Remember the scene in the first "Pirates of the Caribbean" movie when those two pirate buddies find Keira Knightley's character hiding in the closet and she simply says, "Parlay?" To the pirates, parlay refers to the undeniable right to talk to a ship's captain before being killed. Even though this isn't written anywhere, every pirate knows it because it's part of the "pirate code."
I was recently reminded of this scene while taking a shower in my dorm last week. I started the water, did the "stand off to the side and dodge the water while it heats up" move, and eventually walked under the spray. After a few minutes, I went to start shampooing/soaping and quickly realized I had forgotten to bring any of that with me.
Now imagine you're in my shoes. Would you, A) Just shower without any soap/shampoo, B) Get out, towel off, walk all the way to your room and grab your shampoo, or C) Just use whatever other people had left in the shower?
I'm willing to bet close to 90 percent of this school would go with C. It's just sort of an unwritten rule that if you leave shampoo in the shower, it's completely fair game for other people to use it. It's the same as when you need laundry detergent and left yours in your room. It's not like you're going to walk all the way back upstairs. Anything you can find down there is fair game.
There are countless unwritten rules like the shower one that we all follow on a pretty daily basis. These rules can be found in all aspects of life, ranging from boy-girl relationships, to how you carry yourself in certain situations, to playing video games. They are everywhere, and how closely people follow them actually tells you a lot about a person. For example, let's say you're playing Madden and you have the ball and the lead with less than two minutes to play. If you take a knee, you're a coward and probably take yourself a little too seriously. If you run the ball, your opponent better have some timeouts left, otherwise it's still a pretty bitchy move. If you throw three downs in a row, you follow the code and pass that particular test.
These tests really are everywhere. Still, I think there are two places they appear that stand out above the others. The first is when things don't go as planned and you have to deal with some adversity. The unwritten rule is that when things get messed up, you don't whine about it or just sulk and blame people, instead you just have to make the most of it. Many people don't follow this rule, however, and it really shows their true character.
The other place these rules stand out is in sports. Playing a sport with someone who doesn't know the unwritten rules can be unbearable. So here's a guide to a few of the big ones:
Pick-up Basketball: If you suck, you better hustle out there and get more rebounds than anyone else. Basically, if you suck and your play isn't described as "scrappy," you're not following the code.
Golf: If the guy next to you isn't laying up, put the iron back in the bag and grab that 3-wood. Also, you always play your ball if you can. It doesn't matter what's blocking it or how bad the lie is, you play it. Just go for the ricochet.
Tennis: Unless somehow that grunting thing is actually completely necessary, don't do it. Also, if you make a questionable call that you know was kinda iffy, the next close one you gotta be pretty lenient on to make up for it.
Capture the Flag: Don't just sit on your side waiting to capture people, take some risks and go for it occasionally. Similarly, in dodgeball, don't just wait and stockpile all the balls on your side.
Touch/Flag Football: Unless it's a ridiculous trick play, don't run it. Also, calling things like "offsides" is just annoying. And when asked if you're "kickin' or stickin'," if you go with kickin, you better have a real good reason.
Charades: Not really a sport but if there was a charades club here, you could probably get P.E. credit for it, so I'm counting it. Anyway, if you're going to use the "a,b,c,d arm thing," do it sparingly and only for the first letter off a "sounds like."
I think the fact that I'm using charades is a clear sign it's time for me to stop. Always try and respect the code.
