Personal Responsibility

Call me a crazy old man, but what the hell ever happened to personal responsibility? When I was a young boy, if I antagonized the neighbors dog, I got bit. The first words out of my parents mouths were "what did you do to the dog?" Once they found out that I was antagonizing the dog, it was immediately my fault and I either got a spanking, or I got yelled at. That's when I found out that pulling on the dogs ear, even though I was only 3 at the time, was a bad idea.

Now a days, it seems like everywhere you turn, something is always someone else's fault. No one seems to jump up and say "this was my fault, I accept responsibility" For example, Dr. Marion Nestle, seems to think that the food industry should be regulated like drug and tobacco industries. Ironic name aside, I think Dr. Nestle needs a good idea of what the real world is like.

I like to eat rich foods. I enjoy a good pasta dinner with a tall glass of Henry Weinhards Root Beer. This is a very rich diet and means that if I don't work out, I'll get fat. Well I am fat now, but I'm working it off as we speak, but that's another story. I know that if I eat rich, fatty, or fried foods, I'll be fat in no time unless I workout. I know that if I spill fresh coffee on my lap, it'll probably burn me. And who's fault would all of the above scenario's be if they happen? Mine. Not Olive Garden's, Not McDonald's, mine.

It just strikes me as odd that people are deathly afraid of responsibility lately. When was the last time you heard someone say "I screwed up, sorry." Go ahead, I'll wait.....you couldn't could you? For example, Mel Gibson in his interview, never said "I don't like Jews, I was just drunk and saying horrible things" He actually blames alcohol. Now, I don't know how many of you have been drunk before, but when you're drunk, you lose inhibitions. You don't just start saying horrible things in a malicious way if it wasn't in your heart. Alcohol just loosens up your tongue, and Mel Gibson should own up to his comments and say "yeah I said it, I mean it, and there's nothing you can do to make me stop thinking it" At least then, we'd know where he stood on things. Now, he's going on this "apology tour" and trying to convince people that he just said things because he's drunk, not because he's an anti-semite.

Travis
travis@rightwinglunatic.com