Murder, Arson, and Jay-Walking

[Aerif]

Those little things that everyone does, that they really know they probably shouldn't do, and sometimes feel a little guilty about having done those things in the first place.

Last lunar-Islamic-month-thing was Ramadan, and for the most part I managed to refrain from eating and drinking in public during the day time, since being a non-Muslim makes me exempt from the daylight fasts, but there were a few occasions when I slipped up by drinking water/juice in public either out of forgetfulness or desperation (incidentally every case I remember involved my parents who were visiting Tunisia at the time). I also managed to accidentally get caught eating/drinking on the roof when a woman for some reason came up.

Not that there's anything wrong with me eating or drinking during Ramadan of course, but I did feel incredibly guilty whenever I accidentally did in front of Muslims.

Any similar incidents occur with you TFF'ers? Any French verbs scrawled on the backs of hands during tests? Any wee tipples drunk when you knew you were about to topple? Incidents big or small, guilt felt or not. Feel free to share here.


*Thread participants may be blackmailed at a later date, and/or reported to the local authorities of their respective locations.

[Heartless Angel]

I've never been much for rules. I tend to look at them objectively, determine their purpose, and then decide if that purpose applies to my current situation. If not, **** em. So like rules of the road, speed limits for example. Their primary function is to prevent accidents, and minimize the damage of accidents that occur anyways. If I don't see anybody else on the road, going 45 instead of 60 no longer helps accomplish this, so **** the speed limit, I'm doing 60. Any rule that doesn't currently serve a logical purpose for me to follow, I won't follow.

Another example, academic dishonesty. Why don't schools want people to cheat? Because they don't want to give stupid people degrees so they go get jobs with a high competence requirement when they lack the competence the job requires, but cheated to get a degree to convince employers that they DO have the competence needed. So, in the event that I'm actually having difficulty with something, I won't cheat at all. I'd rather determine how bad I am at it so I can improve accordingly. If it's something I know I COULD do well if I cared to make an honest effort, but there's an option that saves me time and energy, I'll go ahead and take it. Math for example. I'm good at math. I ace tests without ever having seen the inside of the math book. When we get into something that requires a lot of pointless effort, like equations with a ****load of steps that waste half a page of paper per problem, I've got no qualms with cheating to save myself some effort. I can't be bothered to waste a bunch of time and energy on things I'm not interested in, so if I can avoid it, and get away with it, I will. In the real world, if I was faced with a similar problem with a practical application (meaning needing the answer for something rooted in reality, not just to prove I can get the answer on a test), I can do the steps. So it's not like I'm missing out on anything by skipping the drudgery in class.

Basically, my actions are all governed by logic. If I see no logical reason to do something, rules be damned, I ain't doin' it.

[Unknown Entity]

There's no jay-walking rule as far as I know in London. I've done it millions of times, and I've never been scolded for it, even infront of police officers. Why should I feel guilty? I'm just crossing the road. It's not like I'm walking or running out infront of cars or some shit.

There have been a couple of people at work fasting, but I only felt guilty when I offered someone who was fasting a bit of my food, or a snack. I don't feel guilty about eating infront of them though. If someone wants to make that personal choice, then all the more for them, but I'm not obliged to follow the same rules and guidelines. I won't intentionally flaunt the fact I can eat without being smite by a God I don't believe in.

[Lacquer Head]

...the list is far too long.

Public intoxication, public urination, driving under the influence (only drove while drunk once...while high is a different story) possession of a controlled substance, shoplifting, jaywalking, breaking and entering (old abandoned buildings) etc etc and so on. Only been arrested once though, for shop lifting, which I haven't done since.

[Order]

Guilt is for people who make mistakes.
I either do it purposefully, knowing the implications of my actions or wasn't aware it was wrong.

However, I do tend to answer my cellphone while driving. On the not-so-rare-as-it-should-be chance that it is a family member calling about an emergency, the risk is acceptable.
I dont feel guilty if it is an emergency or not.
I do get short tempered when I say, "Im driving, make it fast." And they respind with, "what? Where are you going?"

[Rowan]

A bit of a scuff here and there. Guilty? not a chance. Do you feel guilty beating someone whos been vandalising your property for years? No you bloody dont!

[Cyanist]

Uhrghle. Yeah, I get embarrassed a lot for doing stuff I shouldn't be, because, amazingly, nine times out of ten I'm CAUGHT doing whatever-it-is (I think I'm sorta cursed that way).
I know it's completely my fault, but... does picking one's nose automatically draw people to look at you? I guess so!
Is there a universal law that says whenever you're searching for underwear (not that it's illegal) someone must loudly ask what in the bloody heavens it is you seek? Absolutely!
And is watching a cheesy romantic film (soo illegal) an invite to a load of dusty brothers? Is it their job to then take up seats and offer round after round of guffaws at every sincerely touching sentence from Hugh Jackman's mouth? Of course it is!
So, yeah. I got a lot of those moments...