'No Oreos in the library': 20+ Ridiculous rules that make no sense at all

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Remy Millisky • Writer and Editor
Sep 4, 2024 3:00 PM EDT

They say that the rules are the rules for a reason. For every hyper-specific rule in place, you can bet that there's a person who irritated management into creating that requirement. 

Sometimes you can just tell when rules were made up by some grump in management who has a specific bone to pick. For example, "no motorcycles on the casino floor" is oddly direct, as is "no Oreos in the library." (Most libraries ban all food and drinks, so maybe one librarian just dislikes cookies.) You can also imagine a world where management is targeting just one person with the new directive. Maybe that librarian has beef with a repeat visitor who continually chows down while reading. It's mysterious to everyone else around, but the cookie-eating dude knows exactly what it means. 

U/lycheejelly23433 wanted to know some of the most ridiculous rules people have ever encountered in life, and hundreds chimed in with their favorite examples. Keep scrolling to read some of the funniest and strangest ones! 

Up next, these homeowners found the strangest things in their new homes, like one person who was stunned to find "an entire tribe of raccoons living in the attic." 

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  • 01
    What is the most ridiculous rule that you've come across? '[In] Vermont...you can't ride your camel around town'
    via Hannah Troupe on Unsplash
  • 02
    What is the most ridiculous rule that you've come across?
    via u/lycheejelly23433
  • 03
    Lovely_BunnyFl... I have a friend whose dad had one paper towel specifically used for eating. bagels. You cannot re-heat or eat your bagel on anything other than the bagel towel. No plates or bowls were allowed to be used for bagels. You got your turn with the bagel paper towel or you waited till it was free
    via u/Lovely_BunnyFlutter
  • 04
    SternLecture not being able to sit down when working. like checkout peeps. it seems like people just want to make people suffer. i would suggest letting people sit is more efficient making bosses more money.
    via u/SternLecture
  • 05
    Blonde Axolotl We don't get to use the same bathroom as our boss. We have to go to a different part of the building. She has a sign on our bathroom door stating that it is broken and no one can use it. But really she just wants it for herself.
    via u/Blonde Axolotl
  • 06
    Virtual-Radish1... I used to work a sales job where the people in charge would just make up arbitrary rules to limit how much commission we could make. It got really frustrating.
    via u/Virtual-Radish1111
  • 07
    binglybleep In my last job, one of the managers got it into their head that people waiting by the clocking out machine were skiving, so she'd physically barricade the door by the machine at the end of shift until exactly 8pm. People were still wrapped up at the same time (we had 20 mins to clean up and it didn't really take more than 10) so
    via u/binglybleep
  • 08
    people just stood at their workstations for ten minutes instead of getting their stuff from their lockers and queuing to leave. That place had a lot of pointless rules and really awful managers, but for some reason that one was the one that made a couple of people actually leave.
    via u/binglybleep
  • 09
    Being physically blocked from going to their lockers. at 7.59pm. It felt demeaning and petty
    via u/binglybleep
  • 10
    SquilliamFancy... We're not allowed to use any kind of fan at work even though the AC is broken and it gets dangerously hot. Management says it looks, "unprofessional" in front of customers. Employees have fainted and customers complain constantly, but they never do anything about it. It will probably take a lawsuit at this point for them to ever replace the AC.
    via u/SquilliamFancySon95
  • 11
    Sweet_Queenly_ My ex FIL had a rule that once he sat down for a meal, only his wife and grown children could get him anything he needed from the kitchen. He would not stand up
    via u/Sweet_Queenly_
  • 12
    Sycou One of my bosses got upset because I bought the same food for the yard staff (general labourers) as I did for the office staff. He told me I should be buying cheap food for them.
    via u/Sycou
  • 13
    TheRealOcsiban No motorcycles on the casino floor
    via u/TheRealOcsiban
  • 14
    DaygameCode The 3-day rule regarding how much you should wait to text a woman after she gave you her number.
    via u/DaygameCode
  • 15
    vc6vWHzrHvb2... My friend was in the hospital because he broke his arm. I was texting his mom with updates, and the nurse said "no phones allowed inside the hospital". I moved into the waiting room, and she came out a few minutes later and yelled, "What did I say? No phones in this hospital."
    via u/vc6vWHzrHvb2PY2LyP6b
  • 16
    It's just a regular ER, and I saw multiple people using their phones in the waiting room. I ignored her.
    via u/vc6vWHzrHvb2PY2LyP6b
  • 17
    Dirk Tungsten The song "Fish Heads" by Barnes and Barnes was banned from my youngest sister's middle school, and I kinda was the one who started it.
    via u/Dirk_Tungsten
  • 18
    I taught the chorus to my sister, and she taught her friends, who taught their friends, and so on until it spread throughout the entire school. Then one day she came home and told me the principal was on the morning announcements and said nobody is allowed to sing the Fish Head song anymore. Apparently kids were singing it so much that it got too annoying.
