Permission or Forgiveness? What road do you take?

Just as MSG Quick mentioned depends on the situation, of course if it involves safety, moral, or illegal ramifications the decision should always be an easy choice as it is right in front of your face.

Ah yes, the age old question. I have tried to use the "beg forgiveness" side only when there was a threat to life or property. However, there are times when I admit I have ignored regulations and just did what had to be done. A good example was when I was assigned to an Air Force base - there was this assinine regulation which stated something to the effect: if I wanted to check out a lawn mower to mow my lawn (something required to be done twice monthly - again by regulation) I had to have a safety class that was done only once per year (regulation). So I go TDY/TAD quite regularly and for extended periods of time - so my wife does the mowing. But she can't check out a mower because I haven't had the safety class because I was TDY/TAD when the safety class was being offered. Now SHE could have taken the class but it was only authorized for AD personnel (regulation) - dependents were not authorized (regulation). My solution was to go out on the local economy and buy a mower - but we're not authorized to have a mower (regulation) in an enclosed space. So, we're thinking...AHA! We'll borrow the neighbors mower when they do their lawn! This idea works for several months until some AF inspector drives by, sees the wife mowing and demands to see my safety card! OOOPS! Anyway, the end of this long-winded and salacious tale ends up with a humungous investigation that finally ends up on my CO's desk (from the AF) that requires an official response. Of course, the Navy's solution is simple - the Navy bought 15 lawn mowers and issues them to Navy wives of deployed personnel .......after certifying that each wife had attended a "safety brief".

Depends on the situation...