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Has your office or university made you do something that just seemed completely nonsensical? Perhaps its dress code unintentionally turned you into a movie character? Or maybe there was a time management technique that decreased your productivity rather than improving it? If so, you're not alone.

Started by Reddit user Swiaa, there's an online thread that asked people, "What is the dumbest rule your workplace or school has actually enforced?" and it has gone viral, amassing over 13,000 comments. The discussion is a reminder that regulations, while often necessary for maintaining structure and order, can also lead to unintended consequences if not carefully considered.

#1

35 People Share The Dumbest And Most Infuriating Rules Their School Or Workplace Made Up My junior year in high school a teacher collapsed in class and went into full cardiac arrest. The student who called 911 was suspended because school policy stated an admin had to make that decision.

They were full of s**t. It took them half an hour to approve a 911 call for a student in my class the same year who cracked his skull open during a seizure.

FleaHunter , Rawpixel Report

#2

35 People Share The Dumbest And Most Infuriating Rules Their School Or Workplace Made Up Back in High School we couldn't do homework during detention. *Great thinking*... preventing "at-risk" kids from doing schoolwork during the only time they'd realistically do it.

I_candobetter , gpointstudio Report

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BeepBeepBoopBoop
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

that's... Tf? I mean what are you supposed to do in detention? You can't normally have your phone, and if you can't do homework.. Are you supposed to just sit there and think about what you did?

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#3

35 People Share The Dumbest And Most Infuriating Rules Their School Or Workplace Made Up One girl got called into the principal's office because her skirt was too short, even though she was wearing leggings underneath. The principal made her take the skirt off and just go in the leggings, which was even more revealing since she was wearing a thong.

NyuuTwo , Les_am Report

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Skylar (they/them)
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Ew. Creepy of the principal, once he saw what she was wearing underneath he should've said ok to the skirt. Or just let her wear it in the first place.

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#4

35 People Share The Dumbest And Most Infuriating Rules Their School Or Workplace Made Up I had over 20 detentions in school for running in the sandbox when I was in 1st grade... 1st grade. At the end of the year they wouldn't let me go on the school field trip. So my parents took me at the same time, my principle suspended me for the last day of school for being there even with my parents. That's OK because my grandma took me shopping.

kstarkey_7 , Markus Spiske Report

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Littlemiss
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Beggers belief doesn't it. Oh no a child got excited going to play, let's punish them. Stupidity beyond belief.

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#5

35 People Share The Dumbest And Most Infuriating Rules Their School Or Workplace Made Up My school had a no running but no slow walking rule.

Running? Detention

Walking? Detention

WHAT THE F**K AM I SUPPOSED TO DO, LEVITATE?

whoatethekidsthen , rubypeanut Report

#6

35 People Share The Dumbest And Most Infuriating Rules Their School Or Workplace Made Up 20 minutes of bathroom breaks per week. That's 4 minutes a day! I actually got written up for exceeding 20 minutes per week. In the meeting I said to my younger supervisor "You know I'm an old man don't you? For me, going to the bathroom takes time." She said she didn't want to talk about it.

anon , AZ-BLT Report

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StrangeOne
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I was once interrogated about my bathroom times cos I was having gut issues. They even asked why I took so long in the bathroom. Of course I was being questioned in field with many people in earshot. So I thought what the hell. Lets embarrass this loon and I started giving more details about the consistency and amount of bowel movements I had to do. It wasn't long before he interrupted me saying he got it and sent me back to my desk. Idiot.

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#7

35 People Share The Dumbest And Most Infuriating Rules Their School Or Workplace Made Up At my driving school, the instructor said that if you were being chased, on the highway, by someone who was shooting at you, you shouldn't go over the speed limit.

One girl said: ''so you should just let yourself get shot?'' and the instructor said yes.

anon , Pixabay Report

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BeepBeepBoopBoop
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

oh yea obviously. Being shot is better than going over the speed limit! (this gets the biggest /s I can give)

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#8

35 People Share The Dumbest And Most Infuriating Rules Their School Or Workplace Made Up When I was in year 10 there was a rule that meant we had to wear our blazers at all time unless you were in a classroom and had the teacher's permission.

There was a few really hot weeks that year, and we were all forced to wear our black blazers (and have our shirts tucked in with top button done up and tie pushed to the top) outside in 30ish°C heat with little wind.

