Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

People Divulge Which Unwritten Rules They Always Follow

Make us preferred on Google

There's a voice inside each of us, telling us how to live.


That voice differs from person to person, instructing us on how to be polite or how best to handle a social situation. Many times, this voice is shaped by years of experience and, realistically, bad experiences. Nothing sticks in your head more like making a social faux pas then being forced to live with it. Whatever the reason, this voice keeps us in check, telling us how to live our lives with a certain set of unwritten rules we follow.

Reddit user, u/Embarrassed_Age_8463, wanted to know your own personal code of conduct when they asked:

What is an unwritten law you abide by?

Let's start with the small rules, the little ones that keep your day flowing smoothly and people out of the way of running into one another.

This Is Just "Don't Be Rude."

"Always let the people on the elevator get off before you get in."

littlemisspuppy

"You would think this is common f-cking sense, but let me tell you, it's not that common. Smh."

deez-nutz-00

Ask For Permission Or Leave It Alone

"Dont touch other people's stuff."

FrenchyGaitan

"My wife lives by this."

Dont-Fear-The-Raeper

Hush. Listen.

"Give conversations air. Do not rush to reply. Listen, then reply."

TJfael30

"Don't listen to reply, listen to hear and take in what that person has to say."

jayhawkmedic3

Get To The Side

"Rechts stehen, links gehen."

"Which is the German term for our unwritten rule that when you use an escalator, you use the right side if you want to just stand around and take a chilled ride, and that you use the left side if you're in a hurry and want to speed up the ride by additionally walking up-/downwards."

"They tried to officially abolish it in Munich, but we aren't having it. We Germans love our escalator rules."

freakinandout

These rules spread far and wide, covering a few range of topics. Sometimes they're meant for survival in the long run, ensuring your safety should things ever go wrong. Other times it's meant to protect your wallet. Simple as that.

Anything You Say Can And Will Be Used Against You

"Assume anything you tell anyone will be repeated!"

Appropriate-Rough563

"To build on this, assume anything you put in writing could be read in front of a jury. Paper, text, email? Imagine what you're about to hit send on gets read aloud to a courtroom before you hit send"

AdjNounNumbers

Not With Money Or Your Wife

"Don't trust anyone who backstabs others in front of you"

Hoxtoful

"This was kind of a big thing in the military. There's this presence of the idea that we're all best friends and brothers and sisters and inseparable and will die for every one around us. I literally can't count the number of guys I'd see hit the pier overseas and take their rings off then head into town. Same guys would blow all their money, then come back to the ship asking for loans, "we're boys right?!?!". No dude, your own wife can't trust you. I don't believe a f-cking thing you say."

aDrunkSailor82

Get. It. Done.

"If you say you're going to do something, do it"

theHubalagar

And then there's these, guidelines for a better life, true tests of character you follow to keep yourself in the barrier of "good person" and "awful human being."

The Ultimate Test Of Morality

"Put the f-cking cart in the f-cking cart return like a decent human being."

Whatsa-Throwaway

"I'll extend this: if you don't want something, put it back where you found it."

"Also, if you accidentally make a mess, CLEAN IT THE F-CK UP. The minute someone is like "they get paid to do that," I lose a lot of respect for them"

DripDripCoffeeRoast

"There's actually a shopping cart theory: " The theory posits that the decision to return a cart is the ultimate test of moral character and a person's capacity to be self-governing."

MrEvetbody

Keep Those Kids Under Control

"Don't let your kids be a nuisance to other people when in public. I'm not talking about babies and toddlers, but kids running around in restaurants or going ham kicking plane seats."

Grumblegrumblehiss

"Not even just for others' sake, but for their sake, too. I worked in a restaurant, and some parents would just let their toddlers and sh-t wander around while they stayed seated at their table. I remember when I found a 3-4 year old waddling around a room away from his mom in a packed restaurant and almost lost my mind. I can't tell you how many times my instinct to swoop them up and scold the parent/s almost took over, but I had to remain professional. I don't mind a little rowdiness, but for the kids' sake, stop being inattentive."

MyLifeHurtsRightNow

Be Kind.

"Be kind if at all possible"

Basic_genXer

"But don't brag about it. If it comes up in conversation that's fine but I know someone who puts everything on Facebook for the likes"

SnooCapers9313

Whatever your rules are, follow them. That's what they're there for, right? To help you out?

Want to "know" more? Never miss another big, odd, funny, or heartbreaking moment again. Sign up for the Knowable newsletter here.

More from Trending/best-of-reddit

Paul Rudd
Valerie Terranova/Getty Images for Cunard

Paul Rudd Was Just Spotted Peering Into The Brooklyn Store That's Feuding With Kelly Clarkson—And The Jokes Are On Point

Celebrities: They're just like us!

They get annoyed when they get bad customer service, like Kelly Clarkson, and they get hella nosey when the drama goes viral on the internet—like, it turns out, Paul Rudd.

Keep ReadingShow less
screenshot of Lisa Kearns' vandalized mayoral campaign sign
Lisa Kearns/Facebook

Canadian Candidate Goes Viral After Turning Defaced Campaign Signs Into Hilarious Viral Video

After pouring time and effort into a project, seeing all your hard work disrespected can draw justified anger. But a Canadian woman running for political office decided to turn the lemons life—or, more specifically, vandals—handed her into pitch perfect lemonade.

Lisa Kearns is a former city councilor who vacated her Ward 2 seat to run for mayor of Burlington, Ontario, Canada—a city of about 187,000 people on the western shore of Lake Ontario. Kearns discovered several of her campaign signs featuring her photo had been vandalized over the Canadian Thanksgiving (observed the second Monday of October) long weekend.

Keep ReadingShow less
Christina Ricci; Donald Trump
Gilbert Flores/Deadline via Getty Images; Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

Christina Ricci Just Dropped A Brutal Truth Bomb On A 71-Year-Old MAGA Voter—And Fans Are Applauding

Yellowjackets star Christina Ricci did not mince words after a 71-year-old MAGA voter on Threads vowed to "vote straight Red" in the upcoming midterm elections.

Threads user @janhunterlan, with the midterms just under two weeks away, identified herself as a 71-year-old with an entire family "in California, Texas, Arizona, and Michigan, plus Pensilvania [sic]" that "will be voting straight Red" on November 3.

Keep ReadingShow less
James Talarico; Elon Musk
Sergio Flores/Getty Images; Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

James Talarico Just Clapped Back Hard After Elon Musk Said There's 'Something Deeply Wrong' With Him

Texas Democratic Senate nominee James Talarico responded after trillionaire Elon Musk claimed "there's something deeply wrong" with him.

Just days ago, news outlets reported that Musk donated $158 million to a Republican super PAC, the Senate Leadership Fund, in September. The money he donated swelled the coffers of Texas PAC, a group that is backing Paxton, the Texas attorney general. Musk also made a $10 million donation to Lone Star Liberty PAC, another group that has thrown its support behind Paxton.

Keep ReadingShow less
LaMelo Ball #1 of the Minnesota Timberwolves celebrates a three-point basket against the Detroit Pistons.
David Berding/Getty Images

NBA Star Sparks Backlash After Saying That Changing His Infant Son's Diapers Is 'Not My Job'

It's 2026, but NBA star LaMelo Ball apparently hasn't gotten the memo that fatherhood has moved beyond the 1950s. The Minnesota Timberwolves point guard is catching heat after declaring that changing his infant son's diapers is "not my job."

The 25-year-old made the eyebrow-raising admission during an Inside the NBA interview with Ernie Johnson Jr. ahead of his October 21 debut with Minnesota.

Keep ReadingShow less