A Stickler for Rules

A great deal of life is living within the malleable but everpresent social confines we set for ourselves, individually and collectively.

And distancing this post from the statutes and other legalities that rule our everyday life, I guess I'm speaking more of the norms that regulate our moral code, for lack of a better term.

In other words, not the breaking of speed limits, but of cutting in front of another car.

As expected, most of my moral code was passed down from my parents. Most of those morals have reaffirmed themselves by sports.

When I was eleven, Danny White came to our church to speak to the men and young men. Due to space limitations, fathers were asked to bring children only over the age of twelve. This was the time period when I was a big Cowboys fan. I had the pajamas, the bed spread, and several t-shirts sporting the silver and blue. I was sure that my dad would bend the rules and take me, since he was already taking Chris. What's one more? I wouldn't take up much space, I thought.

I stayed home that night cursing the calendar and my father. But I learned an important lesson.

When I was a sophomore, one of my high school coaches told me that a foul isn't a foul until the referee calls it. I understand the physical nature of sports; but this wasn't telling us to play tough - it was telling us to play dirty until the whistle blew. It just wasn't me.

Years later, when I was playing pick-up ball at church, a teammate of mine came down with a rebound and made the follow-up shot. However, I saw that when he came down with the rebound, his foot stepped on the baseline. I knew I was the only one to have seen it. I wanted to let it pass, but I couldn't. I am constantly reminded of the adage that character is how you act when there's no one else around. Which I don't understand since my civility dramatically increases when I'm by myself. Heck, if I were Tom Hanks and had decent reading material, I might have stayed on that island. Especially since Helen Hunt married that lame dentist. But I digress.

Point is, he was out of bounds even if nobody else saw. And a foul is a foul even if there's no referee around.

You may have recently read in the news that Michelle Wie was disqualified in her professional debut for an illegal drop she took on the 7th hole. While it was conceded that her intentions were not to cheat, she broke a rule and lost out on 4th place and $56,000. An expensive lesson. You may have also read that on the same weekend, Kevin Stadler was disqualified from his tournament after it was discovered he was carrying a wedge that had inadvertently been bent. He hadn't even used the the illegal club; it stayed in his bag. Nevertheless, it's against the rules of golf to alter a club, even unintentionally, and he was disqualified.

Some rules are arbitrary; some are in place for set purposes. However, I've learned to either live by the rules or change them.

I've also learned to be careful what to wish for. A wicked northerner has lowered temperatures into the mid 50's. It should drop into the 40's overnight. Which is perfectly fine by me. The colder it gets and the nastier the weather, the better my mood gets, in general. I've been in a funk this weekend and the weather matched my mood perfectly. Well, Melissa and I went to brunch with her family today. As we were on the way home, I thought it would be a perfect afternoon to grab a blanket and a book and waste the afternoon away drifting back and forth between sleepy and just lazy.

Just as we walked in the door around 2:30 (in fact, the garage door hadn't even closed yet), the electricity went off. So, I happily grabbed a novel I've picked up recently, The Hottest State, by Ethan Hawke. I grabbed a comforter and settled in the oversized chair that afforded the best lighting. It's a great first novel that has the same mood and style of Catcher in the Rye. If Hawke were a bit taller, he's essentially what I imagine when I think of Holden Caulfield. He pulls off the intellectual drifter always in search of himself and life's redeeming qualities like nobody else can.

I had just drifted off into a light nap when the electricity came on. I was thankful for my wish come true.

However, I'm also just as happy getting my thoughts out while watching Charade on TCM. And thanking Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Edison.