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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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#1

30 Times Folks Online Broke Rules Because They Made Zero Sense To Them 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.

kek2015 , RDNE Stock project / pexels Report

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Wingsofwrath
Wingsofwrath
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8 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

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?

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#2

30 Times Folks Online Broke Rules Because They Made Zero Sense To Them 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

MountainLine , Max Fischer / pexels Report

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Gustav Gallifrey
Gustav Gallifrey
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8 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

"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!"

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#3

30 Times Folks Online Broke Rules Because They Made Zero Sense To Them They will pry the Oxford comma from my cold dead hands.

WineWednesdayYet , Bored Panda Report

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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.
#4

30 Times Folks Online Broke Rules Because They Made Zero Sense To Them 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.

westonlark , Virginia State Parks / flickr Report

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#5

30 Times Folks Online Broke Rules Because They Made Zero Sense To Them Pluto is a planet.  

NavierIsStoked , NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Southwest Research Institute/Alex Parker Report

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#6

30 Times Folks Online Broke Rules Because They Made Zero Sense To Them I bring my own snack into the movie theatre.

MiekerBeaker , Pavel Danilyuk / pexels Report

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kaycee14
kaycee14
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8 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Ticket prices pay for renting the film from the distribution company. Income from the concession stand pays to keep the theater in business.

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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.
#7

30 Times Folks Online Broke Rules Because They Made Zero Sense To Them If it's a single restroom then I won't care which gender it is.

RadiantHC , Hafidz Alifuddin / pexels Report

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Kirsten Kerkhof
Kirsten Kerkhof
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8 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

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.

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#8

30 Times Folks Online Broke Rules Because They Made Zero Sense To Them 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???

ThyKnightOfSporks , Mateo.iq / pexels Report

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Kirsten Kerkhof
Kirsten Kerkhof
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8 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

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.

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#9

30 Times Folks Online Broke Rules Because They Made Zero Sense To Them I let the squirrels use the bird feeder. My fluffy bois are hungry too.

TyphoidLizzie , DantesDame / reddit Report

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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.
#10

30 Times Folks Online Broke Rules Because They Made Zero Sense To Them 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.

sheneededahero , Anastasia Shuraeva / pexels Report

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Two_rolling_black_eyes
Two_rolling_black_eyes
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8 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I agree but part of the problem is distribution rights. For instance, Paramount Pictures has the rights to do whatever they want with the movie in the US. However, Alibaba has those same rights for China.

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#11

30 Times Folks Online Broke Rules Because They Made Zero Sense To Them I refuse to say that somebody "passed away". They died. Ascribe a weighty word to a weighty concept.

Foresight_2020 , Brett Sayles / pexels Report

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Emperor Kitten
Emperor Kitten
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8 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Passed away doesn't bother me in the slightest. "Unalived" on the other hand...

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#12

30 Times Folks Online Broke Rules Because They Made Zero Sense To Them I clean my ears with qtips

Akgrl33 , Rohan Dalal / pexels Report

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EP
EP
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8 months ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Ohhhh a risk taker!! 💜 this one. There’s no other way just don’t PUSH! Haha

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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.
#13

30 Times Folks Online Broke Rules Because They Made Zero Sense To Them 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.

anon , Karolina Grabowska / pexels Report

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T Smith
T Smith
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8 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Employers discourage talking about pay because they don't want people demanding to be paid what the next guy gets paid. Fun fact, in the US, federal law prohibits employers from stopping its employees talking about pay.

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#14

30 Times Folks Online Broke Rules Because They Made Zero Sense To Them 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.

WillingnessOk3564 , Franklin Heijnen / flickr Report

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Kimbowa
Kimbowa
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8 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

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.

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#15

30 Times Folks Online Broke Rules Because They Made Zero Sense To Them 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.

Euphoric_Treat7089 , Gül Işık / pexels Report

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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.
#16

30 Times Folks Online Broke Rules Because They Made Zero Sense To Them 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.

