18 Times People Still Beat The System By Following The Rules

Kasia Mikolajczak
A cat sitting inside a lunchbox.
Reddit | tigerlily5

Let me ask you something: are you a stickler to the rules or a rule breaker? I guess I'm a little in between, hee-hee. But what if you could actually use the rules to your advantage, huh? That's awesome, no?

Well, as it turns out, you don't have to resort to anarchy to beat the system at its own game. And these clever ideas below are the perfect examples of that.

This Smart Doggo

dog in the pond with ducks
reddit | Rawc90

"He saw us feeding the ducks and pretended to be one..."

Ha, ha, is that right? What you've got here is one smart doggo, alright. Now give him those snacks so he can stop pretending to be a duck, lol.

This Clever Kid

kid playing outside with a monitor and a game console
reddit | Palana

How many times did your mom tell you to go play outside when you were a kid, huh? Well, back in the day, we had no video games, so we had no excuses, ha, ha. However, this kid here thought he was very clever until his mom caught him red-handed.

This Smart Kitty

cat sitting in lunch box on the kitchen counter looking at the camera
reddit | tigerlily5

"He knows he's not allowed on the counter, but I never said anything about the lunchbox."

Ah, clever kitty found a loophole, and you've got to love him for that. Judging by the look, he knows it, too.

This Clever Student

school paper
reddit | jimmypompom

"My wife is a teacher and found this while marking an assessment."

That deserves a letter of recommendation. Am I right? It's quite clever, no? If anything, I bet it made this teacher laugh, and that might've been the point.

This Accomplishment

man who wrote his book on printed-out receipts finally gets is published and holding the final product
reddit | ArbyLG

"I wasn't allowed to use a notebook at my cashier job, so I started writing my book about bullying on printed-out receipts. This year, after transposing hundreds of receipts, I finally published my novel."

Wow, that's incredible. Kudos to this man.

This Obedient Doggo

dog with his face outside the house eating sticks
reddit | m33tRiley

"Good boi knows he's not allowed to have sticks inside."

Oh my goodness, it's so cool when an animal totally gets it, and then he comes up with a solution like this clever doggo here. How awesome is that?

This Birthday Cake

You know what, I bet this guy couldn't care less about what it says on the cake or even how many candles it has — he just wants to eat it, hee-hee. Do you agree with that?

This Homework

part of a school assignment on paper
reddit | RavelOnePiece

Technically they aren't wrong, right? Why didn't I ever come up with stuff like that when I was in school, haha? It would have worked out for me because I was always asking, "Why?" and it drove my teachers crazy.

This Adorable Rule Breaker

cat sitting on a kitchen counter with one paw on the stool next to it
Imgur | marqoqo

"Roxy knows she's allowed on the barstool and not the counter. Roxy also likes to test her limits."

Aww, how can you get mad at something as cute as this, though? Am I right? I wouldn't have the heart.

This Restaurant's Menu

Restaurant's "Here for a beer" menu
reddit | TusBus67

"This restaurant is only allowed to sell beer if someone buys food."

How cool that they came up with such a smart way to still obey the rules but be able to do what they want anyway?

This Smarty Pants

school assignment on a piece of paper
reddit | tinusxxl

Honestly, I wish I thought of something like that when I was in school, ha, ha. I don't know if my teachers would appreciate that, but I would hope it at least would make them laugh. This kid gets an "A" for creativity.

This Clever Workaround

two guys at USPS warehouse wearing skorts
reddit | timmay106

"Shorts are now deemed 'inappropriate' for retail counter workers at USPS. Skorts are still OK."

Ha, ha, I love that. You've got to applaud people who can skirt the issue and still get away with stuff while following the rules a 100%.

This Awesome Logic

Oh my goodness, ha, ha. Isn't this the smartest gran out there or what? One Twitter comment on this thread stood out to me, and the person said this "My gran is reading over my shoulder and just said ‘do you have that lady’s number?’" Priceless!

This Garbage Solution

clever fence covering outdoor garbage
reddit | u/kalinkabeek

"The HOA in my friend’s neighborhood recently threatened her neighbors with a fine if they didn’t hide their trash cans, even though they’ve been in the same spot for over a decade. This is their solution."

That solves it!

This Doggo Subway Surprise

person on a subway with a large dog inside an Ikea shopping bag sitting next to other people
reddit | Reddit

"So the NYC Subway has banned dogs unless they 'fit in a bag' and New Yorkers got creative."

Holy, moly! Well, they didn't say what kind of bag it had to be, right? So why not use an Ikea one that clearly fits this entire dog?

This Loophole

cup with a nail on top of its lid next to a sign
reddit | Exxile4000

Ah, I definitely don't miss working in places that would put dumb rules in place. So I'm quite happy this person here was able to stick it to the management in the best possible way. I wonder what they thought of it.

This Fulfilled Request

text message exchange with picture of a cake
reddit | TetraCGT

Ha, ha, if this didn't make you laugh, there must be something wrong with you. Sorry for being so blunt, but this one definitely made me giggle a little. I hope the person who requested no cake gets a kick out of this, too.

This Parking Rule

Green vehicle parked under a sign that says "Green vehicle parking only."
reddit | KraftyKyle

Somehow I don't think this is what they meant, but this person used the rule to their advantage. Nowhere does it say what kind of green vehicle this has to be, so they're technically sticking to the rules, no?

See? You don't have to break the rules to beat the system.

woman nodding and point to her head
Giphy | funk

You just have to bend them a little, that's all. Even though these examples here were pretty simple, they were also pretty genius. Do you agree with me? And it's cool to see that even animals can do it, too. Which one made you laugh the most?