No exceptions, except for when it benefits us

I love hearing about things in the land of exceptions. There are more exceptions in the Korean language, and also in general in society. Today in the restaurant there was a discount sign, but that didn't apply to the meals we were ordering (apparently already discounted). Want to buy a plane ticket? Good luck changing it. (I can speak personally that my travel agent seems to buy tickets that are not changeable). But when you look at so many of the little things, there are tons of exceptions. In some ways, our group is an exception to the rule. But ask to change certain points (like flying on a saturday instead of a sunday for a business trip), and you run up against the no exceptions rule. It seems unfair, but then again, it is all about knowing the system right? You know your own country's system, but that doesn't always translate...