First Amending

I love the First Amendment. In fact, I love it so much that I am taking an entire class on it. In general, I believe that there are very few instances when the government should be able to restrict speech. However, this does not mean that people cannot restrict their own speech. In more simple terms: Just because you can talk does not mean that you should.

All those years of being taught to speak our minds and use lax technology rules have gone too far. Since many manners and rules of etiquette are antiquated, I have taken the liberty of formulating some of my own rules when it comes to speech/talking. Not an exhaustive list, because I could go on forever, but just some issues that have been arising lately:

Phone Rules: You should not call someone before 8am or after 12am unless (a) there is an emergency, or (b) there is a preexisting mutual understanding that calling outside of those hours is acceptable. This also applies on the weekend, because some of us old people do retain our weekday sleeping patterns on the weekend. Finally, forgetting that someone lives in a different time zone than you is not an excuse.

Classroom Rules: Just because you have something to say for every comment that the professor makes or have an answer for every question the professor asks does not mean that you have to raise your hand and speak every single time. Moreover, if the professor does not call on you, that does not mean that you should just yell the answer out loud.

Library Rules: Long conversations, particularly between more than two people, should be restricted from the carrels of the library.

General Speech Rule: "God gave you two ears and one mouth, use them proportionally," guy from the career services office.