Are rules really made to be broken?

RULE: –noun
1. a principle or regulation governing conduct, action, procedure, arrangement, etc.:

Rules. Nobody likes them, except for the people who make them in some sort of attempt to assert their dominance and remind the rest of us that we aren't in charge. That's fine. I can accept that ours is a society of rules. And yes, I agree that some rules are dumb. Idiotic, some might say. And that's also fine. Where I have the problem is when someone sets forth a set of rules in a plastic placard at a staff meeting, and then blatantly disregards them.

Case and point:

Rule #1: All meetings will start and stop on time.
Outcome: It ran an hour and a half over schedule. On her watch. AFTER I talked through lunch instead of breaking like she wanted. We work for 7 hours a day and we were meeting for 3.5 of them.

Rule #2: All cell phones are to be turned off.
Outcome: Phone rang twice at the decibel of a 747 taking off above your head, she left the room to answer it both times, and not a peep out of the rule-making boss lady.

Rule #3: No gossip. We are too small and whispering is unprofessional.
Outcome: Approximately 1 hour later, the creator of said rule is sitting in the office across from me WHISPERING to my new neighbor --- It's not gossip if it's factual, right?

Rule #4: Dress for success.
Outcome: Oh, if only I had a picture to show you of her baggy t-shirt and jeans.

Rule #5: Personal lives are to remain personal.
Outcome: Remember when you told 3 staff members and 2 board members that you and your husband did so many drugs in the 60s that you don't even remember that decade, but you're pretty sure you had fun? Which part of that, exactly, was about business?


Ummm, hello? Kettle? This is Pot. You're black.

For those of you who were in the meeting --- don't mind my frustration, it's just my lower left brain talking. It likes to color code things. You wouldn't know that about me unless you got the 25 minute explanation...