Rules are as old as civilization itself. The Ten Commandments. The Geneva Convention. The first rule of Fight Club. Humanity has been writing rules, carving them into stone, printing them in employee handbooks, and laminating them to classroom walls since the beginning of recorded history. Some of them are the reasons we have functioning societies.
And some of them are so spectacularly misguided that the chaos they created became more famous than the problem they were trying to solve. Netizens recently asked people to share the rules at their school or workplace that backfired beyond all reasonable expectations, and the thread delivers. Some rules, it turns out, fail loudly, memorably, and with consequences that echo for years.
More info: Reddit
#21
Detailed time reporting at a company. I went from helping out past my normal hours to simply yanking the network cable out of my laptop at 4:59:59.
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19points
#22
My school banned hot cheetos so kids started hiding them in hoodie sleeves like contraband. saw a 5th grader do a handoff behind the portable buildings like it was a d**g deal. he had PRICES.
18points
#23
My high school came up with an attendance program where you got points for absences, so many points you were suspended for the marking period. But, you could come in, get your work and get a grade. My senior year I think i may have attended a total of 6 weeks! Made the honor roll last marking period too! Needless to say, that was the last and only year they tried that program.
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17points
#24
My middle school principal implemented a new dress code rule -solely for girls!
Skirts and shorts had to be longer than your arms, and the hems were measured against the tips our fingers when our arms were straight down at our side. Of course every girl had different proportions. I had to buy all new long shorts because all my proportions were small, while one girl got away with way shorter because her torso was longer. If you were found to be violating the rule they would make you change into pairs of spare basketball shorts.
I complained how stupid and nonsensical this rule was at every opportunity till I graduated.
I also hated this principle because she legitimately traumatised me but this stupid rule broke my brain in a different way.
Skirts and shorts had to be longer than your arms, and the hems were measured against the tips our fingers when our arms were straight down at our side. Of course every girl had different proportions. I had to buy all new long shorts because all my proportions were small, while one girl got away with way shorter because her torso was longer. If you were found to be violating the rule they would make you change into pairs of spare basketball shorts.
I complained how stupid and nonsensical this rule was at every opportunity till I graduated.
I also hated this principle because she legitimately traumatised me but this stupid rule broke my brain in a different way.
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16points
#25
New program to eliminate "toil" work, manual drudgery that takes time away from actual productive work that moves us forward. For months now everyone has to enter tickets in Jira for everything they do and categorize what percentage of the work was "toil" or productive. It takes a lot of time filling in those tickets every day.
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15points
#26
“You people better still be at your desks at 5…”
As a science oriented production facility, sometimes people stayed very late to save time overall. Not any more. For this among other reasons, business value fell by 90%.
As a science oriented production facility, sometimes people stayed very late to save time overall. Not any more. For this among other reasons, business value fell by 90%.
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15points
#27
Absolutely no concert T-shirts in school. This was at the height of Appetite for Destruction. The whole school started wearing black concert T-shirts daily in protest. Even some staff under their dress shirts would have older concert Ts on.
It was reversed in 2 weeks, and only certain Tshirts were banned, not all.
It was reversed in 2 weeks, and only certain Tshirts were banned, not all.
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15points
#28
My middle school banned selling candy which created a black market for it .
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13points
#29
Wasting most of my day filling out TPS reports for my 8 different bosses to let them know what I'm spending my time doing.
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13points
#30
Unlimited sick time, which most people never used, got dropped to 80 hours per person to stop people from misusing it. But now that you’ve quantified it we are using it. I’ve been taking 4 day sickations where I feel s****y all day in the office Thursday, then call in sick Friday and Monday. Great way to get a four day camping trip in without using up the PTO that I can roll over to next year.
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12points
#31
I was no longer a student at this time, but my old school system decided to get serious about school shootings back in like 2022 or 2023.
They put out a survey to parents, faculty, and students about whether they’d support mandatory clear book bags for all grade levels. The result was a resounding “no”. Trouble was, they already spent over $1M on clear backpacks, so they announced that they were gonna pilot the program anyway. Well, these must’ve been the cheapest clear backpacks $1M can buy, cause they couldn’t hold *anything* without disintegrating. Kids were churning through backpacks every couple weeks!
Needless to say, parents were pissed, faculty were pissed, students were pissed, the superintendent had to step down, and the program was not renewed the following year.
They put out a survey to parents, faculty, and students about whether they’d support mandatory clear book bags for all grade levels. The result was a resounding “no”. Trouble was, they already spent over $1M on clear backpacks, so they announced that they were gonna pilot the program anyway. Well, these must’ve been the cheapest clear backpacks $1M can buy, cause they couldn’t hold *anything* without disintegrating. Kids were churning through backpacks every couple weeks!
Needless to say, parents were pissed, faculty were pissed, students were pissed, the superintendent had to step down, and the program was not renewed the following year.
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12points
#32
My middle school banned returning borrowed silverware to the kitchen. This caused an issue where silverware went missing at an alarming rate.
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11points
#33
Idk if this is a rule or whatnot, but I’d like to share it.
When I was in my senior year high school, around 2010, our principal promised us that our senior year students wouldn’t be divided into 4 sections based on from the smartest to the dumbest, and all sections will have diversity based on our junior year grades.
He lied.
I was hoping that I would be placed on 2nd or 3rd section together with my friends, but he placed me with all the smartest students in the 1st section.
