YOUNG VOICE
Rules are rules!
Juan was sweaty all over. He knew he was late for his first job interview. If it wasn’t for his deranged alarm clock and its cheap batteries, he could have been in the venue minutes ago. He was standing right across the interview’s venue, and it could have only taken less than ten seconds for him to walk over to the other side. Yet, Juan was taken aback after seeing the striking yellow road block that implicitly reads, “No Jaywalking.” Juan looked at his wristwatch again, then on both sides of the street. He surveyed each corner for a blue boy or an LTO officer. There was none. He looked at his wristwatch for the third time. Wiping sweat from his upper lip, Juan breathed deeply and plunged himself into a road that was never crossed by a rule-abiding citizen.
Rules are as omnipresent as the annoying houseflies hovering over poop and your neighbor’s lunch alike. Rules can take shape from the simplest No Smoking inside movie theaters to the most complex found in the republic acts of the Philippine Constitution. Rules were created to maintain social order, to limit the chances of chaos and anarchism, to emancipate fairness and equality. Thus, rules were made to attain equilibrium and social stability.
Rules were not simply made to effect discipline, they were made in response to the people’s previous traumatic experiences that in so far these rules be followed such trauma’s recurrence may be avoided.
Rules preserve life, along with its quality, like prohibiting smoking in public places to avoid the diffusion of second hand smoke which is detrimental to the lungs and in larger means like outlawing slander or fraud that could sever an honorable reputation.
I recently heard a statement, saying black is not always black and white isn’t always white. Rules are temporarily altered to cater to the more important and imperative needs. Pardon me, but black can’t be any color other than black itself. They are always black and white. Rules are made to evoke consistency despite the underlying conditions. A rule doesn’t give space for excuses and alibis since if it would, it would simply defeat its very purpose.
It is wrong to be dishonest, it is wrong to cheat in an exam. But a student claims that he needs to pass to maintain his scholarship since without his scholarship he will loose his only chance of finishing school. Well, okay the motive is noble. But wait; are there other ways aside from cheating for you to acquire what you want? The student rebutted that for some valid reason such as health problems, he wasn’t able to study and that is why he has no other means but cheat. And your point is? Assimilating the rule to fit one’s whims is kind of immature and foolish. Rules are constant regardless of the prior to and the aftermath. Regardless of reason, to cheat is wrong and that is the rule. It isn’t my problem if you haven’t studied in the exam. It may seem unfair to you being a victim of circumstances, but if you cheat, such act would be all the more be unfair to others who remained very true to the end.
If we all establish in our narrow minds that rules have exceptions, rules will then simply appear as mere suggestions. “No loading/unloading anytime.” That is what the sign says, but the jeepney driver still maneuvered his vehicle and loaded passengers saying, “Okay lang na kay Domingo man. (It’s okay since it is Sunday).” Wait, so you mean Sunday is not part of anytime? Or has the United Nations declared Sunday as the International Day for Rule Disregarding?
We Filipinos are very fond of treating rules as suggestions that is why we still couldn’t achieve the much awaited social change. The streets continue to be filled with filth clogging the drainages and causing rapid progression of floods because many continue to litter and refuse to dump their rubbish in garbage cans. The national funds continue to be magically enchanted and inappropriately distributed because many continue to perfect the trick called now you see your funds, now you don’t.
Juan is late. Juan might loose this big opportunity and job vacancy. But this won’t even reach one percent of the reason to disregard the No Jaywalking policy. The point is Juan violated the rule and it won’t matter why, the reason why he pursued disobedience.
What if one day I’ll give a 7 AM pre meal medication to a patient at 12:00 PM post meal and my reason is I was pretty busy since the nurse-patient ratio of the hospital is beyond the prescribed?
I really do think that Black is always Black. White is always White as well.
Rules are Rules. So quit with the alibis.
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I’d like to wish my beloved mother Llane M. Garcia a very happy birthday. My nanay has taught me the valuable importance of following rules even if the situation would call for me to do otherwise. She had always said to do the right thing and I thank her for that. Happy Birthday Nanay.
(Please send comments and reactions to reylangarcia@gmail.com, SMS to 09228411850 or view http://www.theyoungvoice.blogspot.com )