally Disagree With It?” (45 Answers) I *actually* use my turn signal/blinker.

I eat cookie dough and I eat Nutella with a spoon

cyaveronica , Erik Mclean / pexels Report

#8

“What’s A Common Rule That You Break Regularly Because You Fundamentally Disagree With It?” (45 Answers) Jaywalking. If the street is obviously clear, I'm not going to wait for nothing.

hapster113 , Rachel Claire / pexels Report

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“Pirating content is also an answer that struck a chord with me,” the redditor continued. “I make every effort to buy media. But if the world won't sell it to me, I'll take to the seas. I also thought there was some great advice on getting scientific papers from the authors as opposed to paying for them.”

#9

“What’s A Common Rule That You Break Regularly Because You Fundamentally Disagree With It?” (45 Answers) Rules about pirating content that I am geographically restricted from streaming legally.

nolawnchairs , Anastasia Shuraeva / pexels Report

#10

“What’s A Common Rule That You Break Regularly Because You Fundamentally Disagree With It?” (45 Answers) If i find cash on the ground i'm not going to give it to the authorities

kyubeyt , Lukas / pexels Report

#11

“What’s A Common Rule That You Break Regularly Because You Fundamentally Disagree With It?” (45 Answers) Not expressing emotions to appear “strong/tough”. I had a hard year last year and I couldn’t hold it in and opened up with 3 coworkers I trusted. We have since then developed a very strong friendship and even since we all left out last company, we became really close friends.
If more people normalized mental illness the world would be a much better place.

mysteronsss , Mental Health America (MHA) / pexels Report

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Despite agreeing with fellow netizens that some rules are meant to be broken—in some cases, regularly—the OP told Bored Panda that he absolutely believes that rules are necessary for people.

“Rules often exist for a very good reason. They help ensure a (generally) peaceful society. They deter criminal behavior that might endanger us. They guarantee that my football team is going to move 15 yards up the field if the opposing team is rough on our quarterback. That said, I don't believe that all rules are entirely necessary. And as this post proved, a sizable population of redditors would agree.”

#12

“What’s A Common Rule That You Break Regularly Because You Fundamentally Disagree With It?” (45 Answers) Making the bed. Why would I make my bed all neat if I'm just going to mess it up again at the soonest opportunity? As long as nothing is sliding off the bed then it's fine.

mountainnose1994 , Ron Lach / pexels Report

#13

“What’s A Common Rule That You Break Regularly Because You Fundamentally Disagree With It?” (45 Answers) My employees dont pay for food on my shifts. we dont pay them a living wage, i’m not about to make them pay for a meal for themselves after theyve given me 8-9 hours of their day.

aviatorium , Kampus Production / pexels Report

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#14

“What’s A Common Rule That You Break Regularly Because You Fundamentally Disagree With It?” (45 Answers) Separating laundry by colors, I just throw everything in together

Piggles-and-Beagles , Sarah Chai / pexels Report

#15

“What’s A Common Rule That You Break Regularly Because You Fundamentally Disagree With It?” (45 Answers) "Do not discuss salary with colleagues or people outside this company." - F**k that.

Edit: Phew!

To be clear, I am not part of the US and not really part of the EU. The act of discussing pay is not legally protected here. It may be in the future though...

fiindca , MART PRODUCTION / pexels Report

#16

“What’s A Common Rule That You Break Regularly Because You Fundamentally Disagree With It?” (45 Answers) I refuse to use Starbucks sizes and say small, medium, or large.

jimmyjohntwo , Sidorela Shehaj / pexels Report

#17

“What’s A Common Rule That You Break Regularly Because You Fundamentally Disagree With It?” (45 Answers) I'm so tired of the "subscription" world we live in now. I basically just pirate everything. I used to still buy the discs. But many movies don't get released in UHD, so what's the point of even looking.

I don't want to stream compressed 4k. And I certainly don't want to worry about whether or not the company pulls the movie from their service or just stops it altogether.

