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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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#1

35 "Oddly Specific" Rules People Encountered That Require An Explanation 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.

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#2

35 "Oddly Specific" Rules People Encountered That Require An Explanation If the water between Denmark and Sweden freezes, and the Swedes walk over we (the Danes) are allowed to hit them with sticks.

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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.
#3

35 "Oddly Specific" Rules People Encountered That Require An Explanation 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?!?!?

Filthy_rags_am_I , unsplash Report

Final score:
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#4

35 "Oddly Specific" Rules People Encountered That Require An Explanation 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.'

randomredditor12345 , bdunn1272 Report

Final score:
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#5

35 "Oddly Specific" Rules People Encountered That Require An Explanation 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.

salty-MA-student , unsplash Report

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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."

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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."
#6

35 "Oddly Specific" Rules People Encountered That Require An Explanation In Florida " You may not have sexual relations with a porcupine".

Drunken_Scott , unsplash Report

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#7

35 "Oddly Specific" Rules People Encountered That Require An Explanation 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.

itsvic27 , unsplash Report

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#8

35 "Oddly Specific" Rules People Encountered That Require An Explanation ‘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.

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#9

35 "Oddly Specific" Rules People Encountered That Require An Explanation “Don’t take (prescription drug) if you're allergic to (same drug).”

wpascarelli , pexels Report

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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.
#10

35 "Oddly Specific" Rules People Encountered That Require An Explanation On a package of precision screwdrivers "Do not insert into penis."

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#11

35 "Oddly Specific" Rules People Encountered That Require An Explanation in NZ it is illegal to name your kid "Pink panties" ...

BlightPaladin , pexels Report

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#12

35 "Oddly Specific" Rules People Encountered That Require An Explanation “Do not fill with urine” on a water gun.

beesuz , unsplash Report

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202points
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#13

35 "Oddly Specific" Rules People Encountered That Require An Explanation Do not pick up this lawn mower and use it as a hedge trimmer.

chasepna , fllickr Report

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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?
#14

35 "Oddly Specific" Rules People Encountered That Require An Explanation Never iron clothes while they are being worn.

MisfitMishap , flickr Report

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#15

35 "Oddly Specific" Rules People Encountered That Require An Explanation 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.

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#16

35 "Oddly Specific" Rules People Encountered That Require An Explanation At my company's picnic outing: "Anyone who jumps in the lake will be fired."

cats_n_things , flickr Report

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#17

35 "Oddly Specific" Rules People Encountered That Require An Explanation "Do not use for drying pets" on the microwave.

MisfitMishap , flickr Report

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#18

No rings on ship decks. They can get caught and deglove your finger, which is exactly as horrid as it sounds.

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#19

35 "Oddly Specific" Rules People Encountered That Require An Explanation For my fellow scientists: Transferring chemicals by mouth (mouth pipetting) is forbidden.

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#20

Pharmacy worker here. We have to specify to unwrap suppositories BEFORE insertion. Apparently someone thought the foil was part of it.

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#21

35 "Oddly Specific" Rules People Encountered That Require An Explanation Remove baby before collapsing stroller.

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#22

You're not allowed to bring vuvuzelas into a Metallica concert.

I really just want to know the story.

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#23

Do not stop chainsaw blade with genitals.

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#24

35 "Oddly Specific" Rules People Encountered That Require An Explanation “Do not put 14 rolls of toilet paper in the toilet” -Walmart 2019

SteveCorpGuy4 , unsplash Report

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#25

35 "Oddly Specific" Rules People Encountered That Require An Explanation There's a town in Alabama where it's illegal to carry an ice cream cone in your pocket.

Dragnil , flickr Report

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#26

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.

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#27

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!”

CreatrixAnima Report

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#28

35 "Oddly Specific" Rules People Encountered That Require An Explanation 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"

rawr_nickie_rawr , flickr Report

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#29

35 "Oddly Specific" Rules People Encountered That Require An Explanation 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...

SchnarchendeSchwein , flickr Report

Final score:
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#30

35 "Oddly Specific" Rules People Encountered That Require An Explanation Please do not add dish detergent to the water fountains.

Somkeythedog591 , pexels Report

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#31

35 "Oddly Specific" Rules People Encountered That Require An Explanation No bouncing balls on city sidewalks…it scares horses.

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#32

Do not smoke when applying hairspray.

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#33

Curling iron instructions: Do not use while sleeping

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#34

35 "Oddly Specific" Rules People Encountered That Require An Explanation 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

lilmissscum , unsplash Report

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#35

35 "Oddly Specific" Rules People Encountered That Require An Explanation 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.

Back2Bach , unsplash Report

Final score:
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#36

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!"

Strive_to_Thrive Report

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#37

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

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#38

I blame Johnny Knoxville for this, but "toilets are for display purposes only".

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#39

Since Covid and things going digital, we now have a ‘You must wear clothes’ rule…and we already had a pretty casual dress code.

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#40

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.

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#41

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.

Oofity_shmooples Report

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#42

In Arkansas, it's illegal to keep an alligator in your bathtub.

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#43

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.

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#44

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.

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#45

In California "it is illegal to hunt deer with explosive arrowheads"

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#46

Caution: Do Not Hold Wrong End of Chainsaw

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#47

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.

dahopppa Report

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#48

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.

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#49

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.”

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#50

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!

mp861 Report

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#51

A fairly small apartment complex pool (indoors) that had a sign reading:

No Running No Diving No Smoking No Kayaks

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#52

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.

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#53

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.

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#54

"Don't throw pickles on the* glass!" Burger King

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#55

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.

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#56

When I worked at a warehouse, I was told that we can't ride pallet jacks like scooters.

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#57

35 "Oddly Specific" Rules People Encountered That Require An Explanation 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.

admiral_trapbar1 , flickr (not the actual photo) Report

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#58

"If you've had diarrhea in the last 48 hours, please do not enter the pool water."

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#59

In Little Rock, Arkansas, I believe it's illegal to walk cattle down Main Street on Sundays.

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#60

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.

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#61

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.

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#62

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

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#63

I flipped a car over an embankment once and they put up a yield sign

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#64

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.

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