Just got back from a trip to the Dalmatian coast in Croatia, and while en-route and in-situ, I made a little distinction about lines. Lines of people, that is. In Germany, lines are quite robust. People get on that at the rear, and they maintain their structure – in other words, the people who get on the line first, get off it first. In America, most people respect lines – but those who don’t – the line cheaters – are often the subject of vocal and occasionally martial conflict. In other words, people who cut the line get yelled at and into fights. “Hey buddy – the line starts back there!” In Croatia, I discovered that lines are simply a suggestion. Line form, and some people follow them, while many others ignore the lines completely and simply push to the front.

So this brings up an interesting question – not just about lines but about rules in general. When should you follow them and when not? In Croatia, I was standing in line while all these people started to cut in front. Since no one seemed to react or even care, after applying a little game theory, I jumped the line as well.

When you consider that playing buy the rules may not be in your best interest, you have to evaluate the consequences of breaking them. In every case, one will outweigh the other. It’s not cut-and-dried.