rules, laws, opinions and such

The other day in class we discussed "family rules".  These can be anything from how your family brings up/solves problems of importance, who does what tasks in the home, or even time spent together as a family.  Every family has rules.  Most are unspoken, and just seem to be 'known' by all family members.
As we talked about this subject further, we had an example given by our teacher.  He shared about how his wife had opened all of his mail one day.  He was completely shocked!  Why would she do such a thing?!  That was his mail, hence, he should be the one opening it, not her.

Well, she was just doing it because in her family, her mother was the one who opened all of the mail each day.

This wasn't found out until some contention had risen, but still...kind of funny.  :o)  (It also reminded me of this episode from The Dick van Dyke Show)

All of this (and more...!) comes about because each person comes from a different family, and their families will have different 'rules'.  And since, like mentioned previously, they are mostly just known, not written down, they aren't discussed to each spouse so that the other understands.  They just...happen.  They happen through everyday actions.  Maybe one spouse was taught that the husband was suppopsed to take out the garbage while the wife did the dishes.  This may one day start to irritate the husband, as he starts to notice that the garbage never gets taken out.  Perhaps he thinks his wife is lazy.  Or maybe she is upset at him.  ...when in all reality, she is just perplexed that he hasn't taken it out himself, like her father always did.

It was a fun and interesting topic.  The teacher asked that we think about our own family rules and it amazed me as I quickly came to realize that my family does have our own set of 'rules'.  This has caused me to be more aware of how I act now, living on my own, and how it may come across to roommates and others I am around.

Can you think of any family rules?  Have you had any experiences with others where your rules and theirs clashed?  Do tell!