When common sense needs to supersede rules

Over the last week, I have heard two stories that definitely proves that sometimes, common sense needs to supersede the rules.

The first one was an incident at a Ontario Minor Hocley Association.  A 16 year old player by the name of Andrew McCullum got into an argument with one of the opposing players.  As they were sitting in the penalty box, they continued arguing and the opposing player called Andrew the N-word.  While the opposing player was initially benched for the racial slur, he later returned to the game.  Upset that the player returned and there was no apology from the player or the opposing coach, Andrew's coach pulled his team off the ice and refused to continue playing.  As a result of this action, Andrew's coach, Greg Walsh, is now not allowed to coach until a hearing is held to determine how long he will be suspended for, because under Hockey Canada rules, any official responsible for having his team leave the ice and not return is subject to a suspension of up to one year. 

What happened to the opposing player and his coaches?  They were each suspended for three games.

Should we not expect coaches to teach their young players good values?  Mr. Walsh took a stand against racism, something which has no business being in our society, let alone in a junior hockey game.  Common sense would dictate the opposing player and coaches should face a stiffer penalty, regardless of what the rule book says.

The next example of when common sense should have been used was an incident on an Ottawa bus.  OC Transpo has a policy to give priority seating to a person with a disability.  That is nice.  The only issue is that the driver decided to kick a woman and her newborn baby off the bus because he could not fit the stroller and wheelchair.  While I agree that accomodations should be made to allow a person with a disability to take public transport, someone else should not be kicked off in order to make room for them, especially someone with a newborn baby.  This is not like a shopping centre where people are asked to give priority on the elevator to people in a wheelchair or carriages.  In a shopping centre, people can take the escalator or stairs.  On a bus, they have to wait for the next one.  If someone is already on the bus, they should not have to get off.  With a little common sense and shuffling, I am sure everyone could have been accomodated.

A little common sense can go a long way...certainly farther then blindly following a rule book.