It took us weeks of complaining and a few people fainting from the heat for our principal to realised she was being unreasonable and putting our health at risk.

Glad she got fired (for something else though).

thegrammarunicorn , alinabuphoto Report

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Zia Barrett
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Pretty much the same rule, but if it was too hot the school would sometimes note on the main board that you didn't have to wear it. We didn't actually get detention or suspended or anything for not wearing them though, just sternly told to put it back on.

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#9

35 People Share The Dumbest And Most Infuriating Rules Their School Or Workplace Made Up You couldn't fulfill your internship requirement with a job you already have, even if it's directly in the field of study. This was graduate school. So a bunch of adults in the middle of their careers weren't able to count their highly relevant jobs towards the internship and had to go waste a bunch of time doing typical low level intern bullc**p at other companies.

ferrarisnowday , seventyfourimages Report

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Doctor Strange
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Because the school had a deal with companies to provide slave lab... I mean 'unpaid interns'

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#10

35 People Share The Dumbest And Most Infuriating Rules Their School Or Workplace Made Up My elementary school instituted a rule that you couldn't call your parents or go home from school for being "sick" unless you barfed or had a fever. I went to the nurses office for a stomach ache (a frequent activity for me in those years) and when the nurse said I couldn't call home I puked on her. Got to go home and they eventually changed the rule.

Also really effed up- they used to put peanut butter in the pizza to up its nutritional values. They never told anyone. It came to the obvious conclusion when a kid with a nut allergy had pizza for lunch.

horizonview , Kelly Sikkema Report

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#11

35 People Share The Dumbest And Most Infuriating Rules Their School Or Workplace Made Up There was once a student who decided to charge his phone. One of the teachers had a s**tfit and told him if he did not unplug it, he'd be suspended and charged for the electricity. He thought it was a joke of sorts and laughed it off. So he got suspended and was made to go in front of a committee. He laughed after handing them a dime and walking out, knowing it had cost the school district thousands of times that much to file the paperwork, and deal with it.

anon , Rawpixel Report

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YetAnotherSarah
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

There are a lot of reasons to have a no-charging-cell-phone rule in place with kids/teens. Cost of electricity is not one of them. Tripping hazard with cords across walkways, faulty charger, wrong type of charger, security of connecting an outside device to a school device (using a computer port). But not electricity expenditure.

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#12

35 People Share The Dumbest And Most Infuriating Rules Their School Or Workplace Made Up The "daylight rule". There had to be daylight between boys and girls at all times, in a solid line. Got told off a few times for "sitting too close", "walking alone together" and hugging boys, because apparently, if you hug boys hello or goodbye, sex will happen.

anon , hwilson8 Report

#13

35 People Share The Dumbest And Most Infuriating Rules Their School Or Workplace Made Up When I was in 7th grade, they created a no hugging rule. After the principle gave this speech, about 150 kids stood up, and created a mass group hug outside the office. The administrators were pulling people out at random and sending them to detention.

LemonOnMyEye , valeriygoncharukphoto Report

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Max Fox
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

AT my kid's middle school they banned hugging inside the school, because that year mass hugs were a thing (just one of those crazes that goes through schools), and they were blocking the halls. However, hugging outside was permitted, so they kept one doing the mass hugs until they had some new craze. The rule of "no hugging inside the school" may still be there, for all I know.

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#14

35 People Share The Dumbest And Most Infuriating Rules Their School Or Workplace Made Up At my high school, you couldn't loiter. That means you could not be on campus more than 30 minutes prior to the beginning of classes or 30 minutes after the end of classes. You also could not go off campus once you'd gotten there, or you would be automatically expelled (happened to someone I knew).

I rode the bus to school, and one day it came early and hauled a*s, getting me to campus 45 minutes before classes started. As I was not allowed to leave campus, I went inside and started doing homework in the hallway (library and cafeteria weren't open yet). The vice principal found me in the hallway and took me to his office. He then called my mom and had me suspended for a day for loitering on campus. My grandparents had to come pick me up and the VP escorted me off campus 5 minutes before classes started.

red_raconteur , rubypeanut Report

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BeepBeepBoopBoop
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I mean that's not your fault? I understand the no loitering but that should be mainly for after school

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#15

35 People Share The Dumbest And Most Infuriating Rules Their School Or Workplace Made Up Right after I graduated, a new principal took over my high school and decided girls couldn't carry purses anymore. I told my little sister she should keep a tampon behind each ear like a pencil. I told her If all the girls do that they'll drop that rule.

