I read yesterday on The Champ's blog a comment from Jenn Ann that stated she was a rule follower and I had to let her know that she isn't alone.
I've always been a rule follower.
I never snuck out of the house as a kid. Never did drugs because I was always more worried about either getting hooked or getting caught. I never cheated in school, aside from writing my chemistry formulas on my calculator, which didn't work since I couldn't see them during the test. I didn't plagiarize any papers. I never consciously stole anything (although my mom would disagree as I think there is a story out there of when I took candy out of the barrels that they used to have at grocery stores). I rarely cross against the light. I don't cheat on my taxes. I come to full and complete stops at stop signs. I speed only to keep up with traffic, I avoid being the leader speeder. I've gone back into stores when I don't think they've charged me enough. I try to always say "please" and "thank you", which are etiquette rules. Even though I'm not a church-goer/believer, I still genuflect when I go into a Catholic church. I'm a basically good person, and incredibly boring...
I have never really understood people who break and/or bend the rules or better yet completely ignore the rules. For example, bicyclists, they are supposed to follow the same traffic laws of motor vehicles, but they don't; why is that? People who try to get something for nothing and are always on the look out for the next great get rich quick scheme, why do they not have to work for what they get? People who are pushy and don't wait their turns, why do they think their time is more important than anybody else?
Can somebody explain to me why these people irritate me? Is it a little bit of jealousy on my part that wishes I was more of a rule breaker? Possibly. Would I really want to change who I really am to become one of those types of people? Probably not. Am I glad that I'm a rule follower and a pretty non-daring sort? Basically, yeah.
