Rules

There was an item in the news the other day about a woman at a zoo in Arizona who had the idea of taking a selfie-portrait of herself with one of the animals there. In this case, it was a jaguar. So, ignoring the signs warning patrons not to cross the barrier designed to keep a safe distance between them and the animals in their cages, she stepped over the barrier. With her back to the animal, all the while leaning toward it so as her better frame herself and it, the woman happily began to snap away. What could go wrong? In an instant, the jaguar reached through the bars and clawed the woman's shoulder. Fortunately, that was the worst of her injuries.

Talking to reporters, one of the zoo's keepers explained this incident is a perfect example of why the zoo has the rules it has regarding warning its patrons not to get close to the any of the wild animals that are being held there in captivity. (As an aside, I am happy to share that the zoo is not euthanizing the animal because it believes the animal was not at fault.) This incident also illustrates why rules are important when it comes to any encounters. Rules establish boundaries and set guidelines as to dos and don'ts that persons should respect and follow if they want their encounters to go well or, at least, civilly.  

For example, in conversations between individuals, there are a number of rules designed to help ensure such an act of communication goes well. To state a couple of the more basic ones: one should not interrupt the other while they are speaking and one should give the other their full attention. If followed, there is almost no chance the encounter won't be anything less than civil or, better yet, effective. If not, then one or both of the participants may be harmed (though in probably a less dramatic way than that woman at the zoon in Arizona). Many may feel these rules are simple and hardly worth the mention, yet that woman who is now recovering from her scratch wounds may disagree.