I think it depends on who the authority figure is. If it is my parents (parent) & I am a grown up.....I can now choose to follow their desicions or not....because as soon as I became a grown up....I became an equal. (I found later on in life that I not only became an equal, but I became the parent....now that's confusing....but true).

If it is the police who are pulling me over for speeding.....well, I have the anxiety attack.....see if they will be nice & give me a break....other wise, take the ticket & say....."sorry sir....it won't happen again".

As we grow older, it can be tough putting our roles as being under authority figures into perspective......we soon become authority figures ourselves & take on the responsibility....hopefully better than the authority figures we had to learn from.

Being respectful has always been a part of my life....but I remember watching a military based movie one time......the person said something like....I can almost get away with anything as long as I call him "sir". In otherwords, as long as we make them feel like they are getting their way with their decisions, we can really go off & do what we think is really right. I think that is the right we have earned in growing up & taking on our own responsibilities to do what we know is right for ourselves.

Had to think about this post for awhile before figuring out how I think about authority.
Debbie