A Confession: I have broken the rules.

[frazzled]

56. You laugh, but you were really wrong to do this

especially in front of children.

I had this argument a quarter-century ago with my husband when we took our then-young children to another zoo in another town. There was a "Do Not Feed the Animals" sign clearly posted on the fence (can't remember which animals we were looking at: was it bears, was it deer?). Were people throwing popcorn and crackers in and watching how cute it was for the animals to eat them? Absolutely. And my husband could not resist doing the same.

"Didn't you see the sign?" I asked. "No biggie," he responded, noting that others were doing so too. I explained that whether he agreed with the sign or not (and he should have, because it can make the animals sick), it's his obligation to obey the rules, and to teach our kids that you obey rules, whether or not you agree with them. If you find a rule wrong, then protest it by writing or demonstrating or whatever. But disregarding rules, be they at the zoo or sneaking a left turn at a no-left-turn intersection—or not paying your taxes fairly or committing a criminal act—is wrong. We want our children to obey rules at school and in society, and it starts with something as simple as not feeding the animals at the zoo.

Moose are very dangerous animals. Your disregard of the sign could have led that woman's children to think (1) that rules are not really rules and that you can break them as you see fit, and (2) that it would be okay for them to touch the moose. Someone could have been hurt, and those kids could have been taught a lifelong (negative) lesson in transgressing social pacts.