    via u/Dirk_Tungsten
  • 19
    TheMadface80 Pants go on metal hangers, shirts go on plastic hangers. Why even?
    via u/TheMadface80
  • 20
    Hoppypoppy21 In middle school my entire grade got hugging banned. They never stuck with an exact reason but I heard some of the reasons being that it was spreading sickness, some people were in inappropriate relationships, or we were just hugging too much Imao.
    via u/Hoppypoppy21
  • 21
    IMO my grade was doing nothing out of the ordinary. Our principal was just off her rocker and on a power trip.
    via u/Hoppypoppy21
  • 22
    DCFud I saw a bathroom sign in a cafe saying "Please don't flush with your feet." Oh, any cafe with a sign that says to turn off or put away your phones. I know I'll get trolled on this one. :)
    via u/DCFud
  • 23
    Ettiquette: "In formal dining, the menu should always be touching the table in one place. Oh, and "Once you sip from a glass, you must sip from the exact same place on that glass for the rest of the evening."
    via u/DCFud
  • 24
    HeroToTheSqua... I used to work in the shipping department of an electronics manufacturer, business was dwindling because we couldn't complete product orders because we were short- staffed and severely underpaid, so 80% of the production floor's workstations would be empty even during desirable
    via u/HeroToTheSquatch
  • 25
    shifts. As a result, the shipping department had hardly anything to do all day. We'd get yelled at for having our phones out (even when there was LITERALLY nothing to do), so I started taking books to work because we generally had less than 30 minutes of packing to do in a day (and an entirely separate crew handled loading the trucks).
    via u/HeroToTheSquatch
  • 26
    Got yelled at, repeatedly, that I couldn't have books in the work areas because they were a "security violation" (I originally thought it was just a coworker being a jealous. because he can't read) but nope, supervisor came along to tell me I had to put my book away because it was a security issue. Cell phones: not a security issue.
    via u/HeroToTheSquatch
  • 27
    Unchecked backpacks in places without cameras surrounded by a bunch of military equipment. Not a security issue. A near- complete lack of consistent, verifiable inventory: Not a security issue. Me reading Zen and the Art of Motorcycle repair: big security issue.
    via u/HeroToTheSquatch
  • 28
    Kimsy17 When my daughter's teacher told her she couldn't use the word "pony" in school work because it was a babyish word for a horse. Being a former equestrian girl I went straight up to the school to advise that a pony was actually a small horse. under the height of 14.2hh and there were several registered breeds with that word in their name such as
    via u/Kimsy17
  • 29
    Shetland pony, New Forest pony, Exmoor pony etc. Politely suggested they should spend more time focusing on the things that matter in the curriculum instead of this stupid kind of control Edit: just to add, she was 7 at the time
    via u/Kimsy17
  • 30
    M No sleeping on your lunch. break ~Worst boss ever
    via u/Molson2871
  • 31
    justinsayin Not being allowed to do my programming job remotely because it would make the warehouse staff jealous. Chris, that's a management problem.
    via u/justinsayin
  • 32
    ransom0374 NO OREOS IN THE LIBRARY!!!
    via u/ransom0374
  • 33
    Possible_Good_... I know I already commented but a core memory just hit me. My middle school was modeled off of a different middle school in a different state that had a lanyard system. That school's principal ended up coming to my class and was a guest speaker. He told us that he banned Doritos in his ENTIRE school. JUST Doritos. The reason? His
    via u/Possible_Good_916
  • 34
    brother used to take the Doritos out of the bag, lick off all of the powder, and put the soggy chip back in it so he would unknowingly put his hand in mushy tortilla chips with no seasoning. That dude had a serious power trip with his students and our crazy principal LOVED his polices. probably because she also had a serious power trip with her students...
    via u/Possible_Good_916
  • 35
    Top-Spot-4217 One of the most ridiculous rules I've come across is from a small town in the United States where it was once illegal to walk your pet on Main Street after 7 pm.
    via u/Top-Spot-4217
  • 36
    While it's unclear why such a specific rule was put in place or if it was ever actually enforced, it certainly raises eyebrows and prompts questions about its origin and necessity.
    via u/Top-Spot-4217
  • 37
    Jaives company dress code. guys have to wear a collared shirt. if they wear a t-shirt, they'll get a written reprimand from HR. unless they also wear a jacket.
    via u/Jaives
  • 38
    HeartonSleeve1... I forget which state it was, either Arizona or Vermont, but there's a town in one of those states where you can't ride your camel around town.
    via u/HeartonSleeve1989
  • 39
    Generic NerdGirl An ex tried to make it a "rule," that I shouldn't whine/pout/express disappointment in any non- serious manner around him. Pout that it's too hot to wear pjs? "Gross, don't do that." Groan and sigh that it's too hot in the summer? That's somehow fine because I said it "like an adult."
    via u/Generic NerdGirl
  • 40
    Sensitive_Eye_5... In 1994 (when cellphones were not commonplace), our boss at a warehouse job made a rule that employees were forbidden to use the lunchroom phone at all times. Enforcing it was not possible, however.
    via u/Sensitive_Eye_5565

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