50 hilarious times people skirted around the system to break the rules

Rules, rules, rules.

You can’t escape them. There are the rules of the universe that will win every time, like the sun will come up in the east and go down in the west.

As a child, your parents have rules they expect you to obey. Some for your safety and some for their sanity.

There are traffic rules. Rules about what you can wear to school, work, or a public place.

There is no question that rules are necessary—some of them. And others, not so much.

Here are 50 examples of people young and old who decided to break free of the rules imposed on them.

1. It’s too hot

Most people hate being too hot and look for ways to cool down. Like shedding some clothing. Long sleeves and long pants in the middle of a heat wave aren’t appropriate. These school boys were told shorts were against the rules.

2. Sorry, no water

Imagine a rule saying you couldn’t sell water at a festival—when it was 90 degrees. Since selling nuts wasn’t an issue, a workaround was found.

3. House rules

No food in the living room. No devices in the kitchen. Imagine what this little one will be getting away with when he is a teen.

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4. Please cover yourself

This debate is getting a bit old, isn’t it? It seems we live in a world where anything and everything goes—except feeding your child in public. I think there’s some middle ground that can be reached on this one, don’t you?

5. No women

Some places have a problem with bare breasts. Some places have a problem with women in general. Like this soccer match in Iran. Women aren’t allowed. I don’t see any women here, do you? Nope.

6. No boys allowed

Or girls, as the case may be. So what do you do if you live in a dorm that doesn’t allow the other sex in? What happens on date night? You get creative.

7. Carry rules

Nope, not guns. In NYC you aren’t allowed to board the subway unless you pet is in a carrier. I wonder if there is an explanation of what the authorities consider to be a “carrier.” To some, it’s clearly up to interpretation.

8. Unexpected

I bet the teacher wasn’t expecting this. And while I at first wondered if this was indeed written in Chinese, it was. The homework handed in was correct.

9. Take it inside

A mayor in Brazil told bar owners they couldn’t set up tables and chairs on the sidewalks. So they didn’t. Cheers!

10. The camp from hell

So apparently this kid was at summer camp. And that camp requires that all kids take time at the end of their first week and write a letter home. Short and sweet, and I’m guessing with a bit of artistic licence.

11. Jack-o’-lantern

So what do you do at Halloween when your dorm has a rule against pumpkins? You find a creative way around that rule, of course.

12. Dress codes

Imagine going to a school that has a dress code the enforces a full suit and tie all the time. I guess that could be boring for some. But imagine that same school has no rules around winter coats?

13. Illustratively

What would you do if you were a sex ed teacher that wasn’t allowed to display the proper use of condoms? You get creative and use your socks.

14. Off the furniture

I think she’s found a keeper. What do you think? They got a puppy and she said the puppy wasn’t allowed on the bed. This is how he handled the crying puppy.

15. You’re banned

So you’ve behaved badly at a few games and you’ve been banned from the stadium. Oh, no! That means you’ll miss the games. Or will it? Maybe you’ll end up with the best seat in the house, instead.

16. Allowed cheat sheet

Exams are tough. Why is it that everything you’ve learned is so hard to recall when you need it most? In this case a professor allowed a single page formula sheet. They probably should have been more specific.

17. Pick a character

This is priceless. A class was given an assignment to pick a Marvel character, and then write a corresponding resume and cover letter. Challenge accepted!

18. Come to dinner

If invited for dinner, I always ask the host/hostess if there is something they would like me to bring. In this case, someone’s mom replied with specific directions. You can bring rolls, and nothing else.

19. No painting

Sometimes you move into a rental apartment or dorm and you’re not allowed to paint. Are you supposed to put up with boring beige or grey walls? I think not!

20. Septoplasty

Okay, simply put, that’s surgery on the nose. And due to the pressure, you can’t rest glasses on your nose after the surgery. But a guy has to see, right? And with a little improvisation, he can.

21. Yawn

Sometimes you need to express a little individuality. But what if you work somewhere with a fairly strict dress code? You find a way to subvert it.

22. Dress to impress

Photoshop to the rescue. In this case, this guy needed a picture of himself in a suit for his job. Except he doesn’t own a suit. And presto! There’s a picture of him in a suit.

23. Seemed like a good idea

Parents often have to come up with ways to discipline their kids. Like taking their devices away from them. This mom went so far as to install a lock on a bathroom drawer to keep stuff from her kid. Probably should have thought it through a bit better.

