Dan
Many of society’s rules go unspoken. Unless you’re my mom. Apparently, then it’s OK to tell people what to do and when to do it.
Frankly, if I’m supposed to do something differently than the way I’ve been doing it my whole life, I need someone to tell me to change my behavior roughly 300 times. Then, it will finally sink in.
Thankfully, the people on Reddit are spending their precious time on this Earth sharing what they believe are rules everyone should follow. Now you no longer need to live a life shrouded in mystery.
One Reddit user asked a simple question on the r/AskReddit forum: “What is one “unwritten rule” that you believe everyone should know and follow?” From what I can tell, the respondents must be in the Illuminati. How else could they know all these rules unless they’re making them?
Here are the most interesting “unwritten rules” people think everyone should follow:
1. “Don’t watch loud videos on your phone at a restaurant.”
“I obviously hate when people are having things playing without headphones out in public, but the one thing that I find trashy beyond belief is talking to someone on speaker while in public but putting the phone to your mouth anyway? Like… just take it off speaker, I promise the distance is the same.” –ivysaurus0101010
2. “Let us get off the train before you try to barge on.” (I believe this one is official and in writing.)
“If people don’t do this I literally just walk into them. It is quite liberating.” –atta-boay
3. “If you borrow something, give it back in the same condition.”
“Or better. Like, if someone has lent you their car for a week, return it full of gas. Maybe roll it through a drive-thru wash. Probably still gonna run you much less than a rental would have (and you generally need to fill those up, too).” –finkiusmaximus
4. “If I show you a picture on my phone, don’t go swiping sideways.”
“My BOSS did this to me and I wanted to kill her. I have never been more uncomfortable in my life watching her just keep fucking swiping. Hell on earth.” –reallyreallycute
5. “The last one to go to bed has to turn the light off.”
“There’s nothing worse than trying to sleep and seeing a bright light beaming through the crack in my door directly into my eyes as they adjust to the dark.” –LarryCrabCake
6. “Just because you know someone who does something for a living doesn’t automatically mean they owe you a discount if you ask for their services.”
“I’m an electrician and I cringe whenever someone asks what I do. It’s always followed by the “do you do side work” question. No, I don’t want to spend my Saturday crawling through your attic to put in a ceiling fan for $25.” –rubysundance
7. Obey the written traffic laws is one of the unwritten rules of driving.
“Don’t keep creeping up at a stop light in the left & middle lanes if you’re the first car in the lane. You don’t need to see the cross traffic while you wait for the light to switch. The person on the far right needs to creep enough to make sure it’s safe to make a right on red. The more you pull up in the left lanes, the more the person on the right does, increasing risk for everyone.” –ColdHardPocketChange
8. “If someone can’t fix an aspect of their appearance in five minutes or less, don’t mention it.”
“In five minutes or less right away. They have food in their teeth? Tell them! They miss a shirt button or a belt loop? Tell them! But if it’s something like missed a spot shaving, makeup is too dark, etc, you’ll want to examine whether it’s appropriate. They can’t fix those things right then, but if you’re close then you may want to tell them anyway.” –funkyfunyuns
9. If someone offers you a ride…
“If someone is giving you a ride you should be ready at the door before they get there. It’s so rude to have someone waiting on you when they are doing you a favor by picking you up.” –Thatweirdboringdude
10. “If someone is wearing headphones and is clearly keeping to themselves, leave them the fuck alone!”
“I wear headphones pretty much at all times while I’m out on my own, I’m not even listening to anything half the time. People on the bus still never fail to bother me on the bus for little to no reason, aggressively poking me my shoulder from behind only to ask what time it is despite the time being displayed on a large screen in the front of the bus.” –strawberryjamzz
11. Be kind to all.
“When you have a complaint with a retail store or business, please remember that the person you are speaking too (or yelling at sadly) is just the one that happened to pick up the phone or is standing at the till. they likely have nothing to do with what went wrong and have little sway in what can be done to help. They dont need to be yelled and screamed at for something they did not do or is under the control of a corporate office/higher up.” –sebastianrileyt2
12. “Put the shopping cart back where it GOES!”
“People complain about others leaving carts in the parking lot, but as someone who works in a store, I see people who will leave their carts at the registers and self checkouts. You just don’t notice because they get moved right away or you might assume someone left it there to go to the bathroom or something.” –use_adblockers
13. “Don’t ask someone out on a date while they are at work. It makes a very uncomfortable situation.”
“They usually ask to meet up AFTER work. And it will happen while you’re at a cash register with a line of people behind them waiting to order. You frantically try to think of what to say because you’re afraid they might get mad if you say no. Declining a date in such a public situation where your job is on the line is very stressful. Just don’t do it.” –LadyKalliope
14. “When someone else is paying the bill you shouldn’t order something very pricey.”
“I once offered to pay for a friend when we went out to eat and she ordered TWO entrees, a soda, a shake, an extra side and dessert… I never offered to pay for her again.” –fancy_a_username
15. Be better in stores than you are at home.
“When you are shopping/looking for clothes and suddenly decide you dont want it anymore, put it back where you found it, dont just dump it somewhere, it makes life hard for both workers who are cleaning up and the customers looking for something to buy.” –i_dunno_mate_159
16. “Don’t litter. Including cigarette butts.”
“I’m a smoker and it’s bad enough as it is, I don’t need to be a shitty litter bug too. Pro-tip: squeeze the tobacco out of your butts and put it back in your pack until you see a garbage can. It makes the butt stink that much less, and you’re never really that far from one either. If you think it stinks too much, well news flash: smoking stinks period.” –Snory5000
17. “Wear deodorant if you are out in public.”
“Being a recent college grad way too often in college I encountered either engineers who didnt think showering applied to them or freshman who thought that hygiene doesnt matter if their mom isnt around, a shower and some deodorant goes along way walking around in Texas heat 9 months out of the year.” –kyogre120
h/t Reddit: r/AskReddit