"It's the Rules"

I hate bureaucracy. I want nothing to do with ridiculously insignificant rules that govern large institutions, such as the University of California. Like when I reapply for my TA position or fellowship every year I have to fill out the same dang paperwork, including a tax form where I never know how many exemptions to declare, a voided check from my bank, and a contract with my union. Or if I want a refund for that surfing lesson that never happened because of rainstorms, I have to call or email multiple people in the Recreation department before I make any headway. Or when I have to wake up at 4:30am to wait in line for a gym locker. I always need to be armed and ready with my name, student ID number, social security number, date of birth, email address, password... you get the idea.

So, no big surprise, when a student walked into my shared TA office, asking to borrow a couple chairs for his over-enrolled classroom, although I know it’s against “the rules” to remove furniture from the room, I shrugged, “Sure! Why not?” He promised he’d return them anyway, and I felt this helped my image as that cool, laid-back TA. I mean, I’m all about sharing my possessions, as a follower of Jesus and all.

Feeling good about my stick-it-to-the-man attitude, one of my colleagues interrupted my self-congratulatory moment, “That was a bad idea.” I looked up to see if he’s joking or not. He continued, “We’re never going to see those chairs again.” I was shocked. Of course the student would return the chairs! He said he would! I retained my composure and promised to wait around until the class was out, taking full responsibility for the chairs and confident that this student would return them promptly at 5 as he said he would.

Five o’clock rolled around. Maybe his class ran a little late. I gave him some grace time and decided to wait until 5:15. At 6 I began stalking the nearby classrooms, peeking in one-by-one, wishing I had asked him which room he was taking the chairs. Then, lo and behold, I found them in a deserted room a couple doors down. I chuckled to myself as I rolled them across the courtyard back to our office.

A few days later a student knocks on our door asking to borrow a couple chairs, promising to bring them back after class.

“No, I’m sorry, I can’t. It’s the rules.”