reallyrebel

the rules are made for people; not people for the rules.  Yet, they are more than guidelines.  And today, I am getting in touch with my inner Fred Sanford.  Here is what the community at large needs to know.

1. the rules of the road.  Yes, really.  If we all go by the 9th grade driver's ed handbook, we will still arrive at our destination in the same amount of time, maybe quicker.  Generally speaking, we will arrive with significantly fewer accidents.  WHICH IS A GOOD THING!

2. the rules of civility.  Are not regional.  It is not good manners to tell others, up front, why you are an exception to the rules that apply to everyone else.  Incidentally, it is a huge annoyance to us all that you are training your children believe this.

3. the laws of physics.  Yes, they apply to you.  If I didn't leave my home with enough time to do all the things I thought I wanted to get done today, the universe does not adjust to make these things possible.  Same is true for you...(see #1 and #2).

4. the rule of law.  The rules work because we necessarily treat them as "the way things are done".  Not because we see the list of rules and think..."Now I know what everyone else will be doing that will be impossible for me because...well, I will come up with some reason the rules won't apply to me.  But I will be watching for others who don't follow them so I can point it out and shake my head."  Do it because it is right.  If everyone is an exception, there is no rule.  If there is no rule, you have anarchy.

5. elements of design.  Yeah, I don't remember them all, but there is no senseless beauty.  A thing can be objectively ugly.  Beauty is only in the eye of the beholder on a limited basis.  Using art supplies doesn't make you an artist.  Holding a mic doesn't make you a singer.  We like to laugh because those people try out for tv talent shows who have no talent, but isn't it the fault of the thinking that tells little kids they have created art when all they have done is just have a fun time with the crayons????  Isn't it okay just to have fun with the crayons without all the pressure to be "an artist" or to pretend to play the piano without the pressure to be Mozart. 

6. sports competition. I have big news on this one....YOUR KID IS MORE THAN LIKELY NOT GOING TO PLAY IN THE NFL, NBA, MLB, (whatever the soccer one is), OR GO TO THE OLYMPICS.  S/he probably won't even get a college scholarship.  There are only a handful of examples of athletes who were started on their sport as a preschooler who did not resent the living @#$%&* out of their parent by the time they reached high school.  The examples that come to mind are not to be honored with mention.  Let them be little kids.  If they are too young to understand the universal principal of: "you win some and you lose some", they are too young to bother with sport.

7. school rules.  They are made mainly for crowd control purposes.  If you or any member of your family are component parts of the crowd, they are for you.

8. work rules.  They are not school rules.  You should already know these.  But I will tip you off.  If you don't come to work on time, it is not the job of a partner in the firm to call you at home to remind you that, "Your time started at 8 and it is now 930 would you like to play today?  We have orange slices and you are just as good at "whatever-it-is-that-you-do", as everyone else.  Will you please join us on the field..."

If everyone is exceptional, no one is.

Thank you, my six followers, for your kind attention as I know I am preaching to the choir.