On the Rules of the Road is an essay written by the English journalist and writer, A.G. Gardiner. The story of the essay begins with a strong and healthy old woman walking down the street with her basket.
On the Rule of the Road By A.G Gardiner
Summary of On the Rule of the Road By A.G Gardiner
The story of the essay starts with a strong and healthy elderly woman walking on the road with her basket, it seems she does not know anything about the traffic rules. The elderly woman was walking in the middle of the highway causing trouble to other riders.
Someone told the elderly woman to walk on the sidewalk but she does not listen to him and keeps walking in the middle of the highway. The woman replied to him that I will walk wherever I want and I do not need anyone’s permission because we have got freedom. The poet says that if she has the freedom to walk in the middle of the highway then the driver also has the freedom to drive on the sidewalk.
The poet is trying to say that unnecessary freedom can lead to the destruction of the world. Everyone will stop each other and no one will be able to go anywhere. If a policeman stops your car to let the cars of the other lane go and you consider it a symbol of tyranny then you are wrong.
Don’t consider it tyranny because it is a freedom. You may be in a high position but still the policeman stops your car, you should never get angry. Because we should respect everyone and their work, no matter who we are. Think well, if there is no policeman on the highway then it will lead to traffic jam which can take a lot of your time.
We ourselves have made an agreement with our government that they can control some of our freedom so that we can enjoy our freedom in reality. Always remember, “Freedom is not only a personal matter but a social contract”.
However I have the freedom to walk on the highway wearing a night dress, then who will stop me? And you have the full right to laugh at me. I also have the freedom to ignore you. I have the freedom to dye my hair golden. I have the freedom to wear slippers under the overcoat and I can sleep at 2 in the morning and wake up at 2 in the afternoon.
I don’t need anyone’s permission to do any of these. This is my freedom whether I like Ella Wheeler Wilcox or Wordsworth. The whole world is our empire and we are its kings. We can live in it as we wish.
Even after knowing all this, why don’t we do it? This is because we know that our freedom is linked to the freedom of other people. I like playing drums but it does not mean that I start playing it at midnight and disturb the sleep of others. We should remember that we are only because of other people.
Here the poet gives an example, once the poet was traveling in a train but before boarding the train he bought a blue book to read in the train. There was a person in the train compartment who was laughing like crazy while talking to his friends due to which the poet was having trouble reading the book.
His voice was so loud that I was not able to read my book. After this the poet stopped reading and started looking out of the window. The man’s voice was still disturbing the poet’s ears though he had stopped reading.
He did not realize that he was disturbing the peace of other people in the compartment while talking to his friends. Though he was a man good with words but was not a social person. He had no social sense like how to behave among people.
We should keep an eye on people who follow the rules of the road because by this we can know about their nature whether they are civilized or not. I am sure that when my friend sitting in the train compartment will read this article he will not make such a mistake again.
English 
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