Rules and Rebellion

In my life, until quite recently, I have always been getting into trouble with authority - parents, teachers, principals, and so on.

This problem started fading as I started learning the difference between those rules of society which can be bent or broken, and those which could not.

My biggest problem with rules is that the reason behind them is not always obvious - not to me at any rate. Adults have an irritating way of dealing with the question "Why?" by answering "Because I said so", or something to that effect. To me, that meant that not even the adult in question could think of a valid reason.

Towards the end of secondary school, those who had passed the GCE exam in a particular subject could skip those classes. The idea was for us to study other subjects, and to prevent us from disrupting a class in which we had lost all interest. But I preferred to run away from school and go exploring the surrounding areas. Of course this was strictly forbidden, and I ended up getting punished for it but what the heck - I was enjoying myself.

I could not figure out why I shouldn't go sightseeing - after all, I wasn't disrupting the class, I wasn't harming anyone was I? Since I could not understand I chose not to obey. Still, I slowly started to find out which rules are very important and which are not. For example, the rules of fashion I could bend any way I like. The rules of good manners are also bendable but people resent it when you do. Then there are laws which are very rigid. Even if you cannot understand why the Minister should have 20 parking places reserved for his car, you're not allowed to park yours there. Even if you see a police car parked on the pavement while its occupants sip coffee in a nearby bar, you are not allowed to do this yourself.

I still resent the way different measures are used with different people, but I have learned that might is right. In anything from the simple administration of civil law to international trade, the one who has the biggest weapons will win.

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7 Feb 2000

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