My faithful reader might remember that in August of 2009 I posted my Three Rules. These rules apply all the time, of course tempered by common sense. At the time I alluded to there being a fourth rule being considered. I am pleased to announce that after much testing and verifying that there is now a fourth rule.

The Four Rules are:

1. I am not prejudiced, I hate everyone equally.
2. Do not ask anyone to do something you wouldn’t do.
3. If you are not sleeping with me, I don’t care who you are sleeping with.
4. Don’t see anyone you work with, without their pants on.

Many people think I am being flippant with these Four Rules, but I can say that they have gotten me through life this far. I wish I could say I have followed these rules my whole life, but I did not crystallize them until I was in my 30’s. Now in my continuing effort to leave things (the World) better than I found it I am sharing my rules with you.

It seems like these don’t really make sense until you start thinking about them as they actually apply in daily life. Let’s take a look at each rule.

I am not prejudiced, I hate everyone equally.

This is my flippant or sarcastic approach to equality. I believe in treating people equally however as I have found from traveling, I dislike People. People are different than a Person. It does not matter their background, race, religion, creed, or gender they all annoy me. I see the Person for their behaviors and actions; that is what one should be judged on. People are all the same in my eyes, a Person might be different.

Do not ask anyone to do something you wouldn’t do.

This one applies in many situations and is very closely related to the “Golden Rule” of treating people like you would like to be treated. An easy example is the borrowing of money, do not ask someone to lend you an amount of money you would not be comfortable lending out. It can also apply to the work place, such as asking someone to work extra hours, if you wouldn’t do it why would you expect someone else to?

If you are not sleeping with me, I don’t care who you are sleeping with.

This one is not as straight forward as some of the other rules. However it still applies. It started with people gossiping about who was going out with whom. Relationships are hard enough why make it harder by gossiping about it. The additional application of this rule is toward LGBT couples. As long as things are between two consenting adults, why should it bother me. It is just the same to me as whether someone likes chocolate or vanilla ice cream. It is personnel preference and as long as you are not pushing your opinion on anyone why should I care?

 Don’t see anyone you work with, without their pants on

This rule also requires a lot of common sense. I think everyone understands this one, don’t bring personal relationships into the office. It makes things harder, there are always calls of nepotism as well. Also I use this rule to explain to people why I won’t share hotel rooms. In my opinion when traveling everyone needs a little privacy and sharing hotel rooms can prevent that from happening. If you and your partner are starting a business together, that would be excluded. It is key to remember that the word with is in there, couples can work for the same company just I would avoid being in the same project.

It is important for each person to find their own code and rules to live by. These Four Rules are my guideposts. They have gotten me this far, however remember to temper all things with thought.