Daily Thoughts

I’m a rules person. I tend to think that rules are very black and white, and that people should obey them. I don’t see the grey area, for instance, in a rule for a site that says that you can only post in the city where you live or closest to where you live.

Yes, I’m talking about Craigslist. More particularly, I’m talking about the people who think nothing of spamming Craigslist to get page views.

This isn’t as bad as those who spam Craigslist with porn ads or hookers who post fake personals, but it’s still against the rules.

I had someone tell me that the way to get page views was to go post on the “general” section of every large city in the U.S. and Canada. I’m just not going to do that.

You see, I use Craigslist for legitimate purposes. I sell things, I buy things, I post on forums — in short, I use it the way it’s supposed to be used. I obey the rules. I do that because I’m not keen on the idea of having my IP address banned.

I should mention that I’m probably 2 to 3 times as old as most Craigslist users, if you don’t count the pervy old men who frequent the personals. I’m almost twice the average age of today’s internet user. That means I grew up in a different generation.

In my generation, we didn’t talk back to teachers, or we were sent to the office to get our bottoms paddled. If they didn’t paddle us, they called our parents, and they paddled us. None of us died from it, at least none that I know of.

When my mother said something wasn’t allowed, I didn’t do it. When I was 10, I got mad at my mother and started packing a bag to run away. She asked me where I was going, and I obediently answered that I was running away. She said “Oh, that’s not allowed.” I angrily unpacked my bag and sat crying on my bed.

My son, on the other hand, somehow grew up believing that “no” meant something other than what the dictionary definition says. I see that a lot in the younger generation. They seem to live in some grey area between right and wrong, and think that rules are simply there to keep people from being sued.

I’m glad I’m not like that. I’m glad I’m a rules person. I’m glad that I obey the rules on Craigslist, and I’m not afraid to speak out against those who don’t.

I’m glad I was raised in a time when right was right and wrong was wrong, and there was no grey.

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