You didn't even break the law!

Listening to: Radio 1

I was cycling home from the lab last night (or this morning, rather) at around 2am. I was tired and sleepy and the wind was swirling around my ears, making it feel much colder than it actually was. As I approached a set of traffic lights, I braked and waited patiently for the lights to change. I heard some people shouting, and suddenly realised they were shouting at me.

Go! Run the red light! What are you waiting for?!

I had seen them as I cycled towards the junction - two girls and a guy all in their early 20s, all completely drunk. I ignored them - if I've learnt anything about cycling home alone at night, it's that you should avoid drunk people. The lights turned to green and as I cycled off, I heard...

Oh but it's a green light now! You didn't even break the law. YOU DIDN'T EVEN BREAK THE LAW!

Now the reason I didn't run the red light was not because I didn't want to break the law. It was because I didn't have a clear view of the other roads and I didn't want to risk getting knocked down by some speeding boyracer. It happened to a colleague of mine a few months back (at the same junction) and they just had their ACL repaired. These guys didn't know that (obviously), and they were thoroughly disappointed that I was apparently being a wuss. And it got me thinking, what is our obsession with rebellion?

Why do people get a kick out of breaking the law? Why are you 'cool' if you defy authority, and totally uncool if you don't? I choose to stay on the side of the law not because I'm so eager to be a law-abiding citizen, but because I weigh the pros and cons of each situation, and in most cases decide that rebellion is the least attractive option.

Is the whole anti-establishment thing a phase? Is it part of growing up, where young people feel they have to rebel against the older, stuffier generation? Hmm where was I when I was supposed to be going through this 'phase'?

So yeah, there seems to be some sort of attractiveness to breaking the rules...one that I just don't get. Does that make me boring? Possibly. Who cares. It's just another label. I've been called worse.