Rule Number One

Remember, people, we live in a college town. A fairly liberal and progressive college town, too. So my children occasionally see some things when we are out and about in town.

This morning we went downtwn to the Farmer's Market, to hang with the old hippies. But believe me, we saw nothing out of the ordinary there. Hippies are my people. Especially the ones who shower and shop at urban Farmer's Markets. Nothing that happens there really shocks us.

But driving back across town, we were driving down The Drag when we spotted two frat boys walking down the street. Not an uncommon occurrence around The University of Texas, but I am infinitely less trusting of them than I am the old hippies downtown.

The problem with these two particular fratties? One was wearing nothing but his boxer underwear and a big grin. The other had on a t-shirt with his boxers, (which suspiciously were a matched set for Frat Dude #1's drawers.) And of course, this is a home football game afternoon, so there are huge crowds of fans all over the campus.

The Boss Lady and I took the chance to explain that college is fun, but one should not be a complete dumb ass out in public while in college. That led to a new family mantra: Rule Number One - don't be an idiot.

Rule Number One is the new measure of behavior for our crew. And I think it has some universal appeal. Feel free to make use of Rule Number One in your own dealings with your family or with any herds of free ranging frat boys that you might encounter.

By the time we made it home the kids were singing a song they had made up about Rule Number One. They also asked about the possibility of coming up with another. Rule Number Two, if you will. But I think that is the real beauty of Rule Number One. It pretty much covers every possibility.