Common Sense: Not So Common as the Name Would Imply | Do Try This at Home: Common Sense: Not So Common as the Name Would Imply

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Common Sense: Not So Common as the Name Would Imply

On the first day of school many teachers help students come up with a list of classroom rules. Supposedly it encourages ownership or whatever...I mean, if the rules are actually used for something besides a poster sized wall decoration.

If not steered just so, younger children tend toward a list of no's: no hitting, no spitting on our friends, no eating someone else's food, or my personal favorite from this year's crop: no hammering when someone else's hand is there.

I think some kid made up these rules to get back at a teacher:

These were only three of the many, many "no" signs The-Guy-Who-Knows-A-Song-About-A-Chicken and I saw at a local park a couple weekends ago.

Don't they just make you want to park your offroad vehicle on the grass and unleash your horse while you go fishing from a kayak? Yeah, me too. I'm fine with refraining from feeding the alligators though.

The-Guy and I got this list of no, no, no's from a motel in Florida:Just make sure and have FUN people!

Of note:
This is every meeting I've ever been to wrapped up into one:

Principal makes some absurd, random rule that makes teachers' lives harder.

Two teachers burst into tears.

Every hand goes into the air.

Teachers grill the principal on every nuance of the rule, exploring all possible ways to bend, twist, curve, and tilt the rule (except for that one person whose questions never have anything to do with anything).

Relentless questioning continues past time when the meeting should have been over.

Principal cries out in frustration, "USE YOUR COMMON SENSE PEOPLE!"

Teachers stare at principal in disbelief. If people were willing to use their common sense, why would we need all these random, absurd rules?

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Sounds like a Girl Scout meeting to me!

Unknown said...

* Do not blog infrequently
* Do not visit other blogs irregularly

That motel won't work for me I usually have guests after 10 PM and we noisily grill the smallest guest. Don't know why but some people just can't take the heat.

Anonymous said...

Ah common sense. I'm often amused at what people will try to get away with if you don't explicitly forbid it, though. Everyone is just too crazy and to bent on doing what they want!

Rachel said...

Very amusing! I love the one about the balcony!

Casii said...

Common sense? What is this common sense you speak of? LOL

Bruce Johnson said...

Making up common sense rules such as these provide a valuable resource for the mentally challenged in our society. It gives them something to do that gives their life purpose and makes them feel important. Otherwise, they would just be sitting on the beach feeding the birds. Didn't you get this memo? It was sent to all the smart peopl......ow....wait, forget I wrote thi.....

Maureen said...

I think it should be renamed "uncommon sense"... doesn't seem to common to me.

Oh, and I love the combination of "no feeding the alligators" with "no swimming".... Doh!

Christine said...

All the playgrounds around me have signs which include the rule "No Running."

Makes me a little sad, for the kids.

Jill said...

Kristine - I've never been to a girl scout meeting, but somehow that doesn't surprise me. :-(

SJ - So that's why you invited me to your bar-b-que last April! A few questions on your rules though - How frequently is frequent? Is it ok to blog on Wednesday mornings before six am? On Tuesdays I don't get home until after bedtime - is it okay to get a substitute blogger? Does the time period between blog posts have to be consistent, or is it merely the number of posts that matters? How regular is regular? Do you have to eat a lot of fiber for that?

Derek - Yeah I've never met you but my guess is you don't have a shortage. :-)

Thanks Rachel!

Casii - Common what?!?!

Bruce - FUNNY! Reminds me of one of those joke emails that goes around. At the end it says something like, "And then God sent an email to all the GOOD people, and do you know what it said?!?!? No? Me neither. I didn't get that email." or something like that.

Maureen - No kidding right? Though I did see a guy heading down with his fishing pole. We all applauded, of course (kidding).

Christine - That is SO SAD!!!!!!!!! We have to enforce all kinds of crazy rules at school, but at least our kids are allowed to run on the playground. :-( :-( :-(

A Free Man said...

I don't think common sense exists anymore.

delmer said...

What's the difference between "loitering" at the park and just hanging around there? Do people have to go to the park with a purpose now? If I were there and not obviously enjoying the fresh air and scenery as I stood motionless, would that be loitering?

This is another example of my lacking common sense working against me.

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