Breaking the Rules

Sometimes class feels filled with tedious questions about protocol, whereas, in one of my more adventure-related classes this was typed on one of the slides:

No rules works all the time.

Too much planning stresses me out.  I asked my brother for directions to where he and my family were on the Cape one time and he said, "Follow signs for The Cape."  When I drive somewhere, I just need to know the routes or the general direction - not every left or right turn.  Sometimes it feels like people are saying, "So, what if there's no street sign at the intersection, but there hasn't been a sign that says we need to turn right for the same route?  Do we still go straight?"  YES!  KEEP GOING!

If there's a detour, should we follow it?
If we turn down a street, and there's a dead end, should we try to keep going?
What if the light is not turning green, but it's night time, and no other cars are around?  Should we go?
What if I'm holding a coffee and eating a sandwich, is it okay to take my hands off the wheel for a second?
If the speed limit is 65, would I get a ticket if I go 67?  What if everyone is doing 80?

Sometimes there is an obvious answer - YES FOLLOW THE DETOUR - and other times there is not.  This is where ethics comes in and some conversations involving ethical decisions are more interesting than others.  What if your client's girlfriend is standing outside with a gun, and the police say they can't do anything unless something happens, do you let them leave?  One of my professors did.

This same professor said that one of her big breakthroughs was when she realized that the clients she was working with had lives.  When I sit in class, I can imagine one can get so caught up in organizing that they the bigger picture.

Meanwhile, back in Adventure Therapy class, I lost $2.10.  An auction was being run by my professor.  What were we bidding on?  A $1.00 bill.  The winner takes all, but the second and third place people still have to pay.  What?  Right.  Best game ever to play if you're a professor.  You could go home with a little extra at the end of the class.

He started with a $1.00.  For the first round, three people played, eventually bidding $1.00.  What happens is that when you're bidding, you get to a point where you can't afford to lose.  Or, you start thinking, "Well, I'd rather lose $.50 than $.75, if I get the $1.00."  The other problem is that, you're not exempt unless you were the fourth person bidding.  The next round was an auction of $3.00.  I was at $2.10 when I decided to stop, but the other two people kept going until $3.55.  The person who won actually lost $.50, but that's less than my $2.10.  The second place person was the biggest loser: $3.50 or something like that.

Human behavior.  What would YOU do?  Rather than sit and ask question after question, we play games.  Games quietly pull us out of our social selves and might begin to scratch away at our true selves.  Family dynamics come out as everyone is absorbed in an activity.  Suddenly your favorite uncle is pushing you out of the way to get a touchdown, your mom is changing the rules so that she doesn't lose, and your normally silent friend has proven himself the smartest in the room.  I read a quote from Plato once that said, "You can learn more about a person in an hour of play than a year of conversation."  We get so caught up in the game, we drop our cover.

Apparently my professor facilitated this same activity with a corporate group at a conference and ended up with $580 at the end.  What?  Yes.  He gave it to the service crew and they had the most awesome beerfest the last night.  Where did my money go?  To a student/friend who went to a conference over the weekend.  If only all gambled money went towards charity.

Life is about values.  We speed because we're keeping up with traffic, we go through red lights because it's night and no one is around, we text while we're driving because we care about communication.  Values are constantly being juggled and balanced: THAT'S LIFE.  It's one big grayscale, but that's what makes it so captivating... so stop talking about the rules and trying to organize everything, people....