I decided to write briefly on the issue of disrespect for rules.  Or perhaps rant is a more appropriate description....

Having worked as a security guard for years I'll have to admit that I've probably become a bit cynical.  I always seem to run into people who are breaking rules of some kind or another.  They're parking where they shouldn't park, smoking where they shouldn't smoke, being drunk and disorderly, etc.  Additionally, it seems that most of the time when you intervene and try to get them to follow the rules you will be met with disrespect and hostility.  After a while you start to wonder if the whole world is full of jerks who have no respect for rules, laws, order or even common decency.

Take for example an encounter I had a couple of months ago with a gentleman who decided to park in a fire lane at a local shopping mall.  It is a common occurrence because this fire lane is adjacent to the mall's main entrance and many people park there and then go inside to run errands or park there and wait to pick up passengers.  I was patrolling the mall that day so I approached him and informed him that he was in a fire lane and asked him if he would please move.  He smirked and coyly replied that he was a "special person" so he could park there if he wanted to.  The woman who occupied the passenger seat smiled, obviously amused with his response.  I ignored his attempt at humour and started to repeat my request for him to move at which time he commented that everyone else parked in this fire lane so, if they did, then he could too.  To this I replied that, when I observed others parking in the fire lane, I asked them to move as well but again he refused to move.  Then I informed him that if he failed to move his vehicle that I would have to contact the police and then I walked away.  This was mostly a bluff since I realized that the police wouldn't place a very high priority on this matter but I figured that the prospect of having to deal with a police officer may encourage him to move along.  I was right because he called me back over and said that he would leave.

This kind of disrespect for rules is something I observe all the time and I have to admit it gets under my skin.  It may seem unimportant to most people and, perhaps, in the grand scheme of things it is but, as I've said previously, I do believe rules are important and it bothers me when people break them.  Why can't people just show a little respect?

Of course I also observe more serious wrongdoing.  I've seen many fights over the years (although thankfully I haven't had to get involved in too many myself).  Usually they break out in a period of about a half hour to two hours after the bars close for the night.  Most often they last only last for a few punches but sometimes they can go longer.  These kinds of disorderly behaviours annoy me as well, not just because they're illegal but also because they're so pointless.  What is the point of fighting with a guy because he looked at your girlfriend or insulted you?

I remember one fight I witnessed several months ago that still bothers me.  A guy and a woman (I'm presuming it was his girlfriend) were walking down the street after bar closing time.  He was obviously very angry and was yelling and then, in an apparent fit of rage, tore off his shirt and threw it on the street.  The woman he was with was following him and trying to talk to him but he didn't want to have anything to do with her and told her to leave him alone.  She wouldn't listen and continued to follow him so he began to angrily shove her away from him.  His pushing became so forceful that he actually knocked her to the ground several times.  I became concerned so I started to approach and yelled at him to stop but he and his girlfriend ignored me and continued down the street, still arguing and shoving.

I considered physically intervening and followed for a half block observing.  However, in the end I didn't intervene.  I was under instructions not to leave my worksite, the woman didn't appear to be in immediate danger of death or grievous bodily harm and I was also concerned that, if I did take action against the male, the woman would turn on me.  Unfortunately with domestic disputes it's a possibility that when one intervenes to help the victim he/she will then become an aggressor.  As well, I have to admit that the guy was rather intimidating - he was a big boy.  So, instead I decided to simply report the incident to the police, providing them with descriptions of the individuals and where I'd last seen them headed.  It still bothers me though and I wonder if I did the right thing and what happened to the woman.

Anyways, that is sort of getting off topic.  What I'm trying to convey is frustration... a frustration that so many people seem to have so little respect for law and order.  It can range from the seemingly petty, such as parking in a fire lane, or it can be more serious, such as having drunken fights in the street, but in the end it's all disrespect for rules and order of one kind or another and it gets on my nerves.