24. That extra mile

Some teachers are all about rules. Some teachers are all about making sure their students learn. No need to guess which type this teacher is in this university that doesn’t allow review sessions during finals.

25. Not so trusting?

What do you do when your parents go away and set up a security camera to watch you—or at least watch what’s going on? You take a picture of the room and face the camera towards it.

26. It’s clearly green

I’m not sure I see an issue here. There are multiple definitions for the word green. If they’d been more specific it might have been more helpful.

27. The letter of the law

I bet they thought they had all personal, wheeled, modes of transportation covered. But this guy is perfectly legit riding his unicycle there.

28. Go outside

Kids today spend far too much time inside. Often attached to a TV or video game. Look what this kid did when his mom told him it was too nice to be inside.

29. Awesome!

You have to applaud people who notice they’ve been given a bit of wiggle room. I’m guessing the city didn’t mean to allow for this to happen. But I’d say that parking spot is legit.

30. Does it really help?

This person says they put a fake ticket in their windshield whenever they park illegally. For some reason I doubt this really works, but I would love to be proven wrong.

31. For an extra point

Sometimes it’s all so obvious, right? What seems to be a clue can be much more than a clue. It seems it can even be answer worth bonus points.

32. There goes the environment

Just how many plastic straws were used in the making of this? And how many times did this fall apart between the balcony and the pool? Too much work, as far as I’m concerned!

33. One side only

There is more than one option available when you’re told you can only use one side of a piece of paper to write notes for your final. Is a mobius strip the most sensible?

34. Remember when…

Former First Lady Obama suggested a ban on selling candy and junk food for school marketing campaigns? Here’s how one boy got around it.

35. Don’t touch

I’ve worked in a place where the thermostat in the office was set to sub-zero—and locked up. I wish I had of thought of doing something like this to get around it.

36. No food, no booze

Yes, there are places in the U.S. that have some horribly outdated and ridiculous drinking laws. Like the one in this bar that requires it to sell food in order to sell liquor.

37. Tickets please

You know how some places give you a stamp or wrist band to gain entrance once you have paid? This guy simply wore a grocery store receipt. Which begs the question—do the staff not know or care?

38. Company policy

What do you do when your company has a policy that all beverages must be in a cup with a straw? Let’s forget that’s a nonsensical rule—at least for now. Of course, you make sure your beverage is in a cup with a straw.

39. All students must wear a belt

More dress codes. This one is you must wear a belt. What if you forget one day? You improvise. I mean, is there are rule that says the belt must be made out of leather as well?

40. Hanging out

I mean, literally hanging out. You gotta do what you gotta do when it’s date night and your significant other of the opposite sex isn’t allowed in your dorm. At least you know he’s somewhat committed if he’ll scale walls for you.

41. Stay in

I see a lawyer in the making! For whatever reason, this little guy was told he couldn’t go outside. Personally, I think this would be easier to get around if you were told you had to stay inside. Because part of him is still in.

42. Stop buying plants

It seems someone compulsively purchases new plants. When her husband asked her to stop, she found a workaround. No need to buy plants when you have these.

43. Ooh, pretty flowers

Okay, you and I both know they aren’t flowers, but that’s not the point. She was told she couldn’t walk on lawns to pick flowers. I’d say she’s an obedient little girl, wouldn’t you?

44. B? What B?

Sometimes you need to be creative. Like when your restaurant gets a B rating. You could just leave it on the door as is, or you could shake things up a bit.

45. You wanna drink?

Then we gotta serve food. At least that’s the law in this place. This bar needs to serve food as part of their liquor licence. So for those willing to part with $10, look what you can get.

46. Just one bag

Hmm. So mom tells her child they can only have one bag of candy and they come back with this. This may or may not work with me. It would depend on whether there was an assembly line glitch and those two packages arrived as one, or my kid deliberately went and glued too together.

47. Legit spot

This is quite funny—although I’m guessing if you drove up in your car with your handicap access, you would be less than amused. But the sign does indicated parking is for those in wheelchairs, not wheelchairs in cars.

48. No roadside statues

Apparently, there is a town ordinance that doesn’t allow this retailer to put a statue—even if it’s just an advertisement—at the roadside. But you know, it says nothing about flag poles.

49. Inside the lines

Some people have a very hard time staying inside the lines. It’s like lines were put down just for them to rebel against. Like rebelling against the USPS.

50. But some rules…

Remember I said at the beginning that some rules are necessary? Some rules could ultimately save your life? Bend the rules. Break the rules. But be smart about the rules, okay?

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