I despise rules. I don't mind adhering to sensible ones (for instance, I don't flout the law of physics by jumping from a 10 storey high building and such); it's the silly ones that get on my nerves. If there's one thing I hate more than stupid regulations, it's people who come up with them on the fly just to screw your day.

One such person I know of is the Chief Librarian at a certain college (let's refer to her as HL - not to be confused with Marigold's goodness-filled HL Milk - from henceforth). Thanks to her, a few friends and I were given the dubious honour of being the first few people who were suspended from the library. Suspended as in "don't you dare show your face in the library starting today!".

I'm going to be as balanced and just as I possibly can under said circumstance in portraying what really happened. The four of us (Zijian, Charmaine, Aveena and I) were playing bridge. Bridge being a respectable game and all, we played it in the library. There was another reason as well: The "No Playing Cards" sign wasn't anywhere in sight. We checked the entrance where they usually put up signs like "Keep Quiet", "No Handphones", but no, it wasn't there. We even checked under the "Welcome" rug just to be sure.

One of HL's minions spotted us after an hour of fun-filled (but extremely quiet) games of bridge. She must have that erroneous preconceived idea that anyone who's playing cards is an incorrigible gambler. So, she promptly glided over and demanded that we went to the counter that very instance. Over at the counter, Zijian tried arguing with her. Intimidated by a serious debater, she sent us directly to the Boss (an admittedly cooler-sounding name for HL). HL the Boss gave us the oh-so-boring "rules are rules" speech. Apparently, ignorance doesn't constitute innocence, as is the case everywhere.

"But, it's not written anywhere that playing cards is not allowed!"
"It's understood that it is not."
"Isn't it like someone bringing in his laptop and play bridge at Yahoo! over the library's wireless connection? And that's allowed"
"No, rules are rules; you're suspended for one week."

The speech was way longer than that; she was going round and round, hoping we would get dizzy and not notice her specious argument. I'm not trying to skirt the fact that we were wrong, if only for not reading the library's policy in which there's this underhanded and the most cowardly of clauses that say ""The Library Committee has the right to amend the Library Rules and Regulations as and when necessary".

Being made to feel guilty like terrorists who had blown up a bridge and suspended for one week? All that for playing bridge, the favourite card game of Warren Buffett, Bill Gates and old ladies who are incapable of blowing up bridges? A little too much, if you ask me. And we weren't even disturbing the people at the other tables; they happened to be our dear friends and classmates, you see. Why we played in the library in the first place? Like I've said, we honestly didn't know we're not permitted to do so. Besides, it's our usual haunt after lunch, the college being a small building and having no where better to hang out at. We didn't play there just to piss off the librarians and make a "mockery" out of the library.

I can't help but feel we were innocent bridge wizards and witches in HL's witch hunt to impress her Boss (Yay! Another bunch of silly (scape)goats to fill my "Number of Students Punished Is In Direct Proportion To My Effectiveness" book!). I'm sure that will impress the Boss's Boss. I'm certain too that was one of the things she mentioned; that it would reflect badly on her if we went unpunished. There goes my plan of reading the magazines in the library on my day off tomorrow.