Episode 112 - Unwritten and Non-Negotiable: Who Made These Rules?

In today's episode, we're making an argument that might genuinely change how you feel the next time someone cuts you off in traffic and doesn't wave. Every social interaction you've ever had runs on rules that nobody wrote down, nobody voted on, and nobody can fully explain - they just exist. And somehow, breaking them feels like a crime. Today, we'll get into where these invisible rules actually came from, who benefits when you follow them, and what it says about you when you don't. From who gets the airplane armrest to whether you're actually obligated to return the shopping cart in the rain - by the end of this episode you'll understand why the merge wave is a moral act, why returning an empty dish to your neighbor is basically a war crime, and why the elevator thing bothers everyone and no one can explain why. Chapters (00:00:00) - Unwritten Rules of Social Life(00:02:14) - Fooling Around With Money(00:02:35) - Sort of Sophisticated(00:02:58) - Cavalcade(00:04:12) - Social Norms(00:05:43) - How long should you stay at a party? What's the expectation(00:07:00) - How To Get Out Of An Irish Party Without Saying Goodbye(00:08:39) - How To Deal With a Forgetful Person's Birthday(00:10:04) - Should You Tell Someone Their Flip Is Down?(00:11:27) - The Social Contract(00:13:14) - What's The Talk Of Splitting The Bill(00:15:27) - Do You Tell Your Friends How Much Money You Make?(00:17:02) - Is It RUDE To Ask How Much Something Costs?(00:19:56) - Can You Cancel Plans With Friends Because You're tired?(00:21:14) - Do You Have To Attend Every Wedding?(00:23:18) - No One Will Replace Gabby(00:25:03) - In the Elevator With Real People(00:26:01) - Travel F faux pas(00:26:27) - Airplane Armrests(00:27:04) - Is It Okay To recline The Seat On Airplanes?(00:27:48) - 9 Tips For Swapping Seats On An Airplane(00:30:51) - Pool Chair Sit Down(00:31:56) - People Talk About Their Phones(00:33:49) - 5 Rules For Shopping With Kids(00:35:05) - What Drivers Weren't Waving While Merging(00:36:48) - Is It Okay to Eat Somebody's Leftovers In The Office Fr(00:37:54) - The Broken Window Theory(00:41:04) - Waving the Car Window(00:41:50) - Fun Facts! Don't Discuss Money or Politics At Dinner(00:44:45) - Five Things You Didn't Know About Social Norms(00:47:09) - A Few Unwritten Rules for Life