My Wild Life as a Rule Breaker

Even the most conservative, staid accounting types - me - break a rule now and then. It can be a lot of fun. It can also be very helpful or perhaps just a little dangerous.

Jaywalking
What is the statute of limitations on jaywalking? To be safe, I used to jaywalk, a long, long time ago.

A standard city block is about a quarter mile long. If you are in the middle of the block and want to cross the street to the other side, you are rule bound to walk to the corner, cross and walk back on the other side, It adds a quarter mile of walking to move 150 feet. With an empty street, and looking both ways, I have been known to jaywalk.

It is a risk. I could get a ticket from a policeman. I could be hit by a car I never saw coming. But that extra quarter mile is just wasted walking. So I cut across from time to time.

Smiling
In urban America it is an accepted convention that people do not smile at each other. Smiling marks you as a potential armed robber or perhaps just a little bit crazy. I must confess that I am a smiler.

The reaction is predictable. People move out of your way. They avoid your gaze. They turn and look into a store window.

Every now and then, though, I am rewarded by seeing a little bit of joy come in to a person's eyes as their day is brightened by a smile from me.

Snow Shoveling
In those parts of America where snow falls on a regular basis, it is a rule that a homeowner must leap from their easy chair and shovel the driveway as the first flakes fall. You may have no where to go and no need to leave the house but the driveway must be prepared.

Or, you can wait for Mother Nature to take care of it for you.

Here's yet another rule I love to break. If I wait a day or two, the weather will change and the sun come out. When that happens, the snow melts off my driveway. The risk is that it will snow even more until we are trapped and forced into cannibalism. Still, I do so love not shoveling.

Prepositions in the Wrong Position
Somewhere along the line in our education we were taught that it is incorrect grammar to end a sentence with a preposition. Being the risk taker that I am, I break this rule all the time.

"That is the sort of thing up with which I will not put!" As more than one writer has pointed out, this sentence is just silly even though it is correct grammar. So, I take a chance of offending the grammar police and proudly break the rule. "That is the sort of thing I will not put up with!"

Yield to the Driver on the Right
In Driver's Ed, we learn that when two cars come to an intersection at the same time, the car on the right has the right of way.

I break that rule. I yield the right of way to just about any car in any position. The driver behind me may not agree, but I am both generous and safety conscious.

I let the other drivers move first. It makes me safer since I no longer have to guess what they might do. It also may make the other driver feel just a little bit better from this act of kindness. If I have prevented one act of road rage, it is all worthwhile.

Those are my five favorite rules to break. Oh, I wear white socks after Labor Day, too. All in all, I have not taken too many risks and each rule broken has a reward for me. I hope the rules you love to break do the same.