Gladysfartz , Ron Lach / pexels Report

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#17

30 Times Folks Online Broke Rules Because They Made Zero Sense To Them 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.

westcoast7654 , Katerina Holmes / pexels Report

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AlchemisT
AlchemisT
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8 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I vomited on the head of the kid in front of me because my idiot teacher in primary school ignored me raising my hand. Not cool

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#18

30 Times Folks Online Broke Rules Because They Made Zero Sense To Them 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.

svrgnctzn , Laura James / pexels Report

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Ace
Ace
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8 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Or, and I realise this may sound a little revolutionary to some, just take the lunch break to which you're damn well entitled.

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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.

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#19

30 Times Folks Online Broke Rules Because They Made Zero Sense To Them 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

Guilty_Caregiver4433 , Timur Weber / pexels Report

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EP
EP
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8 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Didn’t realize this was a ticketable offense - I feel sick!!

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#20

30 Times Folks Online Broke Rules Because They Made Zero Sense To Them 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

saintash , Vlada Karpovich / pexels Report

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#21

30 Times Folks Online Broke Rules Because They Made Zero Sense To Them Consumption Dates: Eating food past its sell-by date, as you believe it’s often still good and don't want to waste food

Similar-Play7493 , viZZZual.com / flickr Report

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acey-ace16 avatar
Ace
Ace
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8 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Well duh. Make sure you understand the difference between "Best Before" and "Use By" though. The first might be safe for months later, the second probably only a few days.

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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.

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#22

30 Times Folks Online Broke Rules Because They Made Zero Sense To Them Getting around paywalls. I understand financially supporting journalism, but I can’t subscribe to everything.

Weasel_Town , Karolina Grabowska / pexels Report

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Charles McChristy
Charles McChristy
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8 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Yeah, they are getting pretty ridiculous with this. Even my hometown paper has a paywall, which isn't too bright.

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#23

30 Times Folks Online Broke Rules Because They Made Zero Sense To Them 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

Memento-Mori-357 , fauxels/ pexels Report

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Alicia M
Alicia M
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8 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I hate when people act like you're just working for the money. Who isn't? Who would keep showing up to work if they didn't need the money?

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#24

30 Times Folks Online Broke Rules Because They Made Zero Sense To Them After the 3rd sneeze I stop saying bless you.

prettyuser , Edward Jenner / pexels Report

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Flamingo Croquet
Flamingo Croquet
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8 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

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.

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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.
#25

30 Times Folks Online Broke Rules Because They Made Zero Sense To Them 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.

KreacherInTheCorner , cottonbro studio / pexels Report

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#26

30 Times Folks Online Broke Rules Because They Made Zero Sense To Them 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

OG-mother-earth , Max Fischer / pexels Report

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#27

30 Times Folks Online Broke Rules Because They Made Zero Sense To Them If something is no longer being published, I don't have qualms about copyright infringement

Old_Snow3086 , JESHOOTS.com / pexels Report

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PattyK
PattyK
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8 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Whoa! Copyrights last a lot longer than publication.

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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.
#28

30 Times Folks Online Broke Rules Because They Made Zero Sense To Them 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 

Apocalyptic-turnip , Julia M Cameron / pexels Report

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#29

30 Times Folks Online Broke Rules Because They Made Zero Sense To Them Polite conversation topics. I wanna talk about death sex and money

kathmanducameron , fauxels / pexels Report

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LillieMean
LillieMean
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8 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

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.

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#30

Work Dress Codes: Wearing more casual clothing to work than the dress code permits, feeling that comfort boosts productivity

Original-Budget4396 Report

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Mela (qu33nwh0)
Mela (qu33nwh0)
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8 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Definitely think certain places need PPE and dress codes work there. Otherwise I'd go by the rule would you wear this around your grandparents? 😅 I work in a hot warehouse type store (toolshop) and thank god we are allowed to wear shorts! Friend works down the road, also in a warehouse style store (toy shop) they must wear pants all the time.. makes 0 sense to me?!

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