That doesn't apply to me.

Rules. Where would we be without them? A society without them would be sheer chaos. Imagine the middle ages with automatic weapons. If you didn't have to follow any rules, what would you do different? Me? It would mean driving down the highway doing 120mph naked while chugging a bottle Petron. (Thanks for that burning image a-hole!) But that's just me. The Guitarman readily admits that he is not immune from slightly bending some rules to tilt in his favor. Like driving 55 on the tollway. Have you ever passed a car that was? I think that guy is in more danger than the guy in the left lane doing 80 with everyone else. And some rules were meant to be followed. Like wearing clothes in public. I am pretty sure that if this were not the case, I would not be living next Rosie O'Donnell. Some images were meant to remain unseen. But today I was irked from the get go.

Home Depot parking lot. Able bodied middle aged male takes his myriad of purchases, tosses them in his car, gives his cart the old "push" towards the general direction of the cart corral, 15 steps away, and leaves. Hard and fast rule? No, but if everyone did it, parking lots would become obstacle courses. I made sure he saw me taking the strenuous effort needed to push an empty shopping cart 40 or so feet.

Walgreens parking lot. Despite empty parking spots being a mere 10 steps away from the door, a woman decides that her quick trip into the store is more important than any one else's, so she leaves her car in the lane, blocking other drivers from getting to where they need to go. I am sure if a conversation had taken place it might have gone something like:

GM Um, I'm sorry to have to be the one to tell you this, but that is not a parking space.
Clueless Driver Parking space? What is that?
GM You see all of those yellow lines everywhere? You are supposed to pull your car in between 2 of them.
Clueless Driver Ohhh! That's what those are for. I thought a solid yellow line meant I wasn't allowed to pass another vehicle.
GM So then you'll move you vehicle to an appropriate spot?
Clueless Driver But I am only going in for eggs, milk, cigarettes, nail polish remover, batteries and root beer. Oh, and I might peruse the bin of $5 DVD's. But I'll be right out.

But in reality in would have been more like:

GM Um, I'm sorry to have to be the one to tell you this, but that is not a parking space.
Clueless Driver Mind your own f@*king business asshole before I call my boyfriend to kick your ass!

Some things are better left unsaid. But still, people throw a harmless McDonalds wrapper out of the window thinking that a. one little piece of garbage won't matter, b. my car is too precious to keep a piece of trash in it, c. I am way too lazy to actually find a garbage can, and d. isn't that what prisoners are for, to clean up our roads? Me? I tend to imagine what the world would look like if everyone did the same thing. That old commercial from the 70's comes to mind. You remember the one? With the Native American walking the land to see how man has disregarded it to the point that we are all living in filth? In the end, that single tear runs down his cheek. Ashamed to be living among those who have no respect for anything or anyone around them.

But that's our current society. We are too busy to take the time to follow the rules so that the next guy that comes along can have the same opportunity that we had. It's called common courtesy. I won't shit on you if you don't shit on me. Not too hard to comprehend, but I guess some people were raised to believe that the world revolves around them. Maybe we all need to sign a pledge when we turn 18. Something like, "I will leave this world better off than I found it." Can you imagine what kind of world we would live in if everyone lived by those few words? I know. I can't either.