It turned out not to be necessary. Enough parents complained and the rule was abolished in its first week.

I think the rule had something to do with hidden weapons. Our school was in a rural town and had absolutely no history of gangs or violence.

percygreen , LesiaValentain Report

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BeepBeepBoopBoop
Community Member
1 year ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

heh no violence would be nice. That's why we weren't allowed to have lockers ever

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#16

35 People Share The Dumbest And Most Infuriating Rules Their School Or Workplace Made Up My workplace enforces a dress code. I work in a f*****g call center. I'm pretty sure a t-shirt won't hinder me from doing tech support.

curly123 , GeorgeRudy Report

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2WheelTravlr
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Studies done over the years show that people who are dressed casually tend to be more casual in all their interactions, even over the phone. I think it's insane to have a dress code for a minimum wage entry level position, but if the job was higher level, like an investment advisor or something similar, then the rule makes some sense.

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#17

35 People Share The Dumbest And Most Infuriating Rules Their School Or Workplace Made Up No cell phone shaped objects in your pockets at work. At first I thought it was a typo, then they started to write people up for wallets, packs of gum, and other rectangular shapes in our pockets.

Loopdedoop , Jonas Leupe Report

#18

35 People Share The Dumbest And Most Infuriating Rules Their School Or Workplace Made Up From a previous place of employment: You cannot talk to your coworker over the wall of your cube (wall was waist high), you must walk over and sit down next to them to talk. Also, no personalized screen savers and no black hosiery for women because it's too provocative.

Vanity06 , Mint_Images Report

#19

35 People Share The Dumbest And Most Infuriating Rules Their School Or Workplace Made Up If a cell phone goes off, every one in the class, must stand up immediately with their hands on their heads until an officer arrives to search them. Failure to comply will result in incarceration.

duckl , Soulful Pizza Report

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#20

35 People Share The Dumbest And Most Infuriating Rules Their School Or Workplace Made Up When I was in 5th grade the school installed a traffic light in the cafeteria, and when the light was red, all the kids had to be completely silent. I have no idea why we had to be silent during most of our lunch but we did. It was stupid as f**k.

ShadowBrony , Pixabay Report

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Mistiekim
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Sounds like a good idea…..make kids be silent during a time when they should be encouraged to socialize /s

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#21

35 People Share The Dumbest And Most Infuriating Rules Their School Or Workplace Made Up My school made water bottles against the rules. You had to have a doctor's note to be able to have a water bottle in class or in the hallway. This is the first instance where I started to doubt the country that I live in.

technicolordreams , charlesdeluvio Report

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fair_weather_rose
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

We kinda have the opposite problem. It isn't banned, but all the water fountains are wrapped in tape an you can't use them. They aren't out of order or anything, just off limits. There's the kind of water fountain thingy you can use to fill a water bottle, but that doesn't help if you don't have a water bottle.

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#22

35 People Share The Dumbest And Most Infuriating Rules Their School Or Workplace Made Up I went to a Charter school where we had "Moral Focus" assemblies every morning. It was stupid and pointless. The school also banned Halloween and changed it to a "Harvest Festival", where each class was assigned a vegetable to dress up as. My class dressed as eggplant. It was awful.

cheechsfeist , Lelia_Milaya Report

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#23

35 People Share The Dumbest And Most Infuriating Rules Their School Or Workplace Made Up No high fives allowed in middle school. Giving a high five meant a detention.

mossrulz1 , YuriArcursPeopleimages Report

#24

35 People Share The Dumbest And Most Infuriating Rules Their School Or Workplace Made Up I went to a Catholic high school that didn't have a required uniform, but rather a strict dress code. Dress pants of any color provided they didn't have patch pockets were acceptable, for example, as were most solid-colored shirts as long as they had collars and sleeves. However, the way the dress code was worded in the student handbook left a little loophole: "If the student wears shoes, they must be one of the following styles..."

*If.*

Someone noticed this my sophomore year and simply stopped wearing shoes to class. Soon the trend spread. The teachers couldn't justifiably give detention because the students weren't technically breaking the dress code. An amendment to the dress code was mailed to the home of every student, requiring them to sign and turn it in or else face suspension. It wasn't a stupid rule (I personally never followed the trend, going shoe-less in the bathroom would have grossed me out) but it was stupid that it escalated so much.

