I have decided that I am a rule follower. It's not as though I always comply to every regulation and every warning imposed by the governments and councils plus every other authority but for the most part I do what I'm told.
Which has made me ponder a lot of late: What makes any individual choose what rules to follow and what ones they will ignore. Are some people more compliant or do we all just cherry pick about what applies to us and what doesn't?
This week it has been the whole swim between the flags thing. There are signs all along the dog beach about dangerous rips and unsafe swimming conditions. It's why it's a dog beach, I suspect. There is a patrolled bathing reserve about 100 metres further up. And yet every day families often with small kids are swimming outside the flags. Hand on heart I can say I would never have done that. It just wouldn't have occurred to me. The people who do choose to swim outside the flags are probably much more confident swimmers and it could be that they have made an educated choice. It could be that they don't know or don't care. I'm not actually judging, just curious. I pick up dog poo, I stay out of the sun in the heat of the day and I swim between the flags. But having said that I do jay walk, occasionally perform u-turns illegally, never ever consume the right amount of water or vegetables and don't always wash my hands for as long as recommended.
I make "informed" choices or that's what I tell myself. I suspect it's what we all tell ourselves.
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