It's not a criticism, it's an observation.
We have rules here, young man
Mike Cox

While I was with a customer in Myrtle Beach, a call came into his office reporting my car was illegally parked. Several people had complained. I was confused. My Toyota was in a legal space and didn't seem to be violating any traffic laws.

Then I remembered the No Backing In sign. As I maneuvered through the tight fitting lot, I had backed into a space because it was much easier than making three turns in order to pull in, then making three more upon leaving.

I spent more than 30 years working for a company that stressed driver safety. With the largest fleet of vehicles outside the military, they had to. One of the things pounded into every driver's head was the need to avoid backing at all costs. Now, I was moving my car because it was against a rule.

I was born in 1950 and raised in a good Baptist home. We learned what the rules were and what happened to those who failed to follow them. I learned to respect order and know it leads to public good.

But I grew up in the 60s and began to question every rule and be suspicious of authority. I found many rules unnecessary or stupid. Maybe that explains the trend these days of assuming rules are for someone other than us.

Stupidity in rulemaking isn't new, but it seems to be multiplying. We are trying to legislate what people say, what they believe, even how they react in certain circumstances. We are even governing how a man wears his pants.

A lot of the things we are trying to make illegal are knee jerk reactions to social trends and don't need to be legislated. The precedents we are setting should scare the sagging britches off every one of us.

But we need laws. Use The Ten Commandments as a base. Expand from there if anything pops up that is causing a large problem. But too many of the circumstances we encounter today can probably be handled with existing laws and common sense. And a few less politically minded lawmakers.

Which brings me back to the parking situation in Myrtle Beach. My car was stuck in a corner, not bothering

anyone. Yet several people took it upon themselves

to complain. I wasn't causing any traffic flow problems. I wasn't endangering any lives. I was breaking a local parking rule; going against the grain; coloring outside the lines. It scared enough people into making me move my car.

I feel really schizophrenic. I'm not some wild eyed, pony- tailed former revolutionary with male pattern baldness. I am a respected (sort of) old guy who understands we need to have rules, and people should follow them. But we don't need stupid rules or stupid people following orders without question. There must be a happy medium somewhere.

And I still don't know why back- in parking is prohibited at that condo in Myrtle Beach.