ArcRust , cottonbro studio / pexels Report

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#18

“What’s A Common Rule That You Break Regularly Because You Fundamentally Disagree With It?” (45 Answers) There is an outlet mall near us that has designated spaces painted with pink ribbons that are for breast cancer survivors. The spaces are always empty. I am a 2x ovarian cancer survivor. I use the spaces as needed.

Strong-Succotash-830 , Anna Shvets / pexels Report

#19

“What’s A Common Rule That You Break Regularly Because You Fundamentally Disagree With It?” (45 Answers) Do socks really need to match, or is this just a bill of goods sold to us by Big Laundry?

GreenAdder , Lukas Horak / pexels Report

#20

“What’s A Common Rule That You Break Regularly Because You Fundamentally Disagree With It?” (45 Answers) Dress codes. Dress codes tend to be more restrictive for females than males (don’t tempt him with your exposed clavicles, ladies). Many of them are also racist. And they have absolutely nothing to do with someone’s standards or ability to perform duties, whether it be a job, a school, or even a restaurant.

flugualbinder , Juan Vargas / pexels Report

#21

“What’s A Common Rule That You Break Regularly Because You Fundamentally Disagree With It?” (45 Answers) The rule against ending a sentence with a preposition. That is one rule, up with which I will not put.

KumquatHaderach , fauxels / pexels Report

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#22

“What’s A Common Rule That You Break Regularly Because You Fundamentally Disagree With It?” (45 Answers) There is no difference between being at work at 8am and 8:10am. Especially when it’s not shift work and there’s no one waiting for you to arrive so they can leave. In every job I’ve had they always gripe about being right on time at 8am and then you have hovering managers looking at the door to see who’s late at 8:02am. I am always at work but I will not be there at 8am on the dot for the next 25+ years of my life. It makes no difference

pwa09 , olia danilevich / pexels Report

#23

“What’s A Common Rule That You Break Regularly Because You Fundamentally Disagree With It?” (45 Answers) Ages on car seats. I think a kid’s age has zero relation and all car seat requirements should be based on weight alone.

not_your_neighbors , Larry Syverson / flickr Report

#24

“What’s A Common Rule That You Break Regularly Because You Fundamentally Disagree With It?” (45 Answers) I wear socks and sandals. The people complaining are annoyingly ridiculous. I’m not gonna show my hairy feet if I don’t want to and I can’t stand the feeling/sound of sweaty feet on sandals.

Dr-Zoidberserk , Darina Belonogova / pexels Report

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#25

“What’s A Common Rule That You Break Regularly Because You Fundamentally Disagree With It?” (45 Answers) Lying on your resume. I’m not talking about completely lying that you worked at Google for 2 years when you didn’t. That’s a little much.

But in reality i have gaps between many jobs, due to either unemployment or just needing a damn break between jobs. but on my resume i have consecutively been employed with no gaps my entire career. I feel like recruiters see gaps as a red flag, and sometimes your resume doesn’t make it far enough to even explain the gaps, even if they’re completely harmless gaps.

In regard to background checks for new jobs I’ve personally still passed all of mine with no issues. To my knowledge the agency conducting the background checks can only verify information you give them yourself (not the employer). So I simply don’t provide exact dates, just the year I worked at whatever place. Of course this could backfire, but so far so good over here

Edit: I fundamentally disagree with it because employers lie about the job description all the time. What you actually end up doing rarely matches what they pitch you.

Important_Map_7266 , cottonbro studio / pexels Report

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#26

“What’s A Common Rule That You Break Regularly Because You Fundamentally Disagree With It?” (45 Answers) No putting your elbows on the table. It's a silly rule that was based on the idea of "if you have room to put your elbows on the table, it implies your host didn't provide enough food." We make bigger tables now. And most of the time I'm the one who is buying the food in question.

limbodog , Jack Sparrow / pexels Report

#27

“What’s A Common Rule That You Break Regularly Because You Fundamentally Disagree With It?” (45 Answers) I'm conscious of the speed limit, but typically follow the speed of traffic first. So if traffic is going faster than the speed limit, I'm going to go faster to keep pace with everyone else.

iceunelle , Omar Ramadan / pexels Report

#28

“What’s A Common Rule That You Break Regularly Because You Fundamentally Disagree With It?” (45 Answers) The rule that you cannot place a +2 on a +2 in UNO I am always going to break that rule no matter what anyone says

pheonix_aryan , lil artsy / pexels Report

#29

“What’s A Common Rule That You Break Regularly Because You Fundamentally Disagree With It?” (45 Answers) I refuse to spell out YMCA with my arms when that song comes on.

