Rules?

[Mortblanc]

Rules are a necessity, but there are two sets of rules.

There are the rules of civilized, safe life, And the rules of war, trauma and disaster.

The most common problem is not being able to identify the two sets of rules and apply them accordingly.

Living by the rules of polite society during a war will get one killed.

Applying the wartime rules in polite society will get one locked down on some ward in a VA hospital with everyone screaming PTSD, or living alone seeking out "like minded" nutters on the computer.

The folk that can not adapt to the trauma rules do not bother us so much. Most are dead and buried.

The folk that attempt to live by trauma rules when civilized rules should be in force give us fits, bad press, and a bad reputation for stored canned goods.

The real problem is when folk fail to recognize the two sets of rules and attempt to hold a group accountable to one set of rules when another set of rules should be in place.

An example is the "21 foot rule".

Today, in normal society it is assumed that each person has a "personal space bubble" of about 3 feet.

In a violent crisis that bubble extends to 21 feet, the distance that is required to respond to a knife attack, and the bubble extends to meet the range of the most common weapon used by the enemy.

While "normal people" in the present day talk things out and negotiate, our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan were under orders to fire on any truck, car, motorcycle or donkey cart that came within 100 meters of their convoy or checkpoint, no questions asked and no exceptions. (My youngest son blew up a chicken truck and killed three camels on his first tour) That "rule" saved many British and American lives but wrecked havoc on the camel, chicken and white truck population of both countries.

During peaceful times the "rules" are called etiquette, manners or laws.

During hostile times the "rules" are called tactics, or standard operating procedures (SOP).