Warning labels

Warning labels appear on some of the strangest things, don’t they?  And some of the labels can really make you wonder just what happened to prompt its addition.  Others just seem funny. 

If you had a warning label, what would it say?  Would it warn others of your crazy sense of humour?  Might it say “explodes without warning”?  Or “mess with me, you mess with my big sister”?

To me, warning labels have always seemed to be a way of stating the obvious – or at least they were until I saw some that made less sense.  Perhaps warning labels are in fact warnings for those who choose to defy limits.

Understand, now, that I’d typically put myself in that category.  I have a tendency to question and test rules, and don’t always do well in the “blind follower” line of work.  I want to know why a rule exists, and why I need to follow it.

(Please do be aware that this doesn’t apply to eating floor mats, holding the wrong end of a chainsaw, or blow-drying my hair while asleep.)

While this tendency has been known to frustrate past employers, I’m also blessed with some people in my life who consider a value.  I’m one of them.

So why is questioning things useful?  For me, that’s an easy answer.  Life isn’t stagnant (as much as we’d sometimes like it to be).  A rule which might have been entirely appropriate years ago may be less so now – or one might be needed in a new situation.  Less than a year ago, I could still go out for a group breakfast with twenty friends.  If I were to do so this week, this would not only be frowned on, but would not be permitted in the area where I live.  While I don’t like them, I’m able to recognize that there are reasons for  this rule, and I observe it.

So if I’m not a rebel – someone who challenges everything for its own sake – what would my warning label say? 

For my warning label, I’m torn between “WARNING: QUESTIONS EVERYTHING” and “WARNING: HUGS AHEAD”.  How about you?  What’s your warning label?