MrBigTomato , Monstera Production / pexels Report

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#30

“What’s A Common Rule That You Break Regularly Because You Fundamentally Disagree With It?” (45 Answers) Not a rule but i refuse to fill out opinion surveys for service or something i bought. If you want me to provide you with optimization information for your business, i need something in return.

Crazy_questioner Report

#31

“What’s A Common Rule That You Break Regularly Because You Fundamentally Disagree With It?” (45 Answers) Speeding on the interstate. Get out of the left lane!

splattermonkeys , Anthony Simuel / pexels Report

#32

I tip the minimum amount at restaurants.

Places nowadays want a minimum 25% tip and I will do 15% every time. You don’t get to tell me how generous I have to be. And in case everyone forgot, tips are OPTIONAL.

Cyber_Insecurity Report

#33

“What’s A Common Rule That You Break Regularly Because You Fundamentally Disagree With It?” (45 Answers) Don’t date where you work.

You spend nearly a third of your waking hours at work. You learn about the people you work with over weeks, months, years, and have a much better idea of compatibility than with a random club or dating app meetup.

panachi19 , Ketut Subiyanto / pexels Report

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#34

Taking slightly longer breaks at work. Two 10min breaks and a 20min lunch on a 10hr shift. Nah

LightyearKissthesky9 Report

#35

“What’s A Common Rule That You Break Regularly Because You Fundamentally Disagree With It?” (45 Answers) I ignore margins in notebooks and write over them. Why waste space? I use the whole page.

anon , Liza Summer / pexels Report

#36

“What’s A Common Rule That You Break Regularly Because You Fundamentally Disagree With It?” (45 Answers) In 1950s New Zealand they used to have six o’clock closing for all the bars by law. My dad was barely of drinking age but he used to line up with everyone else and hand over his cash while the publican sold flagons of beer over the back fence.

He told me this story to teach me this axiom:

“You don’t obey the *stupid* laws.”

DadLoCo , ELEVATE / pexels Report

#37

Maybe not totally on point but if I have a device that breaks just out of warranty I will often buy a new one and just return the old one. I know two wrongs don’t make a right and it’s fraud but as far as I’m concerned selling me something that breaks within 1 year for the price of something that should last at least 5 years is legalized fraud so I’m just cheating them like they cheat me. 

I do try and give the company a chance to honor their device regardless of the stated warranty but if not returned it goes.  

WATGU Report

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#38

City animal limits. YES if you can't take care of them they need to be removed, but in my city the limit is 4 cats/dogs total. Down the road in the next city it's 10 cats/dogs. 


I have 8. It's b******t. It's my space and I'm taking good care of them, they dont roam. The only interaction with neighbors is if they see them in my window. 


It really doesn't affect me much as most people around here ignore the rule too

Toasterinthetub22 Report

#39

“What’s A Common Rule That You Break Regularly Because You Fundamentally Disagree With It?” (45 Answers) 5 second rule. If it falls on the floor I just throw it out. That’s gross.

monkeyface4 , Tima Miroshnichenko / pexels Report

#40

Sharing meds. My oldest and I had several of the same prescriptions and would use them interchangeably as needed between refills. It’s the same prescription. But I imagine some medical professionals would lose their minds.

FormalSomewhere7421 Report

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#41

“What’s A Common Rule That You Break Regularly Because You Fundamentally Disagree With It?” (45 Answers) Adding garlic and onion to the pan at the same time to soften. Do you want burnt garlic? Because that's how you get burnt garlic.

