Bored Panda
35 "Oddly Specific" Rules People Encountered That Require An Explanation
Funny,CuriositiesSEP 17, 2021

35 "Oddly Specific" Rules People Encountered That Require An Explanation

257
45
Humans are curious creatures. Our craving to know and understand is the driving force behind our development as individuals and our success as a species. But we're also dumb.
So when Reddit user Ryyi23 posted this question on the platform: "What oddly specific rules have you seen that are probably only there because someone actually did it in the past?" the replies came flooding in.
From a warning not to fill a water gun with urine to a suggestion to remove a child from a piece of clothing before washing it, continue scrolling and check out some of the funniest ones!

#1

35 "Oddly Specific" Rules People Encountered That Require An Explanation
At my last job, we had a sign on the back door that said "you must walk trash all the way to the dumpster; DO NOT TRAIN THE RACCOONS!!!"
The story behind that is the facility I worked at does dog daycare and training, and Darcy the Human (not to be confused with Darcy the Poodle) didn't like having to walk all the way across the parking lot at the end of the night to take out the trash, and trained about three raccoons to drag the bags to the dumpster because he couldn't be bothered to walk 50ft to it. He got away with it for about a year, and even named them. The manager only found out when she opened the back door to throw out some boxes and saw a bunch of raccoons immediately run up and cart them off.
469points

#2

35 "Oddly Specific" Rules People Encountered That Require An Explanation
If the water between Denmark and Sweden freezes, and the Swedes walk over we (the Danes) are allowed to hit them with sticks.
357points

We managed to get in contact with Ryyi23 and they agreed to have a little chat with us about the inspiration behind the original post. "I had been talking to a friend about water parks and I remembered a sign at a water park that seemed obvious to me. It said 'Don't poop while on the slide.' So I figured there's probably plenty of odd rules and I wanted to know about them," the Redditor told Bored Panda.

"My main takeaway from the answers is that sometimes, common sense isn't common. Things that seem obvious to most people aren't necessarily obvious to everyone. The areas where rules were coming from seemed to be pretty diverse, but many of them involved job sites and there were a good number of answers from medical areas," they explained.

#3

35 "Oddly Specific" Rules People Encountered That Require An Explanation
On an AirFrance flight from Morocco to Mauritania, the flight attendant gave the safety brief in French at first. My french is not good but my ears pricked up when I heard the words "feu de camp." I obviously discounted my translation as misunderstanding the brief until she went into the brief in English.
We were given the standard safety brief on all aircraft, but at the end we were specifically reminded that there are to be no cooking or camp fires lit on the plane at any time.
Can you imagine your seat mate getting hungry and deciding to start a fire on an airplane to cook up some snacks?!?!?
287points

#4

35 "Oddly Specific" Rules People Encountered That Require An Explanation
We once got a piece of clothing for one of the kids and right on the label, I kid you not, ‘remove child before washing.'
281points

#5

35 "Oddly Specific" Rules People Encountered That Require An Explanation
In my lease, I had a clause to properly dispose of my used tampons.
I asked why and apparently my landlord had a tenant that caused $50,000 of damage because she threw her used tampons into the cabinet under the sink. She rented the apartment for years and there were 3+ years worth of used, bloody tampons in there.
The, uh, blood caused a bunch of damage akin to water damage to the bathoom. The floor under the cabinet was rotted through. From bloody tampon storage.
The thought of a steamy, gelatinous glorb of blood gooping through the sh**ty linoleum and blooming a bloody Clicker from The Last of Us makes me want to actively die.
260points

Ryyi23 isn't entirely sure how many of these regulations have actually helped. "If the rule is something so obvious that most wouldn't consider doing it in the first place, then the people who decide to disregard it probably don't read the rules anyway," they said. "I think companies might implement odd rules in order to punish anyone else who tries to do it."

At the end of the day, Ryyi23 is happy that some of the posts they've made on Reddit have gotten so much attention and sparked such interesting discussions. "I love learning about people's life experiences and their fun stories. [Sharing them] is a good way to help each other to look at the bright side of life."

#6

35 "Oddly Specific" Rules People Encountered That Require An Explanation
In Florida " You may not have sexual relations with a porcupine".
257points

#7

35 "Oddly Specific" Rules People Encountered That Require An Explanation
In rehab our cottons swabs were taken away because a guy decided to jam one into his eardrum to get sent to the hospital and get painkillers. Every seemingly dumb rule we had in there had a backstory to it.
237points

#8

35 "Oddly Specific" Rules People Encountered That Require An Explanation
‘Absolutely no roller skates in the lab.’ My husband worked for a private lab startup and half the women there did roller derby. The lab was (as many are) a repurposed warehouse with nice smooth concrete floors. One of the women thought it would be fun to skate between machines. She got a lot done but the boss figured osha wouldn’t be too thrilled so the sign went up a few days later. You could still wear your skates in the break room.
213points

#9

35 "Oddly Specific" Rules People Encountered That Require An Explanation
“Don’t take (prescription drug) if you're allergic to (same drug).”
212points

The Macomb Law Group acknowledges that warning labels on products can get a little silly but say there is a reason for it: companies continue to produce dangerous products.

"When consumers are hurt because something they purchased does them harm, [the law in many places] says they may be able to file a product liability lawsuit. These cases say that a product was unreasonably dangerous, but the manufacturer sold it anyway," the Macomb Law Group explained.

#10

35 "Oddly Specific" Rules People Encountered That Require An Explanation
On a package of precision screwdrivers "Do not insert into penis."
208points

#11

35 "Oddly Specific" Rules People Encountered That Require An Explanation
in NZ it is illegal to name your kid "Pink panties" ...
204points

#12

35 "Oddly Specific" Rules People Encountered That Require An Explanation
“Do not fill with urine” on a water gun.
202points

#13

35 "Oddly Specific" Rules People Encountered That Require An Explanation
Do not pick up this lawn mower and use it as a hedge trimmer.
198points

According to the lawyers, product liability usually falls into at least one of three categories:

  • Manufacturing defects (something wasn’t built to the proper specifications);
  • Design defects (the thing was built according to specifications that contained a danger);
  • Failure to warn (the manufacturer didn’t disclose an inherent danger in the product).

"Failure to warn is sometimes also called a marketing defect," the Macomb Law Group added. "The theory behind these cases is that, if a manufacturer cannot reasonably make the product safe, it can still be responsible for letting the consumer know about the dangers."

I wonder how many crazy lawsuits hide behind these rules?

#14

35 "Oddly Specific" Rules People Encountered That Require An Explanation
Never iron clothes while they are being worn.
188points

#15

35 "Oddly Specific" Rules People Encountered That Require An Explanation
My father’s hometown, Marion, Ohio, had a rule that you couldn’t eat a donut while walking backwards. If I remember correctly, it had something to do with attracting police horses to lure them away from the police.
187points

#16

35 "Oddly Specific" Rules People Encountered That Require An Explanation
At my company's picnic outing: "Anyone who jumps in the lake will be fired."
184points

#17

35 "Oddly Specific" Rules People Encountered That Require An Explanation
"Do not use for drying pets" on the microwave.
176points

#18

No rings on ship decks. They can get caught and deglove your finger, which is exactly as horrid as it sounds.
176points

#19

35 "Oddly Specific" Rules People Encountered That Require An Explanation
For my fellow scientists: Transferring chemicals by mouth (mouth pipetting) is forbidden.
176points

#20

Pharmacy worker here. We have to specify to unwrap suppositories BEFORE insertion. Apparently someone thought the foil was part of it.
163points
257
45