There was an uproar between all students as we were separated with our friends and other groups, but it kinda eased out months later as we slowly accepted it.
Our section, the 1st with all the smartest students, quietly pushed back by being the source of most, if not all, of the answers regarding homework, quizzes, and tests for a small fee. We made a decent business with it so where we could order delivery pizzas for lunch for our 1st section, and eventually with other students from other sections.
Our teachers were kinda in on it because they don’t like the principal for breaking the promise. And also we kinda bribed them with pizza party and also funded whatever they need for classes.
After we graduated, I heard from some of my former teachers that the principal was fired by the actual head of the school, our lovely Catholic priest.
When I was in my senior year high school, around 2010, our principal promised us that our senior year students wouldn’t be divided into 4 sections based on from the smartest to the dumbest, and all sections will have diversity based on our junior year grades.
He lied.
I was hoping that I would be placed on 2nd or 3rd section together with my friends, but he placed me with all the smartest students in the 1st section.
There was an uproar between all students as we were separated with our friends and other groups, but it kinda eased out months later as we slowly accepted it.
Our section, the 1st with all the smartest students, quietly pushed back by being the source of most, if not all, of the answers regarding homework, quizzes, and tests for a small fee. We made a decent business with it so where we could order delivery pizzas for lunch for our 1st section, and eventually with other students from other sections.
Our teachers were kinda in on it because they don’t like the principal for breaking the promise. And also we kinda bribed them with pizza party and also funded whatever they need for classes.
After we graduated, I heard from some of my former teachers that the principal was fired by the actual head of the school, our lovely Catholic priest.
11points
#34
Our school in the 70s decided to use plastic pouches filled with milk instead of small cartons at lunch. Straws with a pointed end, like juice boxes use (which i don't think even existed at the time).
Cue all of us throwing them halfway across the lunch room, or squeezing them out through the straw WITHOUT drinking, or waiting until the milk turned sour to puncture them. Next semester: cartons came back!
Cue all of us throwing them halfway across the lunch room, or squeezing them out through the straw WITHOUT drinking, or waiting until the milk turned sour to puncture them. Next semester: cartons came back!
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11points
#35
My high school tried to redo the school dress code but made it so strict that the majority of students walked out in protest and parents bombarded the Education board and school with calls about they'd rather deal with school uniforms than the dress code.
Lasted 2 days from announcement to school and board backing down.
Lasted 2 days from announcement to school and board backing down.
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11points
#36
Had an instructor in high-school who was clearly on the fringe of naturalist-style dietary ideas. This instructor was touting the healthiness of consuming bee pollen - a product that can be purchased fairly readily but not often at traditional grocery stores.
Well wouldn't you know it, someone with a terrible allergy to bees ate a bunch of the stuff at home and had a terrible allergic reaction. Something that the instructor had claimed was impossible.
Well wouldn't you know it, someone with a terrible allergy to bees ate a bunch of the stuff at home and had a terrible allergic reaction. Something that the instructor had claimed was impossible.
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10points
#37
No phones on our desk whilst working. Phones were to be placed on normal volume but face down. Phone calls could be answered.
Management didn't appreciate when one day I made my friend call me repeatedly and the bad boys ring tone would belt out.
The rule no longer exists.
Management didn't appreciate when one day I made my friend call me repeatedly and the bad boys ring tone would belt out.
The rule no longer exists.
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9points
#38
We couldn't play Red Rover since kids were injured in grade school. Kids everywhere rebelled. Or at least my class did. And by rebel, I meant we loudly voiced our disappointment until threats of calling parents were made.
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9points
#39
This happened almost 30 years go at my work. I worked in a hospital in the kitchen delivering patient trays.
Upper management had the bright idea to combine departments to “optimize” patient satisfaction. They wanted the food and nutrition department and the housekeeping department to be crossed trained to do each other’s work.
In their mind, if one department was short staffed, the other could pitch in to help. Or if on the floor, when we passed a patient’s room, we could do whatever task was asked of us.
I was 19 at the time, stupidly naive, and vocal about the plan: “that’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard! No patient is going to want to watch the person who just cleaned their toilet to turn around and serve them their dinner tray!” I wasn’t the only one to disagree, I think I was just the most blunt.
Management argued back that we just couldn’t see the vision of the plan. No one, in either department, jumped to implementing their plan. They had resistance from all sectors.
After about a month, management silently shifted to a new plan (that I don’t remember).
Upper management had the bright idea to combine departments to “optimize” patient satisfaction. They wanted the food and nutrition department and the housekeeping department to be crossed trained to do each other’s work.
In their mind, if one department was short staffed, the other could pitch in to help. Or if on the floor, when we passed a patient’s room, we could do whatever task was asked of us.
I was 19 at the time, stupidly naive, and vocal about the plan: “that’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard! No patient is going to want to watch the person who just cleaned their toilet to turn around and serve them their dinner tray!” I wasn’t the only one to disagree, I think I was just the most blunt.
Management argued back that we just couldn’t see the vision of the plan. No one, in either department, jumped to implementing their plan. They had resistance from all sectors.
After about a month, management silently shifted to a new plan (that I don’t remember).
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8points
#40
For my school, they banned hats thinking it’d prevent distractions, but everyone just wore hoods instead. like, good job on that one, principal.
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7points