PBnPickleSandwich , bob walker / pexels Report

#42

“What’s A Common Rule That You Break Regularly Because You Fundamentally Disagree With It?” (45 Answers) I throw away the mail of the people who lived in my apartment before me rather than taking it to the post office every. Single. Day. If they wanted their mail, they would have filled out a change of address form.

ariariariarii , Jan van der Wolf / pexels Report

#43

“What’s A Common Rule That You Break Regularly Because You Fundamentally Disagree With It?” (45 Answers) That you need to wait for other people to start eating, eat your food before it gets cold, I’ll just talk while I’m waiting

moonfantastic , Nadin Sh / pexels Report

#44

Telling white lies to your SO is good.

No. I'm not carrying the baggage of lies. I'm always kind, and I'm always honest. Don't want to know thing? You better not ask me.

BrianZoh Report

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#45

“What’s A Common Rule That You Break Regularly Because You Fundamentally Disagree With It?” (45 Answers) Using knife and fork to cut your food. If the food it's soft enough, why I can't use my spoon?

maurocastrov , PhotoMIX Company / pexels Report

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#46

I will occasionally eat a KitKat across, instead of finger by finger.

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#47

I wear mismatched socks 99% of the time.

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#48

There is a roundabout intersection near me that also has stop signs. I refuse to stop at the stop signs as it defeats the purpose of a roundabout (assuming no other cars or pedestrians are present). The roundabout is near a small strip mall so not a ton of traffic

Dizzy-Heart7232 Report

#49

Using a VPN when traveling to China.

Technically it's illegal though many people, especially visitors from other countries could care less. And there's no way I'd play nice and obey that law and not be able to use Reddit and virtually every major US site and service when I'm there.

ragnarkar Report

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#50

Wearing clothes.

Ill be naked in my own home and in my own backyard as often as I want.

If im on public land camping/hiking and don't expect to see anyone except the group of friends Im with? Im being comfortable and getting naked.

If others want to wear clothes, more power to them. I prefer not to and don't like that its become a fairly general concern that someone being naked in public means they're up to no good.

Go back 50 years and almost everywhere in the world casual nudity was much more normal and not the big crime north america seems to think it is recently.

Naked bodies are one of the very few things that literally every one has!

Matsu-mae Report

Add photo comments
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Squirrel Chaser
Community Member
3 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

If someone decides to peek while I'm skinny dipping, I refuse to pay for their therapy.

Michael Largey
Community Member
3 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

If someone decides to peek while I'm skinny dipping, I refuse to pay for their eye surgery.

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BoredPossum
Community Member
3 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

In Europe, nude beaches and nudist communities are a thing. We frankly don't get why Americans get so shocked when people are naked. It's not necessarily sexual.

Nitka Tsar
Community Member
3 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Don’t forget saunas! One needs to be nude to get inside (covered in a towel and sitting on that, but no clothes allowed)

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Robin Roper
Community Member
3 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I'm 68 and 50 years ago, the only people walking around nude were toddlers or people in a nudist community.

Salty_Sasquatch
Community Member
3 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I feel that nowadays (in the US) predators would take that as an open invitation to sexually harass people, no matter the size, shape or age.

Limey
Community Member
3 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I pretty much only wear shoes if it’s freezing cold or if I am out. In the summer I hardly wear them at all unless I am doing something formal.

Nitka Tsar
Community Member
3 months ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I’m glad they mentioned North America. Nakedness is still normal in other places. We go naked into a sauna here and still have nude beaches.

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#51

I’ll start. I’ve never used airplane mode on a flight. I just don’t believe that if there was a risk, they’d leave it up to passengers to do it on their own.

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#52

Saying “bless you” after someone sneezes. I’m over it. Stfu

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#53

Paying for the trolley. Straight up, the entire world is better off if I bum a trolley ride than if I pay to fill my car with petroleum and join the rest of you in traffic.

8Splendiferous8 Report