TL;DR - students had to promise to wear shoes.

duckspunk , ADDICTIVE_STOCK Report

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#25

35 People Share The Dumbest And Most Infuriating Rules Their School Or Workplace Made Up No talking between coworkers ***EVER***. Imagine that in a retail that hires 95% teens. Good luck with that. Unless they're looking at us, we always talk a bit. Could you imagine being with people 5+ hours a day for months and never speak?

AGRRRAA , Christina Hawkins Report

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Elwood Schwartz (it/that)
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I've been in retail 25 years, as a teen and as a supervisor. Nobody cares if you talk, as long as it isn't inappropriate and you are actually working. My experience tells me teens have trouble with both.

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#26

35 People Share The Dumbest And Most Infuriating Rules Their School Or Workplace Made Up There is an area outside of the cafeteria with tables for students to eat at. However.. Nobody is allowed to go outside to eat. It's very strange.

anon , vinokurovyury Report

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Jared Robinson
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I'm sure at one point they were used, and then kids started being kids and took advantage of it.

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#27

35 People Share The Dumbest And Most Infuriating Rules Their School Or Workplace Made Up I got a detention once for exiting through the wrong doors. The doors were not an emergency exit or anything. Just doors that were closer to my bus.

norrin-radd , artedemojo Report

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RafCo (he/him/ele)
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I had a friend in college her a parking ticket for parking in a "future handicap space". He was able to fight the ticket and get it erased, but the audacity of that cop. There were no signs saying "this will be disabled parking one day"

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#28

35 People Share The Dumbest And Most Infuriating Rules Their School Or Workplace Made Up Only allowed to use the restrooms after class -at the end of the day-

anon , wirestock Report

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#29

35 People Share The Dumbest And Most Infuriating Rules Their School Or Workplace Made Up No Gameboys because some kid cried because someone beat him in a Pokemon battle; so they banned Gameboys, and they banned Pokemon. Pokemon was banned for being "too violent".

1998 was awesome.

eddieswiss , Spencer Report

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Brenda
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1 year ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

My kids had all collectable cards, spinners, any type of dice, rubber band jewelry, press on nails (not acrylic), all banned. Any games, even teacher games, had to get approval. Any gaming devices and all cell phones (90s). Then son took my phone and they insisted I wait until the last day of school or pay a $50 fee to get it back. Raised holy he!! about that (got it back). 2 years later all the kids had phones

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#30

35 People Share The Dumbest And Most Infuriating Rules Their School Or Workplace Made Up No shorts.

In the summer.

In Florida.

autoposting_system , fauxels Report

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RafCo (he/him/ele)
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

My school in the late 1980s had a no shorts for girls rule. Girls could wear a skirt, but it has to fall below the knee. Boys weren't allowed to wear hats on campus, but girls could. We had a lot of stupid rules

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#31

35 People Share The Dumbest And Most Infuriating Rules Their School Or Workplace Made Up when i was in 8th grade the principle decided that all bad things happen when students were in a group larger than 5. If more than 5 students were standing around a teacher would come and break it up.

handsthefram , Nestea06 Report

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BeepBeepBoopBoop
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

no big friend groups ig. you're not allowed to have more then four friends at once!

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#32

35 People Share The Dumbest And Most Infuriating Rules Their School Or Workplace Made Up We're not allowed to have baked goods on campus.

anon , castorlystock Report

#33

Opening a door for anyone is punishable

anon Report

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#34

35 People Share The Dumbest And Most Infuriating Rules Their School Or Workplace Made Up If we didn't wear a coat to school from November to February, we got not one, but two detentions. Even if it was warm enough not to wear one.

buddy58745 , Dominika Roseclay Report

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ChocolateCake
Community Member
1 year ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

where i live, it was literally 81 degrees (Fahrenheit) out. it isn't normally that hot, usually 32 degrees(Fahrenheit). I bike to school and I would DIE

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#35

35 People Share The Dumbest And Most Infuriating Rules Their School Or Workplace Made Up A year after I got out of my middle school, they banned plain white tee shirts.

yellowdevel , langalvezjen Report

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Karma Black
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1 year ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

My school did this too. The explanation was that most white tees are made of thin material and too transparent.

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Note: this post originally had 38 images. It’s been shortened to the top 35 images based on user votes.